History ENG Lang Final Product

The History of English
FIRST SEMESTER
INTRODUCTION Lesson
1
Orientation about course programme, discussion assessment methods
This course is organised in a cyclical way. Its basic theme, the history and origins of
the English language, is presented a number of times, each time going into more detail and
at each consecutive cycle, more is explained about interesting features and events that may
increase your understanding of the way in which this language developed.
Unit 1 will therefore only present major historical facts and events. But as we
proceed during the course, more attention will be given to (socio-)linguistic aspects and
socio-economic implications of the major role English as a language has started to play in
our modern world.
UNIT 1 Lesson
2
Short History of Origins of English Language – Old English
Sources: www.englishclub.com/English-language history.htm
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/page/thehistoryofeng
The Anglo-Saxon Settlement
It's never easy to pinpoint exactly when a specific language

began, but in the case of English we can at least say that there is little
sense in speaking of the English language as a separate entity before
the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain. The Celts were already resident in
Britain when the Anglo-Saxons arrived, but there are few obvious
traces of their language in English today. Some scholars have
suggested that the Celtic tongue might have had an underlying
influence on the grammatical development of English, particularly in
some parts of the country, but this is highly speculative. The number of loanwords known
for certain to have entered Old English from this source is very small. Those that survive in
modern English include brock (badger), and coomb a type of valley, alongside many place
names.
Little is known of this period with any certainty, but we do know that Germanic
invaders came and settled in Britain from the north-western coastline of continental Europe
in the fifth and sixth centuries. The invaders all spoke a language that was Germanic
(related to what emerged as Dutch, Frisian, German and the Scandinavian languages, and
to Gothic), but we'll probably never know how different their speech was from that of their
continental neighbours. However it is fairly certain that many of the settlers would have
spoken in exactly the same way as some of their north European neighbours, and that not
all of the settlers would have spoken in the same way.
Erik Vermeulen Page 1

The reason that we know so little about the linguistic situation in this period is
because we do not have much in the way of written records from any of the Germanic
languages of north-western Europe until several centuries later. When Old English writings
begin to appear in the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries there is a good deal of regional
variation, but not substantially more than that found in later periods. This was the language
that King Alfred the Great referred to as ‘English’ in the ninth century.
QUESTIONS:
A. About when can we say did the history of the language called “English” begin and
where?
B. Why do we know so little about the early period of “Old English”?
C. When and who first mentioned this language in writing, referring to it as “English”?
UNIT 1 Lesson
3
Short History of Origins of English Language – Old English
Old English (450-1100 AD)
So, the history of the English language really started with the arrival of three
Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles,
the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern
Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the
Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now
Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from Englaland and their language was
called Englisc - from which the words England and English are derived.
Germanic invaders entered Britain on the east

and south coasts in the 5th century.
The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed
into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today.
Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English.
Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old
English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old
English was spoken until around 1100.

The Scandinavian Settlements

The next invaders were the Norsemen. From the middle of the
ninth century large numbers of Norse invaders settled in Britain,
particularly in northern and eastern areas, and in the eleventh century
the whole of England had a Danish king, Canute. The distinct North
Germanic speech of the Norsemen had great influence on English,
most obviously seen in the words that English has borrowed from this
source. These include some very basic words such as take and even
grammatical words such as they. The common Germanic base of the
two languages meant that there were still many similarities between
Old English and the language of the invaders. Some words, for example give, perhaps show
a kind of hybridization with some spellings going back to Old English and others being
Norse in origin. However, the resemblances between the two languages are so great that in
many cases it is impossible to be sure of the exact ancestry of a particular word or spelling.
However, much of the influence of Norse, including the vast majority of the loanwords, does
not appear in written English until after the next great historical and cultural upheaval, the
Norman Conquest.
QUESTIONS:
A. Who were the first speakers of this language “Old English” and where did they come
from?
B. What language(s) was this “Old English” probably quite similar to?
C. When these Germanic invaders arrived in Britain who were already living there?
D. Are there many traces of these older people’s language left in English today?
(Explain.)
E. How does the English you are learning today compare to this much older form of
English?
F. Are there any roots of this Old English left in present-day English? (Examples,
please.)
G. The there was a second wave of invaders. Who were they and where did they come
from?
H. Explain why the language spoken by these new invaders was quite similar to the
language spoken by the first group of invaders?
I. Give examples of words in present day English that come from this second group.
UNIT 1 Lesson
4
Short History of Origins of English Language – Middle English and Modern English
Middle English (1100-1500)

In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France),
invaded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with
them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and
business classes. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower
classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French.

In the 14th century English became dominant

in Britain again, but with many French words
added. This language is called Middle
English. It was the language of the great poet
Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be
difficult for native English speakers to
understand today.
1066 and after
The centuries after the Norman Conquest witnessed enormous

changes in the English language. In the course of what is called the
Middle English period, the fairly rich inflectional system of Old English
broke down. It was replaced by what is broadly speaking, the same
system English has today, which unlike Old English makes very little
use of distinctive word endings in the grammar of the language. The
vocabulary of English also changed enormously, with tremendous
numbers of borrowings from French and Latin, in addition to the
Scandinavian loanwords already mentioned, which were slowly
starting to appear in the written language.
Old English, like German today, showed a tendency to find native equivalents for
foreign words and phrases (although both Old English and modern German show plenty of
loanwords), whereas Middle English acquired the habit that modern English retains today of
readily accommodating foreign words. Trilingualism in English, French, and Latin was
common in theorlds of business and the professions, with words crossing over from one
language to another with ease. You only have to flick through the etymologies of any English
dictionary to get an impression of the huge number of words entering English from French
and Latin during the later medieval period. This trend was set to continue into the early
modern period with the explosion of interest in the writings of the ancient world.
QUESTIONS:
A. Who was responsible for the third invasion that was to change this older form of
English profoundly and where did these people come from?
B. Explain about the language they spoke (similar to..?) and how did it divide the
society in Britain?
C. When was the language that was spoken by the lower classes restored back to its
original position of the dominant language?
D. It developed into a variety that we now refer to as Middle English. Compare Old with
Middle English in terms of grammar and vocabulary. (You may compare Old English
with German today to explain in what way Old English was different from the variety
that it developed into: Middle English.)
E. Who was a great poet/writer in those days?

Hamlet's famous "To be, or not to be"
lines, written in Early Modern English by
Shakespeare.To be, or not to be, that is the
question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep;
To sleep, perchance to dream – ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause – there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong
F. Are any of the sentences in the passage from this poet comprehensible to you? Can
you try to “translate” some of it in present-day English?
UNIT 1 Lesson
5
Short History of Origins of English
Language – Modern English & Varieties
of English
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation
(the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From
the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the world. This, and
the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the
language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in
print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought
standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London,
where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English
dictionary was published.
Late Modern English (1800-Present)
The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is
vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors:
firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly,
the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English
language adopted foreign words from many countries.
Standardization
The late medieval and early modern periods saw a fairly steady
process of standardization in English south of the Scottish border. The
written and spoken language of London continued to evolve and
gradually began to have a greater influence in the country at large. For

most of the Middle English period a dialect was simply what was spoken in a particular area,
which would normally be more or less represented in writing - although where and from
whom the writer had learnt how to write were also important.
It was only when the broadly London standard began to dominate, especially
through the new technology of printing, that the other regional varieties of the language
began to be seen as different in kind. As the London standard became used more widely,
especially in more formal contexts and particularly amongst the more elevated members of
society, the other regional varieties came to be stigmatized, as lacking social prestige and
indicating a lack of education.
In the same period a series of changes also occurred in English pronunciation
(though not uniformly in all dialects), which go under the collective name of the Great Vowel
Shift. These were purely linguistic ‘sound changes’ which occur in every language in every
period of history. The changes in pronunciation weren’t the result of specific social or
historical factors, but social and historical factors would have helped to spread the results
of the changes. As a result the so-called ‘pure’ vowel sounds which still characterize many
continental languages were lost to English. The phonetic pairings of most long and short
vowel sounds were also lost, which gave rise to many of the oddities of English
pronunciation, and which now obscure the relationships between many English words and
their foreign counterparts.
QUESTIONS:
A. How and when did the pronunciation of Middle English change dramatically in a
relatively short period?
B. What historical events caused the adaptation of many new words?
C. What caused the language to become rapidly standardised (in terms of spelling and
other language features)?
D. What dialect became the model for English throughout the country and why?
E. How did early modern English differ from later modern English? What factors
caused these changes?
UNIT 1 Lesson
6
Short History of Origins of English Language – Colonisation and Globalisation
Colonization and Globalization

During the medieval and early modern periods the influence of
English spread throughout the British Isles, and from the early seventeenth
century onwards its influence began to be felt throughout the world. The
complex processes of exploration, colonization and overseas trade that
characterized Britain’s external relations for several centuries led to
significant change in English. Words were absorbed from all over the
world, often via the languages of other trading and imperial nations such as
Spain, Portugal and the Netherlands. At the same time, new varieties of English emerged,
each with their own nuances of vocabulary and grammar and their own distinct
pronunciations. More recently still, English has become a lingua franca, a global language,
regularly used and understood by many nations for whom English is not their first language.
The eventual effects on the English language of both of these developments can only be
guessed at today, but there can be little doubt that they will be as important as anything that
has happened

Varieties of English
From around 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the
creation of a distinct American variety of English. Some English pronunciations and words
"froze" when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the
English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some expressions that the British
call "Americanisms" are in fact original British expressions that were preserved in the
colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example trash for rubbish, loanas a verb instead
of lend, and fall for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re-imported into Britain
through Hollywood gangster movies). Spanish also had an influence on American English
(and subsequently British English), with words
like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante being examples of Spanish words that entered
English through the settlement of the American West. French words (through Louisiana)
and West African words (through the slave trade) also influenced American English (and so,
to an extent, British English).
Today, American English is particularly influential, due to the USA's dominance of

cinema, television, popular music, trade and technology (including the Internet). But there
are many other varieties of English around the world, including for example Australian
English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and
Caribbean English.
QUESTIONS:
A. When did English first become to be used far beyond its original regions (the British
Isles) and started to be spread by many users all over the world?
B. From what other languages did English absorb new vocabulary during the period of
the colonisation of America, and later Africa and parts of Asia?
C. What major effect did the colonisation of America have on the language?
D. Name a few other varieties of English that have become at least as important as
British English today.
TEST 1 Lesson
7
UNIT 2 Lesson
8
More Detailed History of English – Introduction , The Celtic, Roman Presence
Source: http://www.sk.com.br/sk-enhis.html
INTRODUCTION
The English language is the result of a complex
history and rooted in a very distant past.
There is evidence of human presence in the British Isles
since before the last ice age, when they had not
yet separated from the continent and oceans before
forming the English Channel. This recent geological
phenomenon that separated the British Isles from the
mainland, occurred about 7,000 years, also isolated the
people living there of the turbulent motions and the
obscurity that characterized the early Middle Ages in
Europe.

