HISTORY OF ENGLISH

LANGUAGE
493 Najd
HISTORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
 The English language belongs to the West Germanic
branch of the Indo-European family of languages. The
closest undoubted living relatives of English are Scots
and Frisian. Frisian is a language spoken by
approximately half a million people in the Dutch
province of Friesland, in nearby areas of Germany, and
on a few islands in the North Sea.
HISTORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE
 The history of the English language has traditionally
been divided into three main periods: Old English (450-
1100 AD), Middle English (1100-circa 1500 AD) and
Modern English (since 1500). Over the centuries, the
English language has been influenced by a number of
other languages.
OLD ENGLISH (450 - 1100 AD):
 Old English (450 - 1100 AD): During the 5th Century
AD, three Germanic tribes (Saxons, Angles, and Jutes)
came to the British Isles from various parts of northwest
Germany as well as Denmark. These tribes were warlike
and pushed out most of the original, Celtic-speaking
inhabitants from England into Scotland, Wales, and
Cornwall. One group migrated to the Brittany Coast of
France where their descendants still speak the Celtic
Language of Breton today.
OLD ENGLISH (450 - 1100 AD):
 Through the years, the Saxons, Angles and Jutes mixed
their different Germanic dialects. This group of dialects
forms what linguists refer to as Old English or Anglo-
Saxon. The word "English" was in Old English
"Englisc", and that comes from the name of the Angles.
The Angles were named from Engle, their land of origin.
OLD ENGLISH (450 - 1100 AD):
 Before the Saxons the language spoken in what is now
England was a mixture of Latin and various Celtic
languages which were spoken before the Romans came
to Britain (54-5BC). The Romans brought Latin to
Britain, which was part of the Roman Empire for over
400 years. Many of the words passed on from this era are
those coined by Roman merchants and soldiers. These
include win (wine), candel (candle), belt (belt), weall
(wall). ("Language Timeline", The British Library
Board)
OLD ENGLISH (450 - 1100 AD):

