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The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar
languages, which in Britain developed into
what we now call Old English. Old English
did not sound or look like English today.
Native English speakers now would have
great difficulty understanding Old English.
Nevertheless, about half of the most
commonly used words in Modern English
have Old English roots. The words be, strong
and water, for example, derive from Old
English. Old English was spoken until around
1100. -
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In 1066 W. the Conqueror, the Duke of
Normandy (part of modern France), invaded
and conquered England. The new conquerors
(called the Normans) brought with them a
kind of French, which became the language of
the Royal Court, and the ruling and business
classes. For a period there was a kind of
linguistic class division, where the lower
classes spoke English and the upper classes
spoke French. In the 14th century English
became dominant in Britain again, but with
many French words added. -
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From the 16th century the British had contact with
many peoples from around the world. This,
and the Renaissance of Classical learning,
meant that many new words and phrases
entered the language. The invention of
printing also meant that there was now a
common language in print. Books became
cheaper and more people learned to read.
Spelling and grammar became fixed,
and the dialect of London became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was
published. -
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The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary.
Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the
Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British
Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language
adopted foreign words from many countries. -
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