Archaeological sites show that the wetlands that the Romans came to call the
Britannia already housed a thriving culture 8,000 years ago, although little is
known about it.
THE CELTIC
The history of England begins with the Celts. Around 1000 BC, after
many migrations, several dialects of Indo-European languages become
different language groups. This broad family includes most of the European
languages spoken today. The Indo-European family includes several major
branches: Latin and the modern Romance languages (French
etc.); the Germanic languages (English, German, Swedish etc.); the Indo-
Iranian languages (Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit etc.); theSlavic languages (Russian, Polish, Czech
etc.); the Baltic languages of Latvian and Lithuanian; Greek; the Celtic languages (Welsh,
Irish Gaelic etc.).
The Celts originated presumably from people who already lived in

Europe during the Bronze Age. For nearly eight centuries, from 700 BC to
100 AD, the Celtic people inhabited the region now known as Spain, France,
Germany and England. The Celtic became the main language group in
Europe, before eventually the Celts almost totally assimilated into the
Roman Empire.
Prior to the Germanic invasions, Britain was inhabited by various
Celtic tribes who were united by common speech, customs, and religion.
The word “Britain” originated from the name of one of the major Celtic
tribes, the Britons. Each tribe was headed by a king and was divided by
class into Druids (priests), warrior nobles, and commoners. The lack of
political unity made them vulnerable to their enemies. During the first century, Britain was
conquered and subjugated by Rome.
ROMANS’ PRESENCE
In 55 BC and 54 occur the first Roman invasions of recognition, under the personal
command of Julius Caesar. In 44 AD, the time of Emperor Claudius, is the third invasion,
whereupon the main British island is attached to the Roman Empire to the limits with the
Caledonia (now Scotland) and Latin begin to exert influence on the Celtic-Breton
culture. Three and a half centuries of presence of the Roman legions and its merchants,
brought profound influence in the economic, political and social life of the Celtic tribes that
inhabited Britain. Latin words naturally came to be used for many new concepts.
QUESTIONS:
A. How long ago there might have been people living in what we today call Britain?
B. Any idea what the huge rocks in a circle on the photo are called (They are not far
from Oxford; little is known about their purpose but they are assumed to have
something to do with an ancient religion.)
C. Where did the Celts in Britain come from, presumably?
D. Although the Celtic language has little connection or similarity with Old English, if
one goes back far enough there is of course a connection. Explain.
E. In what way were these Celts an easy “prey” for invaders?
F. Who were these Celtic tribes subjugated by first?
G. What effects did the Roman presence have on the Celts?

UNIT 2 Lesson
9
More Detailed History of English – Early migrations and The Anglo-Saxons.
The Anglo-Saxons
Due to the difficulties faced by the Empire in Rome, the Roman legions in 410 AD,
withdrew from Britannia, leaving its inhabitants at the mercy of Celtic enemies (Scots and
Picts). Since Rome no longer had a military force to defend the Celts, they resorted to the
Germanic tribes (Jutes, Angles, Saxons and Frisians) in 449 AD for help. These, however,
opportunistically became invasive, taking in the most fertile areas in the southeast of
Britain, destroying villages and massacring the local population. The Celts, Britons
survivors took refuge in the west. Evidence of violence and disregard for local culture of the
invaders is the fact that almost no traces remained of the Celtic language into English.
Migration of the Germanic speaking people

When Britain gained "independence" from Rome in the year 410 AD, the Roman
legions withdrew leaving the country vulnerable to invaders. Soon after the withdrawal of
Roman troops, inhabitants from the north began attacking the Britons. In response to these
attacks, individual towns sought help from the Foedarati, who were Roman mercenaries of
German origin, for the defense of the northern parts of England. As the legend has been
told, a man named Hengest arrived on the shores of Britain with "3 keels" of warriors in 450
AD. This event is known in Latin as the "adventus Saxonum," or the coming of the Saxons. At
this time, the Foedarati stopped defending Britain and began conquering the territories on
the southern and eastern shores of the country. These invaders drove the Britons to the
north and west. The Saxons called the native Britons, 'wealas', which meant foreigner or
slave, and from this term came the modern word Welsh. Eight to ten years later many British
aristocrats (Celts) and city dwellers began migrating to Brittany, an event known as the
second migration.
Although there were many different Germanic tribes migrating to England, several
stood out from among the others, such as the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians, and Franks.
The Angles migrated from Denmark and the Saxons from northern Germany. There is some
debate as to the exact origin of the Jutes, since linguistic evidence suggests that they came
from the Jutland peninsula, while
archaeological evidence suggests an
origin from one of the northern
Frankish realms near the mouth of the
Rhine river. The Frisians and Franks
migrated mainly from the low
countries (now, the Netherlands) and
north-western Germany.
During the sixth and seventh

centuries these Germanic invaders
started to carve out kingdoms, fighting
both the native Britons and each other
for land. First called Saxons, the
German invaders were later referred
to as Angles, and in the year 601 AD,
the pope referred to Aethelbert of Kent as Rex Anglorum ("king of the Angles"). As time
passed, the differences between the Germanic tribal cultures gradually unified until

eventually they ceased referring to themselves by their individual origins and became
either Anglo-Saxon or
English.
England 650 -750:
As Old English began to evolve, four
major dialects emerged which were
Kentish, spoken by the Jutes, West
Saxon, the Saxon dialect, and
Northumbrian and Mercian, subdivisions
of the dialect spoken by the Angles. By
the 9th century, partly through the
influence of King Alfred, the West Saxon
dialect became prevalent in literature
which aided the dialect's dominance
among scholars.
Soon after the Germanic invasions, the inhabitants

gave their settlements new names. The most common Saxon
place names are those ending in -ton (fenced area), -wick
(dwelling), -ham (home), -worth(homestead), -den(pasture), -
hurst(wooded hill), and -burn(stream). Some settlement
names began with more than one word which either stated
personal possession or described a physical description of
the area and would later evolve into one word. One example
of this evolution would be the word Chatham which was
originally Ceatta's Ham (Ceatta's home).
Source:http://www.anglik.net/anglosaxonmap.htm
German dialects are spoken by the Angles and Saxons who

will lead the English. The word England, for example,
originated from Angle-land (land of the Angles). From there, the history of the English
language is divided into three periods: Old English, Middle English and Modern English . The
second half of the fifth century when the Germanic invasions occurred, marking the
beginning of the period known as Old English .
OLD ENGLISH (500 - 1100 AD)
Old English, also sometimes also called Anglo-Saxon , compared to modern English,
a language is almost unrecognizable, both in pronunciation and vocabulary and
grammar. For a native speaker of English today, the 54 words of the Lord's Prayer in Old
English , less than 15% are recognizable in writing, and probably nothing would be
recognized to be pronounced. The correlation between pronunciation and spelling,
however, was much closer than in modern English. On the grammatical level, the
differences are also substantial. In Old English, and decline nouns have gender (masculine,
feminine and neuter), and the verbs are conjugated:
Translation of Old English Text
Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum; Father our thou that art in heavens
Si þin nama gehalgod be thy name hallowed

to becume þin rice come thy kingdom

gewurþe ðin willa be-done thy will
on eorðan swa swa on heofonum. on earth as in heavens
urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg our daily bread give us today
and forgyf us ure gyltas and forgive us our sins
swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum as we forgive those-who-have-sinned-against-us
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge and not lead thou us into temptation
ac alys us of yfele soþlice but deliver us from evil. truly
QUESTIONS:
A. How in about 410 AD did the Celts themselves cause their own doom: being
dominated by Germanic tribes?
B. How were the Germanic invaders that started terrorising the Celtic tribes linked to
the Romans who since 50 BC had dominated the west of Europe?
C. What main groups invaded Britain and from where?
D. Their languages where in fact as dialects from one and the same basic language.
Explain.
E. Of the dialects that evolved in Britain itself, which became dominant and because of
whom?
F. How is this still evident in the names of many places (towns) in present day Britain?
UNIT 2 Lesson
10
More Detailed History of English - Introduction of Christianity
The Old English language (also called Anglo-Saxon) dates back to 449 CE. The
Celts had been living in England when the Romans invaded. Although they invaded twice,
they did not conquer the Celts until 43 CE and Latin never overtook the Celtic language.
The Romans finally left England in 410 CE as the Roman Empire was collapsing, leaving
the Celts defenseless. Then the Germanic tribes from the present-day area of Denmark
arrived. The four main tribes were the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians. These tribes
set up seven kingdoms called the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy that included: Mercia,
Northumbria, Kent, Wessex, Sussex, Essex, and East Anglia. Four dialects were spoken in
these kingdoms: West Saxon, Kentish, Mercian and Northumbrian. The Celts moved north
to Scotland, west to Ireland and south to France, leaving the main area of Britain.
In 432 AD St Patrick had begun his mission to bring Christianity to the Celtic
population of Ireland. In 597 AD the church sent missionaries led by St Augustine to convert
the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity. The process of Christianization occurred gradually and
peacefully, marking the beginning of the influence of Latin on the German language from the
Anglo-Saxon origin of modern English. This influence occurs in two forms: the introduction
of new vocabulary related to religion and adaptation of the Anglo-Saxon vocabulary to cover
new areas of meaning. The need for reproduction of the biblical texts also represents the
beginning of English literature.
The introduction of Christianity also represented a rejection of elements of Celtic
culture and the same association of witchcraft that the Anglo-Saxons had inherited from the
Celts. The observation today of Halloween on the evening of October 31 is preserved
example of Celtic culture in the view of Christianity.

