The History of the English Language

Created by Judika Webb

BA English

MA Professional Writing and Rhetoric

The Major Periods of the English Language

Proto English, Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, Early Modern, Modern

Pre-historic Periods of History in General

• Pre-historic Britian ( Human occupation of Britian)

• The Palaeolithic Old Stone Age – Lower Palaeolithic (up to 250,000

years ago)– Middle Palaeolithic – Upper Palaeolithic

• Mesolithic (around 10,000 to 5500 years ago)– The Mesolithic-Neolithic transition

• The Neolithic -New Stone Age (around 4000 – 2000 BC)

• The Bronze Age (around 2200 to 750 BC)

• The Iron Age (around 750 BC – 43 AD) 

skull from a homo heidelbergensis man

We have no idea what people sounded like in this period since they left no writings, or we have yet to find them.

Pre-historic Man

Proto-English (before English)

• Proto English • Unknown -Celtic• Celts- traced back to the iron age• no written documents• from Gallatia to Ireland• Distribution of Celts 6th century to 3rd century BC• Modern versions of Celtic still exist today in parts of Wales

and Ireland • 55 B.C. Romans - This was the first recorded instance of

the Romans being in England, but they did not conquer England until 78-85 A.D. They stayed in control of the island for 300 years.

• 4th century and 449 Saxons - They were the most prominent group of the Germanic tribes that invaded England. The other two main tribes were the Angles and the Jutes. The word England is derived from the word Angles (Engles).

The Futhark

Anglo-Saxon/Old English• OLD ENGLISH (450-1150) • 597 St. Augustine - He wanted to convert Britain to Christianity.

This influenced the English language because it introduced many new religious words and concepts to the English people. These words were based on examples from Latin and Greek. These two classic languages brought a large influence to the English tongue.

• 731 Bede - He was known as the Venerable. He wrote Ecclesiastical History of the English People to help teach the people about their history.

• 787-1042 Vikings - The Vikings invaded Britain in three different stages: The first, second and third wave

• 1042 Edward the Confessor - He was the son of Aethelred. He grew up in France. When he was restored to the English throne he wanted to incorporate many of the French ways and give high positions to his Norman friends.

• 1066 Norman Invasion. William (William the Conqueror), the Duke of Normandy defeats King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings

• For an example of Anglo-Saxon language go to our Webliography. Also hear Anglo-Saxon English on our e-companion

Anglo-Saxon Literature• Extant manuscripts• In total there are about 400 surviving manuscripts

containing Old English text, 189 of them considered major. These manuscripts have been highly prized by collectors since the 16th century, both for their historic value and for their aesthetic beauty of uniformly spaced letters and decorative elements.

• There are four major manuscripts:• The Junius manuscript, also known as the Caedmon

manuscript, which is an illustrated poetic anthology. • The Exeter Book, also an anthology, located in the

Exeter Cathedral since it was donated there in the 11th century.

• The Vercelli Book, a mix of poetry and prose; how it came to be in Vercelli, Italy, no one knows, and is a matter of debate.

• The Nowell Codex, also a mixture of poetry and prose. This is the manuscript that contains Beowulf.

Beowulf

• http://faculty.virginia.edu/OldEnglish/Beowulf.Readings/Beowulf.Readings.html

Dream of the Rood

Dream of the Rood

Middle EnglishMIDDLE ENGLISH (1150-1500)

•1204 The Hundred Years' War - A war between England and France. It had a significant impact on the development of English because France became the enemy. The English people didn't want to use French words or terms anymore so the upper class began to want to learn and speak English. •1342-1400 William Chaucer writes the Canterbury Tales•1348 The Black Death - The disease that killed a vast majority of the people. It had a significant impact on the development of English because since so many people died there was a shortage of laborers. Because laborers were valued more, their language became more important too. The lower class moved up to the middle class and brought their language to a higher status too. •1362 Statute of Pleading - This law is the official recognition of the English language in England. Parliament was opened with its first speech made in English in this year.

The Canterbury Tales

Modern English

• MODERN ENGLISH (1500-present) • 1564-1616 William Shakespeare • 1604 Cawdry - He wrote the first

dictionary of English words. • 1620- Separatists from South

Hampton, England sail to the New World

 

Pilgrims come to America