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The arrival of three Germanic tribes, the Angles, Saxons and Jutes settling in Britain establishes the beginning of the English language. The settlers slowly began dispersing the Celts
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Old English nouns had three genders (male, female and neuter) and adjectives could have up to eleven forms.
Many common words in English today have their roots in Old English. For example: water, earth, house, food, drink, sleep.
Examples:
‘‘knee’’ from cneow/cneo: association with the Classical Latin genu
‘‘neck’’ from hneccan: t -
The earliest Old English Inscriptions are documented during this time period
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The Roman Empire ruled much of Europe until 476. This control influenced the language resulting in Latin being the predominate language in Britain. Celctic and Germanic languages were also influencers.
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An Old English poet of who composed Christian poetry in English; this was an influential piece for the English language
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Beowulf is referenced as an example of Old English that was already developed into poetic language at this time.,
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Alfred the Great becomes the King of Wessex. Alfred encourages English prose and translation of English works. This is also the time that "The Anglo Saxon Chronicle" is begun; this is discontinued in 1154. Alfred is often recognized as one of the originators of the "public school"
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Due to this conquest, French words began integrating and influencing English words. This often recognized as the catalyst from Old to Middle English. This invasion began influencing English with French words. There also became a language shift from commoners who spoke English and the affluent who spoke French. This french influence plays a part in the evolution of the next phase in the English language
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Middle English had different morphology and syntax compared to Old English. Pronouns changes and agreement on verbs simplifies.
Other Examples:‘‘knuckle’’ from knokel, and ‘‘shoulder-blade’’ from shudre-blade. Throughout the Middle English period, consonants were pronounced, so that the word knight would have been pronounced more like “k-neecht”. By the late 14th Century, the final “e” in many words were no longer pronounced, and silent in words like kowthe, but pronounced in ende. -
The oldest surviving manuscripts date back to this time
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The oldest English speaking university; began to see an increase in general literacy
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King John losing Normandy and the English Throne, resulted in a shift from English and a greater influence of the French language and culture
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This war created an association with "French" being the enemy, making room for greater usage and integration of the English language
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The Black Death killed a large portion of the English population, which included those who primarily spoke Latin. After the plague the English-speaking merchant classes grew in economic and social status and, within a short amount of time, the linguistic division between nobility and commoners declined
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The Statute of Pleading replaces French with English as the language of law
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English is used in English Parliament for the first time
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John Wycliff, a theologian, publishes the first English translation of the Bible. This is considered as an English milestone
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English replaces Latin as the main language in schools with the exception of Oxford and Cambridge
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Chaucer begins the famous literary novel "The Canterbury Tales" and elects to write this in English
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Henry VII becomes the first English speaking monarch since before the conquest
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Chancery begins writing scribes in English
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The printing press resulted in an opportunity to print works at a more rapid rate and reaching a greater audience. Books became less expensive, leading to more people learning to read English. This eventually led to to spelling and grammar being fixed.
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Primarily these were being printed in the 1500s. The majority of the books were theologian, followed by literary and legal
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The Great Vowel Shift was a large change affecting the long vowels of English
For example:
Long vowels: a,e,i,o,u to e,i,aj,aw,u -
The Era of the Renaissance introduced many new words and phrases into the English language. It was a cultural and artistic time period.
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After 1500 the first English dictionary was created; however, there still were irregularities in the English Spelling system
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Literacy was already rapidly expanding in the Middle England period. These books included sheets of music, almanacs and cookbooks
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This is the time period many historians believe when the more radical changes occurred in Middle English. Middle English was still however, very free from syntax compared to what was developed in Modern English
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This was when the shift began from Middle English to Early Modern. Defining moments that led to this were the Glorious Revolution and the Reformation
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William Tyndale translates the first version of the New Testament
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Many books, such as Montaigne, began to be translated in English.
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Shakespeare begins writing his plays
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Due to high exploration, trade, wars, forced and voluntary migration, the use of the English language began to spread past Britain. This first impacted the Americas and Australia, followed by British Prioners sent to the West Indies in 1620
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This was the start of what is referred to as the Golden Age of Literature. It ran from the 16th-18th century
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By the end of the 16th Century, English had finally become widely accepted as a language of learning, equal if not superior to the classical languages. Vernacular language, once scorned as suitable for popular literature and little else - and still criticized throughout much of Europe as crude, limited and immature - had become recognized for its inherent qualities.
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The first published English dictionaries
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The “King James Bible” was compiled by 54 scholars and published in 1611. It is often considered as conservative, often even backward in both vocabulary and grammar. ex. digged for dug, gat and gotten for got, bare for bore, spake for spoke
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The publication of the Daily Courant is published in London