At that time, Britain was divided into

seven kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon
origin and Old English, then spoken,
actually was not a single language
but a variety of different dialects. The
dialects of Old English before
Christianity were a functional
language to describe facts and meet
the needs of daily
communication. The vocabulary of
the Greco-Latin origin introduced by
Christianization expanded the Anglo-
Saxon language toward abstract
concepts.
After the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, problems arose with the
Celtic Christians (or the Britons). The Celtic church had ceased communication with the
Roman church for almost two centuries and did not practise the new theological ideas
brought to the Anglo-Saxons by Augustine. In particular, they used an older method of
calculating the date on which Easter was to be held. Representatives from the two churches
met with Oswiu, the king of Northumbria, who was then asked to choose between the two
missions. Oswiu chose Rome. Although the Celtic church found favor with some of the later
kings, the Roman church was the more dominant of the two. The largest number of Latin
words was introduced as a result of the spread of Christianity, such as altar, mass, priest,
psalm, temple, kitchen, palm, and pear.
In 731 CE, Bede wrote the "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" in Latin. It
detailed the sophisticated society of the Germanic tribes. They had destroyed the Roman
civilization in England and built their own, while dominance shifted among the kingdoms
beginning with Kent and Northumbria. They aligned with the Celtic clergy and converted
to Christianity. Laws and contracts were written down for a sense of permanence and
control. The Tribal Hidage, a list of subjects who owed tribute to the king, was written
during the Mercian period of power.
QUESTIONS:
A. When and by whom did the Celtic peoples start to be Christianised and where?
B. When did Christianisation of the Anglo-Saxon peoples begin and by whom was it
introduced?
C. How were the Anglo-Saxons politically organised?
D. Did the Anglo-Saxons accept the Christian religion completely and rapidly or was the
transition to Christianity problematic with older cultural influences competing for
dominance? Explain.
E. Can you give an example of a present-day tradition that dates back to the “heathen”
past of the peoples of Britain?
F. What language was used to write the “history” of the people in those days and what
famous document was written?

UNIT 2 Lesson
11
More Detailed History of English – The 8th century and the Scandinavian Invaders
By the late 8th century, the Vikings originating from the western coasts of
Scandinavia initiated attacks against England. These people were using violence and their
attacks caused destruction in many parts of Europe. The Vikings who settled in England
were predominantly from the region now belonging to Denmark and spoke Old Norse , the
ancestor language of Danish. These more than 200 years of Scandinavian presence in
England had an influence on Old English. However, due to the similarity between the two
languages, it is difficult, now, to determine precisely the nature of this influence.
The first major raid by Vikings occurred in the year 793 at the Northumbrian
monastery at Lindisfarne. The Vikings would continue major raids along most of the
southern and eastern coasts of England for a decade. About 40 Scandinavian (Old Norse)
words were introduced into Old English during this period. Words acquired during this
period pertained to the sea and the Scandinavian administrative system. Some examples of
these borrowings are law, take, cut, anger, wrong, freckle, both, ill, ugly, as well as, the
verb form 'are' as in “you are”. They also introduced many new names as they founded new
settlements with endings such as -scale, -beck, -by, and -fell. One example of a settlement
name would be Portinscale or 'Prostitute's hut'.
English Surnames
Anglo-Saxons distinguished between two people with the same name by adding
either the place they came from or the job they did to their first name. Modern surnames
such as Baxter, Baker, Weaver, Fisher, Fowler, Hunter, and Farmer are Anglo-Saxon in
origin. The Vikings had a different way of distinguishing between people of the same name.
They added the name of the person's father or mother to the child's name. As an example,
Harald, the son of Erik would be known as Harald Erik's son, or as we would say it today,
Harald Erikson. Often Viking families alternated the name of the eldest so that Arn
Gunnarsson might be the father and son of Gunnar Arnsson, and the grandfather and
grandson of Arn Gunnarson.
Source:http://www.anglik.net/anglosaxonmap.ht
m
The 9th century
Alfred the Great was the king of Wessex from 871-899 while Wessex was the
dominant kingdom. (see map p. 11) During his reign, he united the kingdoms together and
commissioned the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, a historical record of important events in
England that continued 200 years after his death. Alfred also settled a truce with the Vikings
who repeatedly invaded the area. During this century, the Danes had begun a series of
major raids on the whole of England.
Alfred the Great eventually fought the Vikings to a standstill at Edington which
produced the Treaty of Wedmore in 878 CE. This led to an uneasy peace and the
establishment of the Danelaw. The fighting continued, and in 886 CE, Alfred captured
London from the Danes. The name Engla lande ("the land of the Angles") was used at the
end of this century. The Treaty of Wedmore was signed in 878 CE and this "Danelaw" gave
the northeastern half of England to the Danes for settlement. However, because the
languages were so similar, the Danes quickly assimilated and intermarried into the English
society.
Although the Danes brought their own writing system with them, called the Futhorc, it was
not used in England. It is commonly referred to as Runes. The Insular Hand was the name
of the writing system used in England, and it contained many symbols that are no longer
found in Modern English: the aesc, thorn, edh, yogh and wynn, as well the macron for
distinguishing long vowels. Anglo-Saxon scribes used these 'extra' (non-Latin) letters to

help write down characteristic sounds of that very Germanic language, Old English. Two
of these continued till about 1500. These were the thorn, (þ) and the yogh (ʒ).
QUESTIONS:
A. The Vikings raided Britain in two major waves. Which two and with how many years
between them?
B. What language are these Vikings said to have spoken and where were they from?
What about written forms?
C. What elements in present day English can still be traced back to these Scandinavian
invasions?
D. Explain what “Danelaw” stands for.
E. How was a truce achieved between the second group, the Danes and the Anglo-
Saxons? Who was the architect of this truce and what were the political
consequences for the Anglo-Saxons?
F. Into what did this Scandinavian presence eventually evolve?
UNIT 2 Lesson
12
More Detailed History of English – The Conquest of England by the Normans
Sources: http://www.sk.com.br/sk-enhis.html
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/bayeux.htm
The Conquest of England by the Normans -THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS
King Edward of England (called "The Confessor" because of his

construction of Westminster Abbey) died on January 5, 1066, after a reign
of 23 years. Leaving no heirs, Edward's passing ignited a three-way
rivalry for the crown that culminated in the Battle of Hastings and the
destruction of the Anglo-Saxon rule of England.
The leading pretender was Harold Godwinson, the second most powerful
man in England and an advisor to Edward. Harold and Edward became
brothers-in-law when the king married Harold's sister. Harold's powerful
position, his relationship to Edward and his esteem among his peers made him a logical
successor to the throne. His claim was strengthened when the dying Edward supposedly
uttered "Into Harold's hands I commit my Kingdom." With this kingly endorsement, the
Witan (the council of royal advisors) unanimously selected Harold as King. His coronation
took place the same day as Edward's burial. With the placing of the crown on his head,
Harold's troubles began.
Across the English Channel, William, Duke of Normandy, also laid claim to the
English throne. William justified his claim through his blood relationship with Edward (they
were distant cousins) and by stating that some years earlier, Edward had designated him as
his successor.

William was the bastard son of the Duke of Normandy. His father died when he was
young and he grew up in a chaotic duchy until, in adulthood, he was able to bring the barons
to heel. Through his aunt, he was a cousin of King Edward the Confessor of England who, at
one time, contemplated leaving William the English Crown. Although he later seems to have
changed his mind, as far as William was concerned, England was his. When Edward died,
he crossed the Channel and defeated the English in a miraculous battle near Hastings.
The Battle of Hastings in 1066 was a historic event of great importance in the history
of England. It represented not only a drastic reorganization policy, but also changed the
course of English, marking the beginning of a new era. The battle was fought between the
Norman army, commanded by William, Duke of Normandy (Northern France), and Anglo-
Saxon army led by King Harold, on October 14, 1066.
The bloody battle ended only in the evening; King

Harold and his brothers were killed as were the majority of
the Saxon aristocracy, and a balance from 1500 to 2000
Norman warriors dead and as many or more, on the English
side. William's victory was complete. On Christmas day 1066,
William was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey.
William had won a victory in a few days a feat that the
Romans, Saxons and Danes had fought long and hard for to
achieve. He had conquered a country of one and half million
inhabitants, and probably the richest in Europe at the
time. For this fact was known in history as William the
Conqueror .
The regime which had resulted from the conquest was characterized by
centralization, power, and of course the language of the conquerors: the French dialect
called Norman French . L William himself did not speak English and, upon his death in 1087,
there was not a single region of England that was not controlled by a Norman. He is best
known for giving all the land in England away to his cronies and then the first census ever
undertaken in the country. It was called the Domesday Book. His successors, William II
(1087-1100) and Henry I (1100-1135), spent nearly half their reigns in France and probably
had little knowledge of English.
During the 300 years that followed, mainly in the initial 150 years, the language used
by the aristocracy in England was French. Speaking French then became a condition for
those of Anglo-Saxon origin in search of social ascent through sympathy and favors from
the ruling class.
QUESTIONS:
A. How long did it take William, Duke of Normandy, to conquer Britain and was did he
get the “nickname” the Conqueror”?
B. Some people say that his battle against the English was the outcome of an “error”
made by the English King himself. Explain.
C. When and where was the war fought and how bloody was it?
D. What language did William and his men speak?
E. What was the consequence of this for Anglo-Saxons who sought to rise in society?
F. What about his successors?

