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400
Old English
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Period: 400 to
The History of the English Language
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450
Germanic
The Saxons arrived in Britain in 449 AD to help British Tribes defend themselves. Due to the absence of the Romans savages were becoming increasingly common. The first known English sentence was dated in this time period. "This she wolf is a reward to my kinsman" was discovered on a gold medallion. -
500
Siding with the Picts
It Didn't take long for the Saxons to side with the Picts and drive The British out of their land. Because of this the Celts were pushed into the Western Wales. -
600
Immigration
Large groups from Wales and Cornwall moved to Brittany France creating a new language that is still spoken there today. -
700
Anglo Saxon
Said changes in immigration and movement patterns created a language that was predominately Anglo Saxon with a few words from Celtic origin as well. That Language is known as Old English -
750
Percentages
At this time Old English had evolved past the original dialect of the Anglo Saxons into something more diverse. Impressively out of 1000 of the most common words used today 80% of them originate from Old English. 30% of those 1000 originate from the Anglo Saxon speech. -
800
Vikings
Starting in the 8th century Vikings began taking over land in Northeast England -
900
Beowulf's writing
Beowulf was an Anglo Saxon Poet who remained anonymous during his writing. The Document is written in Old English and the story is set in Scandinavia in the 6th century. -
1000
Middle English
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1050
Normans Invasion
William the conqueror invaded England with his armies( The Normans) in 1066. This change resulted in somewhat of a language barrier created by the invaders. The upper class spoke French and the lower class stuck to their native language English. Eventually the two languages began to mix creating words with French roots and vice versa, this new dialect is known as Middle English. -
1100
Bilingual
Due to the language disconnect cause by the Norman invasion England remained a Bilingual state for 200 years until French words began to assert themselves into the English language. -
1300
Hundred Years war
During the mid 1300s England enacted a parliament that made it so all lawsuits be conducted in English rather than French. This change shifted the main language in England to English. -
1400
The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer was a writer during these times who published a collection of 24 stories known as the Canterbury Tales. The main purpose of these stories was to criticize the hypocrisy of the church at the time. -
1440
Printing Press
The Printing Press is arguably one of the most important inventions ever. Created in 1440 the Printing Press allowed for millions of Europeans to become literate, something exclusive to the rich at the time. -
1500
The Great Vowel Shift
Due to the invention of the printing press spelling shifted to include more pronunciation and changed many of the core consonants to fit. -
Shakespeare
William Shakespeare is arguably one of the most popular playwrights of all time. His First Folio was published in 1623 -
American History
It took a while for the discovery of America to warrant new European life. In 1630 Jamestown was the first European settlement on American soil. Because of this disconnect a new type of English was formed with differences mainly in pronunciation and punctuation. -
Early Modern English
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The Age of Reason
The Period from 1650 to 1800 is known as the Age of Reason for two reasons. This time focused heavily on order and standardization. Spelling reforms that came along with the Great Vowel Shift helped shape early modern English into the language that we use every day -
19th Century English
This p[period focused on standardization more than anything, Grammar was standardized and the dialect from the United states started making its way back to the United Kingdom -
Modern English
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Technology
Technology at this time has reached an all time peak, The first I Mac computer has just been released two years prior and the internet is just taking off. Introducing millions of people worldwide to knowledge that they never would've had now at their fingertips. Including literature, Books, and classes all designed to help improve intellect and language skills. -
2012
In 2012 hundreds of new words and phrases were added to Webster's dictionary and that number continues to grow every year. Most new words are rewritten versions of old ones with a new meaning but this shows that our language is still evolving and will continue to do so.