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401
Tribes invade and bring a new language to Britain
Three Germanic tribes invaded Britain, (who then spoke a Celtic language,) bringing a brand new language to Britain called Englisc. -
Period: 450 to 1100
Old English
This is the era of the language of the Angelo-Saxons. The language had a very Germanic vocabulary but was much different from Modern English. -
500
Battle of Mons Badoncus
The result from this battle was strategic British victory and Saxon expansion was stopped for many decades. -
597
The coming of Christianity and Literacy
St. Augustine and his forty missionaries from Rome brought Christianity to the Angelo-Saxons and England. The first known written English sentence is "This she-wolf is a reward to my kinsman." -
793
Viking Expansion
Vikings from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway began raiding the East Coast of Britain. The vikings spoke Old Norse and the language was slowly merging into the English language. -
1066
The Norman Invasion
The Norman Invasion transformed the English language, French was the language of power and nobility and then after the invasion, English became the main language again but many French words were brought with it. -
Period: 1100 to 1500
Middle English
The language families of this period were; Germanic languages, Indo-European languages, Anglic languages, and North Sea Germanic. The region this period was in was in England and the language was developed from Early-Modern English era. -
1209
University of Cambridge is formed
The University of Cambridge was formed by scholars from Oxford, the scholars wanted to migrate to Cambridge to escape hostile townsmen. -
1349
Black Death
1/3 of English population dies from black death. There were low hygiene standards at the time, so the disease spread like a wildfire. -
1387
Chaucer's Canterbury Tales
The Canterbury Tales are a collection of twenty four stories written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer. -
1440
The invention of the Printing Press
The invention of the printing press had a huge impact on the English language, the printing press was responsible for standardizing languages across Europe. -
1442
The discovery of North America
Leif Erikson is believed to have reached Newfoundland first and had named the discovery Vinland. However, before the 400's Asians had crossed the Bering Straight into Alaska. There have been many different discoveries. -
1455
War of Roses
The War of Roses is named after two two houses which symbols were the red rose for the Lancaster House and the white rose for the House of York.The Lancaster House won and the Tudor reign began. The Tudor reign led England into more focus on literature and education. -
Period: 1500 to
Early Modern English
One of the major factors that separates Middle English and Modern English is a change in pronunciation and vowel sounds. Long vowel sounds were beginning to sound higher. -
The English Renaissance
The English Renaissance brought thousands of new words into the Latin language that was used at the time. A large number of classical work was being translated into English and there was a huge scholar rivalry during this time. -
The publication of Shakespeare's First Folio
The First Folio is a collection of Shakespeare's plays that were published seven years after his death.Thirty six of his plays are included in the First Folio. -
The Great Vowel Shift
The Great Vowel Shift is one of the largest factors that separates Middle English from Modern English. -
The American Revolution
The American Revolution started because of colonial tensions between Britain and American colonies. Fortunately the American colonies won their independence from Britain, becoming The United States of America. -
International Trade
International trade was expanding tremendously and many different languages were introduced such as; Finnish, Persian, Arabic, Chinese, and much more. -
Period: to
Late Modern English
The industrial revolution and the rise of the British Empire both helped Late Modern English accumulate many new words. -
Period: to
The First World War and WW2
The first and second wold wars added many new words and "slang" phrases such as; Booby trap, basket case, zigzag, etc.