UNIT 2 Lesson
13
More Detailed History of English – Middle English
Source: http://www.sk.com.br/sk-
enhis.html
MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100 - 1500)
Old French was the Romance dialect continuum spoken in territories that span
roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of
modern Belgium and Switzerland from the 9th century to the 14th century. It is a direct
descendent of Old Gallo-Romance. Old Gallo-Romance is the ancestral language of
all Gallo-Romance languages, such as French. Old Gallo-Romance contained many features
of Vulgar Latin. The Norman dialect of Normandy was also spread to England and Ireland
after the Normans, led by William the Conqueror, had invaded England.
The most important element of the period that corresponds to the Middle English
was undoubtedly a strong presence and influence of Old French into English. This true
transfusion of culture in French-Norman Anglo-Saxon nation, which lasted three centuries,
resulted in a considerable contribution of vocabulary. This demonstrates that, however
strong may be the influence of one language over another, this influence does not usually go
beyond a vocabulary enrichment, which hardly affects the pronunciation or grammatical
structure of the “affected” language.
The centuries passed and the disputes that kept occurring between the Normans of
the British Isles and the continent caused the emergence of a nationalist sentiment in
England, and by the late 15th century, it became evident that the English language had
prevailed. Even as a written language, English had replaced French and Latin as official
language for documents. Also a national literature in Middle English began to emerge.
Much new vocabulary had been incorporated with the introduction of new
management, political and social concepts, for which there were no equivalents in
English. In some cases, however, there were words of Germanic origin, which, either just
disappeared or came to coexist with the equivalents of French origin, in principle as
synonymous, but over time, acquiring different connotations. Examples:
Anglo-Saxon French Anglo-Saxon French Anglo-Saxon French Anglo-Saxon French
answer respond fair beautiful hide Conceal pig pork

begin commence feed nourish house mansion sheep mutton
bill beak folk people hunt chase shut close
chicken poultry freedom Liberty kin relations sight vision
clothe dress ghost phantom kingly royal wish desire
eats Arrive happiness felicity look search work labor
end finish help aid mistake error yearly Annual
Minor dialectal differences resulting from this symbiosis between different social
groups and their languages can be observed even today. In intellectual circles of the more
privileged classes of English-speaking countries still exists a tendency to greater use of
words of Latin origin.
The Split Between the French-speaking Normans and Saxons-speaking peasant
English still exists today in a curious fashion. The Normans, the conquerors and the rulers,
became The upper-class of England and their speech metamorphosed into today's well-
educated English - primarily composed of Latin-based vocabulary. The most common
everyday speech of modern speakers’ English, however, is still directly based on the Anglo-
Saxon.

Besides the influence of Old French on the (Old) English vocabulary, Middle
English was also characterized by gradual loss of inflections, by neutralization and loss of
unstressed vowels in word endings and the beginning of the Great Vowel Shift, which will be
explained in the next lesson.
QUESTIONS:
A. What was the origin of the language the Normans introduced to Britain in the
eleventh century?
B. How long did this period of influence roughly last?
C. In what way was English transformed during this period (in a linguistic sense)?
D. Why did English, in its transformed version (Middle English) regain its dominant
position in the fourteenth century?
E. How can the influence of the Norman dialect of old French still be noticed in present-
day English?
UNIT 2 Lesson
14
More Detailed History of English – The Great Vowel Shift, Modern English
Source: http://www.sk.com.br/sk-
enhis.html
The Great Vowel Shift
A sharp change in the pronunciation of English vowels occurred mainly during the
15th and 16th centuries. Almost all the vowel sounds, including diphthongs, consonants
have changed and some have ceased to be pronounced. In general, changes of vowels
corresponded to a movement toward the end of the spectrum of vowels, as shown in the
chart below.

The system of vowel sounds of English before the 15th century was quite similar to
that of other western European languages, including Portuguese of today. Therefore, the
current lack of correlation between spelling and pronunciation of modern English, which is
observed mainly in the vowels, is largely a result of this change occurred in the 15th
century.
MODERN ENGLISH (starting at 1500)
While Middle English was characterized by a marked diversity of dialects, Modern

English represented a period of standardization and unification of the language. The advent
of printing in 1475 and the creation of a postal system in 1516 enabled the spread of the
dialect of London - already the politically dominant dialect - to develop socially and
economically in the rest of England. The availability of printed materials also gave impetus
to education, bringing literacy to reach the middle class.
Reproduction and dissemination of a standardized spelling finally, however,
coincided with the period in which also the Great Vowel Shift took place. The changes in
pronunciation since that period, were no longer accompanied by spelling reforms, which
reveals the conservative character of English culture. We have here the origin of the
current lack of correlation between pronunciation and spelling in modern English .
The standardization process of the English language began in the early
16th century with the advent of lithography, and ended up settling in these
ways throughout the 18th century with the publication of dictionaries of Samuel
Johnson (illustration) in 1755, Thomas Sheridan in 1780 and John Walker in
1791. Since then, the spelling of English has changed in only minor details,
while the pronunciation has changed considerably. The result is that today we
have a spelling system based on language as it was spoken in the 18th century,
being used to represent the pronunciation of the language in the 20th century.
Similar to the first dictionaries that were used to standardize the
spelling of the first papers incorporating grammatical concepts of the Latin
languages and bringing uniformity in grammar were published describing the
grammatical structure of English, which influenced the use of the language. During the 16th
and 17th centuries was the emergence and the final incorporation of the auxiliary verb “do”
“does” in interrogative sentences and don’t / doesn’t for negative form. From the 18th
century, the use of a double negation in the same sentence as, for example, She did not go
neith was considered to be incorrect

QUESTIONS:
A. What is the “Great Vowel Shift” and when did it occur?
B. How can the occurrence of this phenomenon be linked to the fact that the spelling of
English does not neatly correspond with the pronunciation of the words.
C. How do Middle English and modern English compare with respect of dialects and
forms of spelling?
D. What contributed to the standardisation of spelling and grammar?
E. What dialect became to be used as the model for standardisation and why?
F. How did Samuel Johnson contribute to the standardisation of English? Mention
some other scholars.
G. Can you present some English words that when pronounced as if they were
Portuguese words, for example, in fact sound the way they were pronounced some
500 hundred years ago.
UNIT 2 Lesson
15
More Detailed History of English – Shakespeare, American English, English as a
Language of the World
SHAKESPEARE
William Shakespeare (1564-1616), represented a strong
influence on the development of a literary language. His plays are
characterized by a greater creative use of vocabulary than existing in
contemporary works, and the creation of new words. Nouns turned
into verbs and verbs into adjectives, and the free addition of prefixes
and suffixes and the use of figurative language are frequent in the
works of Shakespeare. (See APPENDIX 3.)
While that literature has developed, the 19th-century British
colonialism, brought the English language to remote areas of the
world, providing contact with different cultures and bringing
enrichment to the new English vocabulary.
Since the early Christian era until the 19th century, six
languages came to be spoken in Britain: Celtic, Latin, Old English, Norman French, Middle
and Modern English. This diversity of influences explains the fact that the English language
is less systematic and less regular than, for example, Portuguese or Italian and even
German. It could also lead us to conclude that English today can be likened to a quilt made
of scraps of fabric from various source.
AMERICAN ENGLISH
The hope of achieving prosperity and aspirations for freedom of religion were the
factors that led to the colonization of North America. The arrival of the first English
immigrants in 1620, marks the beginning
of the presence of English in the New
World.
At the time of independence from
the United States in 1776, when the
country's population reached nearly 4
million, the American Dialect already

showed distinct characteristics in relation to the dialects of the British Isles. The contact
with the reality of a new environment, with native and indigenous cultures with the Spanish
regions adjacent to the south, colonized by Spain, led a diverse vocabulary development of
British English.
Today, however, the differences between the British and Americans dialects are
largely in pronunciation, small differences in vocabulary. Unlike what happened between
Brazil and Portugal, the United States and Britain have maintained strong cultural
commercial and political ties. While the Portuguese over four centuries has evolved into two
dialects differ substantially in Portugal and Brazil, the differences between dialects British
and American are less significant.
ENGLISH AS THE LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD

Recent historical facts explain the current role of English as the language of the world.
Firstly, we have the great economic power of England in the 18th, 19th and 20th
centuries, driven by the Industrial Revolution and the consequent expansion of British
colonialism. This true empire of economic and political influence peaked in the first half of
the 20th century, with a territorial expansion that reached 20% of Earth's land. The British
Empire came to be known as "the empire where the sun never sets" due to its wide
geographic spread, causing an equally wide spread of English.
Secondly, the political and military might of the U.S. after World War II and, as a
consequence, the remarkable economic and cultural influence of English worldwide
eventually displace French as the predominant language and solidify English as the
diplomatic standard language for international communication. Simultaneously, there is
rapid development of air transport and telecommunication technologies. In our present-day
world concepts such as superhighway of information (e.g. Internet) and global village have
become central to describe a world in which a common language of communication is
essential, at this time in history, being English.
QUESTIONS:
A. In what way did the playwright Shakespeare contribute to the enrichment of the
English language?
B. Read Macbeth’s words in Appendix 3 after he hears about Lady Macbeth’s death
and mention some figures of speech you can find there.
C. How is it explained in this lesson that the syntax of English appears to be less
systematic than that of, for example, Portuguese or German?
D. When did English settlers start living in North America?
E. How long afterwards did American English start to show distinct linguistic
features of its own when compared to British English?
F. What is one of the reasons for American English to have lots of words that do not
occur in British English?
G. Explain why the differences between the varieties of English as spoken in
America and in Britain are less great that between the varieties of Portuguese as
spoken in Portugal and Brazil?
H. Explain briefly and in your own words what caused English to become a world
language.
Lesson
16
Preparation test 2
In which students work in groups to raise questions about the contents to be examined in
test 2 (Unit 2)

TEST 2 Lesson
17
UNIT 3 Lesson
18
History of English with focus on Linguistic features –
Oldest origins and Old English
Source: http://www.anglik.net/englishlanguagehistory.htm
English is a member of the Indo-European family of languages. This broad family

includes most of the European languages spoken today. The Indo-European family includes
several major branches: Latin and the modern Romance languages (French, Spanish,
etc.); the Germanic languages (Dutch, German, Swedish etc.); [English could be grouped
either under Germanic or Romance languages as it is, in fact, a mixture, but as its origin and
basis is Germanic, the tendency is to categorise it as Germanic] the Indo-Iranian
languages (Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit etc.); the Slavic languages (Russian, Polish, Czech
etc.); the Baltic languages of Latvian and Lithuanian; the Celtic languages (Welsh, Irish
Gaelic etc.); Greek.
The existence of the original Indo-European language can be verified today in the
modern languages that have developed from it, even though no written record of Indo-
European exists. The word for father, for example, is vater in German, pater in Latin,
and pitr in Sanskrit. These words are all cognates, similar words in different languages that
share the same root.
Of these branches of the Indo-European family, two are, as far as the study of the
development of English is concerned, of paramount importance, the Germanic and the
Romance (called like that because the Romance languages derive from Latin, the language
of ancient Rome). English is a member of the Germanic group of languages. It is believed
that this group began as a common language in the Elbe river region (being one of the major
waterways of central Europe, it runs from the Czech Republic through Germany to the
North Sea) about 3,000 years ago. By the second century BC, this Common Germanic
language had split into three distinct sub-groups:
 East Germanic was spoken by peoples who migrated back to southeastern Europe.
No East Germanic language is spoken today, and the only written East Germanic
language that survives is Gothic.
 North Germanic evolved into the modern Scandinavian languages of Swedish,
Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic (but not Finnish, which is related to Hungarian and
Estonian and is not an Indo-European language).
 West Germanic is the ancestor of modern German, Dutch, Flemish, Frisian, and
English.
Old English (500-1100 AD)