 The influence of Celtic upon Old English was slight. In

fact, very few Celtic words have lived on in the English
language. But many of place and river names have Celtic
origins: Kent, York, Dover, Cumberland, Thames, Avon,
Trent, Severn.
OLD ENGLISH (450 - 1100 AD):
 The arrival of St. Augustine in 597 and the introduction
of Christianity into Saxon England brought more Latin
words into the English language. They were mostly
concerned with the naming of Church dignitaries,
ceremonies, etc. Some, such as church, bishop, baptism,
monk, eucharist and presbyter came indirectly through
Latin from the Greek.
OLD ENGLISH (450 - 1100 AD):
 Around 878 AD Danes and Norsemen, also called
Vikings, invaded the country and English got many
Norse words into the language, particularly in the north
of England. The Vikings, being Scandinavian, spoke a
language (Old Norse) which, in origin at least, was just
as Germanic as Old English/
OLD ENGLISH (450 - 1100 AD):
 Words derived from Norse include: sky, egg, cake, skin,
leg, window (wind eye), husband, fellow, skill, anger,
flat, odd, ugly, get, give, take, raise, call, die, they, their,
them. ("The Origin and History of the English
Language", Kryss Katsiavriades)
OLD ENGLISH (450 - 1100 AD):
 Several written works have survived from the Old
English period. The most famous is a heroic epic poem
called "Beowulf". It is the oldest known English poem
and it is notable for its length - 3,183 lines. Experts say
"Beowulf" was written in Britain more than one thousand
years ago. The name of the person who wrote it is
unknown.
PART OF BEOWULF, A POEM WRITTEN IN
OLD ENGLISH
MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100-CIRCA 1500 AD):
 Middle English (1100-circa 1500 AD): After William
the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded and
conquered England in 1066 AD with his armies and
became king, he brought his nobles, who spoke French,
to be the new government. The Old French took over as
the language of the court, administration, and culture.
Latin was mostly used for written language, especially
that of the Church. Meanwhile, the English language, as
the language of the now lower class, was considered a
vulgar tongue.
MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100-CIRCA 1500
AD):
 By about 1200, England and France had split. English
changed a lot, because it was mostly being spoken
instead of written for about 300 years. The use of Old
English came back, but with many French words added.
This language is called Middle English. Most of the
words embedded in the English vocabulary are words of
power, such as crown, castle, court, parliament, army,
mansion, gown, beauty, banquet, art, poet, romance,
duke, servant, peasant, traitor and governor. ("Language
Timeline", The British Library Board)
MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100-CIRCA 1500 AD):
 Because the English underclass cooked for the Norman
upper class, the words for most domestic animals are
English (ox, cow, calf, sheep, swine, deer) while the
words for the meats derived from them are French (beef,
veal, mutton, pork, bacon, venison). ("The Origin and
History of the English Language", Kryss Katsiavriades
MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100-CIRCA 1500
AD):
 The most famous example of Middle English is
Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", a collection of stories
about a group of thirty people who travel as pilgrims to
Canterbury, England. The portraits that he paints in his
Tales give us an idea of what life was like in fourteenth
century England.
AN EXAMPLE OF MIDDLE ENGLISH BY
CHAUCER
MODERN ENGLISH (1500 TO THE
PRESENT):
 Modern English (1500 to the present): Modern English
developed after William Caxton established his printing
press at Westminster Abbey in 1476. Johann Gutenberg
invented the printing press in Germany around 1450, but
Caxton set up England's first press. The Bible and some
valuable manuscripts were printed. The invention of the
printing press made books available to more people. The
books became cheaper and more people learned to read.
Printing also brought standardization to English.
MODERN ENGLISH (1500 TO THE
PRESENT):
 By the time of Shakespeare's writings (1592-1616), the
language had become clearly recognizable as Modern
English. There were three big developments in the world
at the beginning of Modern English period: the
Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, and the British
Colonialism.
HAMLET'S FAMOUS "TO BE, OR NOT TO BE"
LINES, BY SHAKESPEARE.
ENGLISH RENAISSANCE
 It was during the English Renaissance that most of the
words from Greek and Latin entered English. This period
in English cultural history (early 16th century to the
early 17th century) is sometimes referred to as "the age
of Shakespeare" or "the Elizabethan era", taking the
name of the English Renaissance's most famous author
and most important monarch, respectively.
THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
 England began the Industrial Revolution (18th century)
and this had also an effect on the development of the
language as new words had to be invented or existing
ones modified to cope with the rapid changes in
technology.

 New technical words were added to the vocabulary as

inventors designed various products and machinery.
These words were named after the inventor or given the
name of their choice (trains, engine, pulleys,
combustion, electricity, telephone, telegraph, camera
etc).
BRITISH COLONIALISM
 Britain was an Empire for 200 years between the 18th
and 20th centuries and English language continued to
change as the British Empire moved across the world - to
the USA, Australia, New Zealand, India, Asia and Africa.

 They sent people to settle and live in their conquered

places and as settlers interacted with natives, new words
were added to the English vocabulary. For example,
'kangaroo' and 'boomerang' are native Australian
Aborigine words, 'juggernaut' and 'turban' came from
India.
AMERICAN ENGLISH AND OTHER
VARIETIES
 English colonization of North America and the
subsequent creation of American English. Some
pronunciations and usages "froze" when they reached the
American shore. In certain respects, some varieties of
American English are closer to the English of
Shakespeare than modern Standard English ('English
English' or as it is often incorrectly termed 'British
English') is.
AMERICAN ENGLISH AND OTHER
VARIETIES

 Some "Americanisms" are actually originally English:

English expressions that were preserved in the colonies
while lost at home (e.g., fall as a synonym for autumn,
trash for rubbish, and loan as a verb instead of lend).

 The American dialect also served as the route of

introduction for many native American words into the
English language. Most often, these were place names
like Mississippi and Iowa.
AMERICAN ENGLISH AND OTHER
VARIETIES
 Spanish has also been great influence on American
English. Mustang, canyon, ranch, stampede, and
vigilante are all examples of Spanish words that made
their way into English through the settlement of the
American West. A lesser number of words have entered
American English from French and West African
languages.
AMERICAN ENGLISH AND OTHER
VARIETIES
 Likewise dialects of English have developed in many of
the former colonies of the British Empire. There are
distinct forms of the English language spoken in
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and many
other parts of the world.