A Brief Time-line of the

English Language
English is notorious for its odd spellings and pronunciations.
Knowing about a few key events will help you understand why,
English is a hodgepodge of many languages!

C.6000B.C.
The English channel is formed, cutting
off the British Isles from mainland
Europe.

C.500B.C.
The Celts begin to colonize Britain.
Words of Celtic origin in Modern
English: bog, clan, crag, glen, pet,
slew, slogan, trousers.

55 B.C.

First Roman invasion of

Britain. Rome ends up
occupying Britain for about
500 years.

C.450
Germanic Anglo-Saxon tribes begin
to inhabit British Isles, and the
English language is born!
Words of Anglo-Saxon origin in
Modern English:
arm,dark,forgive,house,laugh,man,
pillow,read,strong,town,woman,year.

C.450-480
Earliest Old English
inscriptions

597

The Anglo-Saxons start converting to

Christianity, and English starts
adopting new words from Latin, such
as: angel,candle,hymn,lobster,martyr,
plant,noon,school,sock.

792

British first undergoes raids

from the 'Vikings', giving
English words from Old norse:
bull,club,law,ransack,reindeer,
slaughter,wing.

1066
The Norman conquest.
William the conqueror invades
Britain and Britain’s nobility
speaks French for over 300 years.
Words to English from French:
aisle,beef,castle,clock,music,
trumpet,villain and war.
 C.1350-1500
The Great Vowel Shift
The pronunciation of long
vowel sounds changes in
English.

C.1590

William Shakespeare begins writing

plays. Shakespeare coins almost
2,000 new words in English, like:
anchovy,domineering,gloomy,invest
ment,luggage,cant,stealthy

1607
Jamestown becomes the first
english settlement in the Americas
, britian would go on to create
settlements the world over, and
each are would make its own
contributions to English.
Some of the examples are: Avatar
(from india), kangaroo (from
Australia), zombie (from West
Africa).

1755
Samuel Johnson publishes his
Dictionary of the English
language, which becomes the first
widely used book of its kind.
Dr.Johnson is responsible for
many spellings in Modern English.

2015

The Oxford English

Dictionary honors an
emoji as its Word of
the year.