Old English is the product of a mixture of Germanic dialects that were introduced to
Britain by West Germanic invaders who began to settle on the British Isles in the fifth and
sixth centuries CE. Although there were many different Germanic tribes migrating to
England, several stood out from among the others, such as the Angles (whose name is the

source of the words England < Englaland and English < Englisc), Saxons, Jutes, Frisians,
and Franks. The Angles migrated from Denmark and the Saxons from northern Germany.
There is some debate as to the exact origin of the Jutes, since linguistic evidence suggests
that they came from the Jutland peninsula (now Denmark), while archaeological evidence
suggests an origin from one of the northern Frankish realms near the mouth of the Rhine
river (now Rotterdam of the Netherlands). The Frisians and Franks migrated mainly from the
low countries (now Netherlands) and north-western Germany.
During the sixth and seventh centuries these Germanic invaders started to carve out
kingdoms, fighting both the native Britons (Celtic tribes) and each other for land. First
called Saxons, the German invaders were later referred to as Angles, and in the year 601
CE the pope referred to Aethelbert of Kent as Rex Anglorum ("king of the Angles"). As time
passed, the differences between the Germanic tribal cultures gradually unified until
eventually they ceased referring to themselves by their individual origins and became either
Anglo-Saxon or English. (map of England 650-750) Four major dialects of Old English
emerged, Northumbrian in the north of England, Mercian in the Midlands, West Saxon in the
south and west, and Kentish in the Southeast.
As Old English began to evolve, four
major dialects emerged which were Kentish,
spoken by the Jutes in the Southeast, West
Saxon, the Saxon dialect spoken in the south
and west, Northumbrian in the north of
England and Mercian in the midlands, the latter
two dialects being subdivisions of the dialect
spoken by the Angles. By the 9th century,
partly through the influence of King Alfred, the
West Saxon dialect became prevalent in
literature which aided the dialect's dominance
among scholars.
After the conversion of the Anglo-Saxons to Christianity, problems arose with the
Celtic Christians (or the Britons). The Celtic church had ceased communication with Roman
church for almost two centuries and did not practice the new theological ideas brought to
the Anglo-Saxons by Augustine. In particular, they used an older method of calculating the
date on which Easter was to be held. The Germanic invaders pushed the original, Celtic-
speaking inhabitants out of what is now England into Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and
Ireland, leaving behind a few Celtic words. These Celtic languages survive today in the
Gaelic languages of Scotland and Ireland and in Welsh. Cornish, unfortunately, is, in
linguistic terms, now a dead language. (The last native Cornish speaker died in 1777).
The Old English language, also called Anglo-Saxon, was the earliest form of English.
It is difficult to give exact dates for the rise and development of any language, because
changes in languages do not occur suddenly. However, Old English was in use from about
600 AD to about 1100, shortly after which occurred the most important event in the
development and history of the English language, the Norman Conquest.
Old English, whose best known surviving example is the poem Beowulf,
The greatest Old English poem is Beowulf, The first page of
which belongs to the seventh century. It is a story of the Beowulf manuscript :
about 3,000 lines, and it is the first English epic (a
story in poetry of the adventures of a brave man or
men). The name of its author is unknown.
Beowulf is not based upon events in England, but
about Hrothgar, King of the Danes, and about a brave
young man, Beowulf, from southern Sweden, who
goes to help him. Hrothgar is in trouble. His great hall,
called Heorot, is visited by night by a terrible creature
named Grendel, which lives in a lake and comes to kill
and eat Hrothgar's men. One night Beowulf waits in

secret for Grendel, attacks it, and in a fierce fght pulls

its arm off! It manages to reach the lake again, but
dies there. Then its mother comes to the hall in search
of revenge, and the attacks begin again. Beowulf
follows her to the bottom of the lake and after a
struggle kills her there. Later, as an aged warrior-
king, Beowulf has to defend his country against a fire-
breathing dragon, guarding a huge treasure. He kills
the creature but is badly wounded in the fight, and
dies. The poem ends with a sorrowful description of
Beowulf's funeral fire. Here are a few lines of it:
"... alegdon tha tomiddes maerne theoden
laeleth hiofende hlaford leofne
ongunnon tha on beorge bael-fyra maest
wigend weccan wudu-rec astah
sweart ofer swiothole swogende leg
wope bewunden"
Or a modern English translation might go something
like this ... " The sorrowing soldiers then laid the
glorious prince, their dear lord, in the middle. Then on
the hill the war-men began to light the greatest of
funeral fires. The wood-smoke rose black above the
flames, the noisy fire, mixed with sorrowful cries"
As you can see Old English is almost
impossible to read now except by those who have
made a special study of it!
QUESTIONS:
A. From which language have most languages in Europe originated?
B. How can that be easily demonstrated?
C. Indicate to what branches of this primal language the following languages belong:
Swedish, Sanskrit, Italian, Frisian, Czech, Lithuanian, Welsh and Flemish.
D. What were the origins of the several tribes that came to Britain? Mention names and
areas of origin.
E. What are the roots of English, i.e. what two branches of proto-Germanic or
languages of the Indo European family is English a product of?
F. Which of the two branches is the most dominant part of the ‘ancestry’ of present-day
English? Explain.
G. Explain what happened to the peoples living there before the arrivals of these tribes
from the continent and what has happened to their languages?
H. Explain in what way the poem Beowulf shows how the Anglo-Saxon origin is really
continental, i.e. from northern Europe.
UNIT 3 Lesson
19
History of English with focus on Linguistic features
Some Linguistic features of Old English
The dialects spoken by the invading Germanic tribes formed what is called Old
English or Anglo-Saxon. "Anglo-Saxon" is also the term applied to the English-speaking

inhabitants of Britain up to the time of the Norman Conquest (1066), when the Anglo-Saxon
line of English kings came to an end.
Old English shared its Germanic heritage in vocabulary, sentence structure and
grammar with its sister languages in continental Europe (notably Frisian which still exists
and the ancestor languages of modern German and Dutch referred to as West Germanic
languages). Some features were specific to the West Germanic language family while some
other features were inherited from the older Proto-Germanic or Indo-European languages.
Old English was fully inflected with five grammatical cases like German today: the
nominative, accusative, genitive, dative and instrumental. It had dual plural forms for
referring to groups of two objects, in addition to the usual singular and plural forms. It
assigned gender to all nouns, including those that describe inanimate objects: for
example, sēo sunne (the Sun) was feminine, while se mōna (the Moon) was masculine (cf.
modern German die Sonnevs. der Mond)
Example of the Strong Noun Declension for each Gender

Masculine Neuter Feminine
Case engel 'angel' scip 'ship' sorg 'sorrow'
Singular Plural Singular Plural Singular Plural
Nominative engel englas Scip scipu sorg Sorga
Accusative engel englas Scip scipu sorge sorga/sorge
Genitive engles engla scipes scipa sorge Sorga
Dative engle englum Scipe scipum sorge Sorgum
The instrumental case indicated an instrument used to achieve something, for
example lifde sweorde, "he lived by the sword", where sweorde is the instrumental form
of sweord. During the Old English period, the instrumental was falling out of use, having
largely merged with the dative. Only pronouns and strong adjectives retained separate
forms for the instrumental.
Old English was spelled essentially as it was pronounced. Words were spelt as
they were pronounced (“phonetic” spelling). The "silent" letters in many Modern English
words, such as the "k" in "knight", were pronounced in Old English (OE cniht). Spelling was
extremely variable; writers could practically invent their own spelling and there was no
national or regional standard, only conventions that a writer could adhere to if he so wished.
The spelling of a word would usually reflect differences in the phonetics of the writer's
regional dialect. For example, the word "and" could be spelt either and or ond. Most present
day students of Old English learn the language using normalised versions (no variant
spellings).
Below is an excerpt of The Nativity according to Luke in Old English. If you look at it
carefully, you can see the similarities with the German or a Scandinavian language and we
can see why English is called a sister language of German. Also, there was a time back in
the Old English period when the Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Norwegian, Danish,
Icelandic) and English were mutually understandable. English is certainly the one that has
broken further away from the other four (Scandinavians can still pretty much understand
each other's dialects), but the strong influence of Latin (mostly through the church and
scholars) and the Norman invasion of England brought about significant changes in the
language, as did a host of smaller influences.
The Nativity has been chosen because the gospels are available in all three "languages".
THE BIBLE NATIVITY STORY

KJV Bible--Luke 2:1-38, Matthew 2:1-23
Old English Present day English
Soþlice on þam dagum wæs geworden gebod And it came to pass in those days, that there
fram þam casereAugusto, þæt eall went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that
ymbehwyrft wære tomearcod. Þeos all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing
tomearcodneswæs æryst geworden fram þam was first made when Cyrenius was governor

deman Syrige Cirino. And ealle hig eodon,and in Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one
syndrige ferdon on hyra ceastre. Ða ferde into his own city. And Joseph also went up
Iosep fram Galilea of þæreceastre Nazareth from Galilee, out of Nazareth, into Judaea,
on Iudeisce ceastre Dauides, seo is unto the city of David, which is called
genemned Bethleem, for þam þe he wæs of Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and
Dauides huse and hirede; þæt he ferde mid lineage of David.) To be taxed with Mary his
Marianþe him beweddod wæs, and wæs espoused wife, being great with child.
geeacnod. And so it was, that while they were there,
Soþlice wæs geworden þa hi þar wæron, the days were accomplished that she should
hire dagas wæron gefyllede þæt heo cende. be delivered. And she brought forth her
And heo cende hyre frumcennedan sunu, and firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling
hine mid cildclaþum bewand, and hine on cloths, and laid him in a manger, because
binne alede, for þam þe hig næfdon rum on there was no room for them in the inn.
cumena huse. And there were in the same country
And hyrdas wæron on þam ylcan rice shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch
waciende, and nihtwæccan healdende ofer over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of
heora heorda. Þa stod Drihtnes engel wiþ hig, the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the
and Godes beorhtnes him ymbe scean; and hi Lord shone round about them; and they were
him mycelum ege adredon. And se engel him sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,
to cwæð, Nelle ge eow adrædan; soþlice nu ic Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings
eow bodie mycelne gefean, se bið eallum of great joy, which shall be to all people. For
folce; for þam to dæg eow ys Hælend unto you is born this day in the city of David a
acenned, se is Drihten Crist, on Dauides Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
ceastre.
QUESTIONS:
A. What linguistic features did Anglo-Saxon or Old English have in common with the
West Germanic languages spoken at the time?
B. In what ways was old English spelled differently from the way present day English is
spelled?
C. Was there an Old English standard spelling? Explain.
D. What impression does Old English make on you comparing it to present day English
(See the Bible “Nativity Story” by Lucas).
UNIT 3 Lesson
20
History of English with focus on Linguistic features
Main Influences on Old English
Sources:
http://www.1066andallthat.com/beowulf.asp
http://www.krysstal.com/english.html
The majority of words in modern English come from foreign, not Old English roots. In
fact, only about one sixth of the known Old English words have descendants surviving
today. But this is deceptive; Old English is much more important than these statistics would
indicate. About half of the most commonly used words in modern English have Old English
roots. Words like be, water, and strong, for example, derive from Old English roots.
Old English is remarkable in the number and type of language-contact situations
which the Anglo-Saxons experienced within their own borders. In the six centuries between

500 and 1100, the people had to deal routinely with speakers of no fewer than four language
families, including:
a) Celtic (chiefly Old Welsh)
b) Italic (Vulgar Latin, Classical Latin)
c) Other branches of Germanic (Old Norse, Old Saxon, Frisian)
d) Romance (Old French, Norman French) < after 1066
No subsequent period in British history introduced such a diverse set of linguistic
influences within the British Isles
The Germanic tribes were exposed to Latin before they invaded England, so the
languages they spoke did have some Latin influence. After the Anglo-Saxons converted to
Christianity, Latin had more influence, as evidenced in words pertaining to the church.
Celtic, on the other hand, did not have a large impact on English, as only a few place names
are of Celtic origin, but Danish (Old Scandinavian) did contribute many vocabulary words.
Latin Influence on Old English language

 Latin was the lingua franca of Europe at the time. A large percentage of the educated
and literate population (monks, clerics, etc.) were competent in Latin. There were at least
three notable periods of Latin influence:
- The first occurred before the ancestral Saxons left continental Europe for England.
- The second began when the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity in the late sixth
and seventh centuries, and Latin-speaking priests became widespread
- The third occurred following the Norman invasion of 1066, after which an enormous
number of Norman words entered the language (most of them were themselves derived
from classical Latin).
Modern English
Old English word Latin origin
gloss
Alter altar Altar
biblioþece library bibliotheca
cancer crab cancer
creda creed, belief credo
cucumer cucumber cucumer
culpe guilt, fault culpa
deacon deacon diaconus
fenester window fenestra
fers verse versus
grammatic grammar grammatica
mamma breast mamma
notere notary notarius
offrian sacrifice offere
orgel organ organum
papa pope papa
philosoph philosopher philosophus
predician preach praedicare
regol religious rule regula
sabbat Sabbath sabbatum
scol School scola
Influence of North Germanic or Old Norse
During the 7th and 8th Centuries, Northumbria's culture and language dominated
Britain (see bottom page 20). The Viking invasions of the 9th Century brought this
domination to an end (along with the destruction of Mercia). Only Wessex remained as an
independent kingdom.
Norse invasions and settlement, beginning around 850, brought many North
Germanic words into the language, particularly in the north of England.

Old Norse was a North Germanic language, spoken by the Vikings who settled
mainly in the north-east and the east coast down to London. Old Norse was related to Old
English: both derived from the same ancestral Proto-Germanic language. It spread during
the Viking invasions of the ninth and tenth centuries.
The everyday flavour of the Scandinavian loans can be seen in these examples, all of
which survived into modern Standard English: anger, awkward, bond, cake, crooked, dirt,
dregs, egg, fog, freckle, get, kid, leg, lurk, meek, muggy, neck, seem, sister, skill, skirt,
smile, Thursday, window, take, get. Its influence was reflected in place names, items of
basic vocabulary, and words concerned with particular administrative aspects of the
Danelaw.
Old Norse is also credited with the introduction of a new set of third-person plural
pronouns, they, them, and their. These replaced the earlier Old English inflected forms: hi
or hie (in the nominative and accusative cases, 'they / them'), hira or heora (in the genitive
case, 'their, of them'), and him or heom (in the dative case, 'to them, for them').
A mixture of Old Norse and Old English helped accelerate the decline of case endings
in Old English. Many pairs of English and Norse words coexisted giving us two words with
the same or slightly differing meanings. Some examples are dream, which had meant 'joy'
until the Vikings imparted its current meaning on it from the Scandinavian cognate draumr,
and skirt, which continues to live alongside its native English cognate shirt. More examples
follow:
Norse English
anger wrath
any no
fro from
raise rear
iIl sick
bask bathe
skill craft
skin hide
dike ditch
scatter shatter
skip shift
By the 10th Century, the West Saxon dialect became the official language of
Britain. Written Old English is mainly known from this period. It was written in an alphabet
called Runic, derived from the Scandinavian languages. The Runic alphabets were a set of
related alphabets using letters (known as runes), used to write Germanic languages before
and shortly after the Christianization of Scandinavia and the British Isles. Old English shifted
to the Latin alphabet after the Anglo-Saxons' conversion to Christianity. The Latin Alphabet
was brought over from Ireland by Christian missionaries. This has remained the writing
system of English.
Concluding, the vocabulary of Old English consisted of an Anglo Saxon base with
borrowed words from the Scandinavian languages (Danish and Norse) and Latin. Besides
the words you find in the table above, many more words were added from Latin such as:
street, kitchen, kettle, cup, cheese, wine, angel, bishop, martyr and candle.
The Vikings added many Norse words. Besides the ones already mentioned above,
there were many more words such as: sky, egg, cake, leg, window (wind eye), husband,
fellow, flat, odd, ugly, get, give, take, raise, call, die, etc. A limited number of Celtic words
also survived mainly in place and river names (Devon, Dover, Kent, Trent, Severn, Avon,
Thames).

QUESTIONS:
A. Why does it depend on what register of present English you analyse to decide how
much of Old English can still be found in present day English?
B. So if only part of present English derives from Old English what does the rest of
present day English derive from? (Mention other sources of influence on the
formation on present day English.) What were the main influences on Old English in
the period from 500 to 1100?
C. What were the three notable periods of Latin influence?
D. Mention five words in present day English that clearly have a Latin origin (also
present the Latin equivalents).
E. How did the political situation of Britain change dramatically after the invasions of
the Norseman or Vikings beginning around 850?
F. Was the language of the Vikings very different from Old English? Explain.
G. What can still be found in present day English that was introduced from Old Norse?
Give examples.
H. From when do we have written records of the language used in Britain in those days
produced in that particular language itself? Which specific dialect?
I. What two alphabets were used and which one eventually became the dominant one?
J. Is there anything that has survived from the earlier Celtic languages?
UNIT 3 Lesson
21
History of English with focus on Linguistic features – The Norman Conquest
and Middle Ages - Focus: Vocabulary
Sources: http://www.1066andallthat.com/beowulf.asp
http://www.krysstal.com/english.html
http://www.anglik.net/englishlanguagehistory.htm
The Norman Conquest and Middle English (1100-1500)
William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded and conquered England and
the Anglo-Saxons in 1066 AD. The new overlords spoke a dialect of Old French known as
Anglo-Norman. The Normans were also of Germanic stock ("Norman" comes from
"Norseman") and Anglo-Norman was a French dialect that had considerable Germanic
influences in addition to the basic Latin roots.
Prior to the Norman Conquest, Latin had been only a minor influence on the English
language, mainly through vestiges of the Roman occupation and from the conversion of
Britain to Christianity in the seventh century (ecclesiastical terms such as priest, vicar,
and mass came into the language this way), but now there was a wholesale infusion of
Romance (Anglo-Norman) words.
The Normans, their vassals and the representatives of the government, i.e. the
nobility, (some of them may have not been Normans and may have switched from Old
English to the language of their overlords) continued speaking their Norman dialect of old
French while the rest of the population, the commoners, communicated in the vernacular
Old English dialects. This bilingual situation lasted for about 200 years.

In 1204 AD, King John lost the province of Normandy to the King of France. This
began a process where the Norman nobles of England became increasingly estranged from
their French cousins. England became the chief concern of the nobility, rather than their
estates in France, and consequently the nobility adopted a modified English as their native
tongue. About 150 years later, the Black Death (1349-50) killed about one third of the
English population. And as a result of this, the labouring and merchant classes grew in
economic and social importance, and along with them English increased in importance
compared to Anglo-Norman.
This mixture of the two languages came to be known as Middle English. The most
famous example of Middle English is Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. (See Appendix
2) By 1362, the linguistic division between the nobility and the commoners was largely over.
In that year, the Statute of Pleading was adopted, which made English the language of the
courts and it began to be used in Parliament.
Many legal terms, such as indict, jury, and verdict, though, have Anglo-
Norman roots because the Normans had for centuries run the courts. This split, where
words commonly used by the aristocracy have Romantic roots and words frequently used
by the Anglo-Saxon commoners have Germanic roots, can be seen in many instances.
The influence of the Normans can be illustrated by looking at two words, beef and
cow. Beef, commonly eaten by the aristocracy, derives from the Anglo-Norman, while the
Anglo-Saxon commoners, who tended the cattle, retained the Germanic cow. The class
division that existed in those days has given rise to peculiar semantic divisions in the
vocabulary that still exists today. 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).
Sometimes ‘French’ words replaced Old English words; crime replaced firen and
uncle replaced earn. Other times, French and Old English components combined to form a
new word, as the French gentle and the Germanic man formed gentleman. Finally, two
different words with roughly the same meaning may have survived into modern English.
Thus we have the Germanic doom and the French judgement or wish and desire.
There are many other pairs from each origin (the Anglo-Norman/French and Old
English origins, respectively) as can be seen from the following examples:
“French” (origin) English
Close shut
Reply answer
Odour smell
Annual yearly
Demand ask
Chamber room
Desire wish
Power might
Ire wrath / anger
It is useful to compare various versions of a familiar text (here: The Lord’s Prayer) to
see the differences between Old, Middle, and Modern English. Take for instance this Old
English (c. 1000) sample:
Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum
si þin nama gehalgod tobecume þin rice gewurþe þin willa on eorðan swa swa on
heofonum
urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg
and forgyf us ure gyltas swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge ac alys us of yfele soþlice.
Rendered in Middle English (Wyclif, 1384), the same text is recognizable to the modern eye:

Oure fadir þat art in heuenes halwid be þi name;

þi reume or kyngdom come to be. Be þi wille don in herþe as it is doun in heuene.
yeue to us today oure eche dayes bred.
And foryeue to us oure dettis þat is oure synnys as we foryeuen to oure dettouris þat
is to men þat han synned in us.
And lede us not into temptacion but delyuere us from euyl.
Finally, in Early Modern English (King James Version, 1611) the same text is completely
intelligible:
Our father which art in heauen, hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen.
Giue us this day our daily bread.
And forgiue us our debts as we forgiue our debters.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliuer us from euill. Amen.
Unlike Old English, Middle English can be read, albeit with difficulty, by modern English-
speaking people. The Middle English period came to a close around 1500 AD with the rise of
Modern English.
QUESTIONS:
A. What did Anglo-Norman, the dialect of Old French introduced by the Normans led by
William the conqueror, have in common with the language spoken in Britain before
the conquest, (that is, a late form of Old English)? Think of their origins.
B. How did the country become linguistically divided and when and because of what
political, economical and social factors did this division return to a “normalized”
situation i.e. a monolingual society?
C. What major influences did this language, introduced by the Normans under William
the conqueror, have on the language used before their conquest, Old English?
(Refer to changes in the vocabulary and the semantic areas that were most affected
with a lasting influence until present day English).
D. What did the mixture of languages and cultures eventually result into, i.e. what did
Old English develop into? Mention a great poet of these times?
E. Focus on the last line of the prayer “Our father” and find a word that has a Latin root
which substituted an older (Germanic – Old English) word; this word has persisted
until now and exists in present day English.
F. What can you conclude, in general, about Middle English when comparing it to Old
and Modern English (see the three versions of “The Lord’s Prayer”)?
UNIT 3 Lesson
22
History of English with focus on Linguistic features –
Grammar, Spelling and Pronunciation of Middle English
Source:
http://www.ielanguages.com/enghist.html

SPELLING CHANGES
Compared to spelling conventions as were used in the days of Old English, the
writing system changed dramatically in Middle English. However, the striking change in the
written language of England during the twelfth century was, to a considerable extent, a
matter of mere spelling, not of pronunciation. ME Looks very different from OE, but this
doesn’t always reflect sound changes.
Old English > OE toþ, toð /toθ/
Middle English > ME tooth to(o)th(e) /toθ/
Present day English > PDE tooth /tuwθ/
One of the reasons was that soon after the Norman conquest children ceased to be
regularly taught to read and write English, and were taught to read and write French
instead. When, therefore, the mass of the new generations tried to write English, after
English had returned to its original position of the national language, they had no
orthographical traditions to guide them, and had to spell the words phonetically according
to French rules. They used ch instead of the oldc, when it was pronounced as
in cirice church. The sound of the Old English sc in sceamu shame, which did not exist at
that time in French, was rendered by ss, ssh, sch, or sh. The French qu took the place of cp.
A list of some of the marked changes is:
a. þ and ð were replaced by th (and sometimes y, as in ye meaning the)
b. c before i or e became ch (e.g. OE cild -> ME child )
c. sc became sh ( OE scip -> ME sc-, sch-, sh-, s-, ss- ... for PDE “ship”)
d. hw became wh (“hw” stood for the Romance/Latin <qu> in ‘quos’ = who )
e. cw became qu (eg. cween became queen)
f. the new symbols v and u were added; v was used word initially, and u was used
everywhere else (e.g. abouen, heuens, ouer, yuel but visitist, virgyn ; (but
confusingly the same letter was used vndirkast, vndir for a vowel if followed by a
consonant)
g. k was used much more often (cyning became king)
These are just examples, there were many more changes. Concluding, the causes for the
changes in spelling were:
a. the collapse of the West Saxon standard spelling form used in Old English
b. influence of Old French (or Anglo-Norman) conventions
c. the development of local traditions (e.g. the Ancrene Riwle MSS 1)
For instance, during the Middle English period, there could be a number of different
spellings for the same word, for example, the spellings of ‘might’ was spelt as: maht mahte
mihte mihhte mist mithe mouthe myhte micht.
An even stronger example is the spelling of the word “new” in Old and Middle English:
OE nú ->
ME nu, nv; new, newe; no, noou, noue; noug, nough, nou,nouwe, nov, nowgh, nuge, nw, nyw
,
1
Ancren Riwle (äng'krĕn rē'ūlə) or Ancrene Wisse (äng'krĕnə wĭs'ə) [Mid. Eng.,=anchoresses' rule],
English tract written c.1200 by an anonymous English churchman for the instruction of three young ladies about
to become religious recluses. The work, important as a sample of early Middle English prose, is a charming
mixture of realism and humor, didacticism and tenderness. It is also important for its depiction of the manners
and customs of the time. French and Latin versions of the work are also extant.
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/ancrene-wisse#ixzz1Go6wLv1u
GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX CHANGES

Because of the stress shift to the beginning of the word, Middle English lost the
case suffixes or inflections at the ends of nouns. Phonological erosion also occurred

because of this, and some consonants dropped off while some vowels became əand
dropped off too.
The generalized plural marker became -s, but it still competed with -n. The Germanic
form of plurals that were still common in Old English (house, housen; shoe, shoen) was
eventually displaced by the French method of making plurals: adding an s (house, houses;
shoe, shoes). Only a few words have retained their Germanic plurals: men, oxen, feet, teeth,
children.
Verb infinitives dropped the -an ending, and used "to" before the verb to signify the
infinitival form. The third person singular and plural was marked with -(e)th; but the singular
also competed with -(e)s from the Northern dialect. More strong (irregular) verbs became
weak (regular) as well.
Adjectives lost agreement with the noun, but the weak ending -e still remained. The
comparative form became -er and the superlative became -est. Vowels tended to be long in
the adjective form, but short in the comparative form (late - latter). The demonstratives
these and those were added during this period. And the adverb ending -lič became -ly;
however, some "flat" adverbs did not add the -ly: fast, late, hard.
The dual number disappeared in the pronouns, and the dative and accusative
became the object forms of the pronouns. The third person plural pronouns replaced the old
pronouns with th- words (they, them, their) borrowed from Scandinavian. She started being
used for the feminine singular subject pronoun and you (plural form) was used in the
singular as a status marker for the formal.
Syntax was stricter and more prepositions were used. New compound tenses were
used, such as the perfect tenses, and there was more use of the progressive and passive
voice. The use of double negation also increased as did impersonal constructions. The use
of the verbs will and shall for the future tense were first used too. Formerly, will meant want
(In German “I want” is “Ich will”,) and shall meant “obliged to”.
PRONUNCIATION CHANGES
Some Pronunciation changes were:
 Loss of initial h in a cluster (hleapan - to leap; hnutu - hut)

 [w] lost between consonant and back vowel (w is silent in two, sword, answer)
 [v] lost in middle of words (heofod - head; hæfde - had)
 Loss of final -n in possessive pronouns (min fæder - mi fæder) and the addition of -n
to some words beginning with a vowel (a napron - an apron, a nuncle - an uncle)
QUESTIONS:
A. Did the changes in spelling in Middle English as compared to the spelling in Old
English reflect marked pronunciation changes? Explain.
B. Explain why there were so many changes and also varieties of spelling.
C. Give examples of grammar and pronunciation changes.
D. How did the syntax change?

UNIT 3 Lesson
23
Old, Middle and Present Day English Compared
See below a comparison between The Nativity Story by Lucas from the Bible in
Middle English as compared to present day English:
Old English Translation by John Wycliffe, Present- day English

8th century c. 1380-83
Soþlice on þam dagum wæs And it was don in tho daies, a And it came to pass in those
geworden gebod fram þam maundement wente out fro the days, that there went out a
casere Augusto, þæt eall emperour August, thatal the decree from Caesar
ymbehwyrft wære tomearcod. world schulde be discryued. Augustus, that all the world
(Þeos tomearcodneswæs (This firste discryuyng was should be taxed. (And this
æryst geworden fram þam maad of Cyryn, iustice of taxing was first made when
deman Syrige Cirino.) And Sirie.) And alle men wenten to Cyrenius was governor in
ealle hig eodon,and syndrige make professioun, ech in to his Syria.) And all went to be
ferdon on hyra ceastre. Ða owne citee. And Joseph went taxed, every one into his own
ferde Iosep fram Galilea of vp fro Galilee, fro the citee city. And Joseph also went
þæreceastre Nazareth on Nazareth, in to Judee, in to a up from Galilee, out of
Iudeisce ceastre Dauides, seo citee of Dauid, that is clepid Nazareth, into Judaea, unto
is genemned Bethleem, for Bethleem, for that he was of the city of David, which is
þam þe he wæs of Dauides the hous and of the meyne of called Bethlehem; (because
huse and hirede; þæt he ferde Dauid, that he schulde he was of the house and
mid Marianþe him beweddod knouleche with Marie, his wijf, lineage of David.) To be taxed
wæs, and wæs geeacnod. that was weddid to hym, and with Mary his espoused wife,
was greet with child. being great with child.
Soþlice wæs geworden þa hi And it was don, while thei And so it was, that while
þar wæron, hire dagas wæron weren there, the daies were they were there, the days
gefyllede þæt heo cende. And fulfillid, that sche schulde bere were accomplished that she
heo cende hyre frumcennedan child. And sche bare hir first should be delivered. And she
sunu, and hine mid cildclaþum borun sone, and wlappide hym brought forth her firstborn
bewand, and hine on binne in clothis, and leide hym in a son, and wrapped him in
alede, for þam þe hig næfdon cratche, for ther was no place swaddling cloths, and laid him
rum on cumena huse. to hym in no chaumbir. in a manger, because there
was no room for them in the
inn.
And hyrdas wæron on þam And scheepherdis weren in And there were in the same
ylcan rice waciende, and the same cuntre, wakynge and country shepherds abiding in
nihtwæccan healdende ofer kepynge the watchis of the the field, keeping watch over
heora heorda. Þa stod Drihtnes nygt on her flok. And lo! the their flock by night. And, lo,
engel wiþ hig, and Godes aungel of the Lord stood the angel of the Lord came
beorhtnes him ymbe scean; bisidis hem, and the upon them, and the glory of
and hi him mycelum ege cleernesse of God schinede the Lord shone round about
adredon. And se engel him to aboute hem; and thei dredden them; and they were sore
cwæð, Nelle ge eow adrædan; with greet drede. And the afraid. And the angel said
soþlice nu ic eow bodie aungel seide to hem, Nyle ye unto them, Fear not; for,
mycelne gefean, se bið eallum drede; for lo! Y preche to you a behold, I bring you good
folce; for þam to dæg eow ys greet ioye, that schal be to al tidings of great joy, which
Hælend acenned, se is Drihten puple. For a sauyoure is borun shall be to all people. For
Crist, on Dauides ceastre. to dai to you, that is Crist the unto you is born this day in

Lord. the city of David a Saviour,

which is Christ the Lord.
TASK:
As you may have noticed, to make a comparison easier, names have been underlined. Find
20 words that you think are interesting examples of how the language changed in the period
of roughly 1200 years and present them as groups of three (one in Old English, one in
Middle English and one in Present day English), e.g. “engel” / “aungel” / ‘angel’.
UNIT 3 Lesson
24
History of English with focus on Linguistic features – Early Modern English
(1500 – 1800): Pronunciation and Grammar
A major factor that influenced the language and served to separate Middle and
Modern English was the Great Vowel Shift. The Great Vowel Shift (1400-1600) changed the
pronunciation of all the vowels. The tongue was placed higher in the mouth, and all the
verbs moved up. Vowels that were already high ([i] and [u]) added the dipthongs [aj] and
[aw] to the vowels of English.
This was a change in pronunciation that began around 1400. While modern English
speakers can read Chaucer with some difficulty, Chaucer's pronunciation would have been
completely unintelligible to the modern ear. Shakespeare, on the other hand, would be
accented, but understandable. Vowel sounds began to be made further to the front of the
mouth and the letter "e" at the end of words became silent. Chaucer's Lyf (pronounced
"leef") became the modern life. In Middle English name was pronounced "nam-a," five was
pronounced "feef," and down was pronounced "doon." In linguistic terms, the shift was
rather sudden, the major changes occurring within a century. The shift is still not over,
however, vowel sounds are still shortening although the change has become considerably
more gradual.
Other pronunciation changes were that several consonants were no longer
pronounced, but the spelling system was in place before the consonant loss, so they are
still written in English today. The consonants lost include:

a. Voiceless velar fricative lost in night; pronounced as f in laugh

b. [b] in final -mb cluster (dumb, comb)
c. [l] between a or o and consonant (half, walk, talk, folk)
d. [r] sometimes before s (Worcestershire)
e. initial clusters beginning with k and g (knee, knight, gnat)
f. [g] in -ing endings (more commonly pronounced [ɪn])
g. Finally, assibilation occurred when the alveolars [s], [d], [t], and [z] preceded the
palatal glide [j], producing the palatal consonants: [š], [ǰ], [č], [ž]
There were also some noticeable grammar changes: Adjectives lost all endings
except for in the comparative and superlative forms. The neuter pronoun it was first used as
well as who as a relative pronoun. More strong verbs became weak and the third person
singular form became -(e)s instead of -(e)th. There was a more limited use of the
progressive and auxiliary verbs than there is now, however. Negatives followed the verb
and multiple negatives were still used.
QUESTIONS:
A. If we compare Shakespeare’s English with that of the poet Chaucer, what major
conclusions can be drawn about its comprehensibility for a present day speaker
of English?
B. What phenomenon is, basically, the cause for the great difference in
comprehensibility between the two varieties of English for the present day
listener (if we could actually hear and compare present day English with the
older two forms)?
C. In what other ways did Early Modern English pronunciation distinguish itself from
Middle English pronunciation?
D. Mention a few interesting grammatical changes that occurred from Middle
English to early Modern English.
UNIT 3 Lesson
25
History of English with focus on Linguistic features - Linguistic features of
Early Modern English: Vocabulary and Standardisation
Source:
Modern English began around the 16th Century and, like all languages, is still
changing. This wave of innovation in English came with the Renaissance. The revival of
classical scholarship brought many classical Latin and Greek words into the Language.
Because of the Renaissance of Classical learning, many words have entered the language
either directly or indirectly. New words were created at an increasing rate.
Another changing factor was the increased contact that the British had from the 16th
Century onwards with many peoples from around the world. Borrowed words include
names of animals (giraffe, tiger, zebra), clothing (pyjama, turban, shawl), food (spinach,
chocolate, orange), scientific and mathematical terms (algebra, geography, species),

drinks (tea, coffee, cider), religious terms (Jesus, Islam, nirvana), sports (checkmate, golf,
billiards), vehicles (chariot, car, coach), music and art (piano, theatre, easel), weapons
(pistol, trigger, rifle), political and military terms (commando, admiral, parliament), and
astronomical names (Saturn, Leo, Uranus).
Languages that have contributed words to English include Latin, Greek, French,
German, Arabic, Hindi (from India), Italian, Malay, Dutch, Farsi (from Iran and Afghanistan),
Nahuatl (the Aztec language), Sanskrit (from ancient India), Portuguese, Spanish, Tupi
(from South America) and Ewe (from Africa).
The list of borrowed words is enormous. The vocabulary of English is the largest of
any language. Even with all these borrowings the heart of the language remains the Anglo-
Saxon of Old English. Only about 5000 or so words from this period have remained
unchanged but they include the basic building blocks of the language: household words,
parts of the body, common animals, natural elements, most pronouns, prepositions,
conjunctions and auxiliary verbs. Grafted onto this basic stock was a wealth of
contributions to produce, what many people believe, is the richest of the world's languages.
These borrowings were deliberate and many bemoaned the adoption of these
"inkhorn" terms, but many survive to this day. Shakespeare coined over 1600 words. This
process has grown exponentially in the modern era. Many students having difficulty
understanding Shakespeare would be surprised to learn that he wrote in modern English.
But, as can be seen in the earlier example of the Lord's Prayer (p.28), Elizabethan English
has much more in common with our language today than it does with the language of
Chaucer. Many familiar words and phrases were coined or first recorded by Shakespeare,
some 2,000 words and countless idioms are his. Newcomers to Shakespeare are often
shocked at the number of clichés contained in his plays, until they realize that he coined
them and they became clichés afterwards. "One fell swoop," "vanish into thin air," and
"flesh and blood" are all Shakespeare's. Words he bequeathed to the language include
"critical," "leapfrog," "majestic," "dwindle," and "pedant." For more on Shakespeare, see
Appendix 3.
Standardisation and Early Grammarians (18th Century)

A major factor in the development of Modern English was the advent of the printing
press. William Caxton brought the printing press to England in 1476. Books became
cheaper and as a result, literacy became more common. Publishing for the masses became
a profitable enterprise, and works in English, as opposed to Latin, became more common.
The printing press brought standardization to English. The dialect of London, where most
publishing houses were located, became the standard. Spelling and grammar became
fixed, and the first English dictionary was published in 1604.
A proposal for an Academy of the English Language was first brought forth by
Jonathan Swift in 1712, but the Parliament voted against it. Nevertheless, several
grammarians wrote dictionaries and grammar books in a prescriptive manner - telling
people what to do or not to do with the language. Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the
English Language was published in 1755 and Robert Lowth's Introduction to English
Grammar appeared in 1762. Early grammarians felt that language should be logical,
therefore, the double negative was considered incorrect (two negatives equal one positive)
and should not be used. They also didn't like shortened or redundant words, borrowing
words from other languages (except Latin and Greek), split infinitives, or prepositions at the
end of the sentence.
In England, (as opposed the Scotland, Wales and Ireland) several changes to English
had occurred since 1700. These include a loss of the post-vocalic r (so that the r is only
pronounced before a vowel and not after); an increase in the use of the progressive tenses;
and a rise in class consciousness about speech (Received Pronunciation.)
QUESTIONS:

A. What factors caused a flux of new words into early modern English?
B. Name sources of borrowed words. Try to match some examples with some
languages of origin.
C. How is Shakespeare not only remembered as a great playwright but also
because of his great contribution to the language?
D. What other change took place in the language over the length of what period?
E. How did the discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation increase; give a
few examples.
F. What factors contributed to the standardisation of English? Give a few examples
of forms that were no longer accepted in Standard English.
G. How did speech in the south become distinguishable from the other areas of the
country as linked to a growth in class consciousness?
UNIT 3 Lesson 26
History of English with focus on Linguistic features - Late-Modern English
(1800-Present)
The principal distinction between early- and late-modern English is vocabulary.

Pronunciation, grammar, and spelling are largely the same, but Late-Modern English has
many more words. These words are the result of two historical factors. The first is the
Industrial Revolution and the rise of the technological society. This necessitated new words
for things and ideas that had not previously existed. Since 1900, a very large amount of
vocabulary words has been added to English in a relatively short period. The majority of
these words are related to science and technology, and use Greek and Latin roots. The
second was the British Empire. At its height, Britain ruled one quarter of the earth's surface,
and English adopted many foreign words and made them its own.
The industrial and scientific revolutions created a need for neologisms to describe
the new creations and discoveries. For this, English relied heavily on Latin and Greek.
Words like oxygen, protein, nuclear, and vaccine did not exist in the classical languages,
but they were created from Latin and Greek roots. Such neologisms were not exclusively
created from classical roots though, English roots were used for such terms
as horsepower, airplane, and typewriter. This burst of neologisms continues today, perhaps
most visible in the field of electronics and computers. Byte, cyber-, bios, hard-drive,
and microchip are good examples.
Also, the rise of the British Empire and the growth of global trade served not only to
introduce English to the world, but to introduce words into English. Hindi, and the other
languages of the Indian subcontinent, provided many words, such as pundit, shampoo,
pajamas, and juggernaut. Virtually every language on Earth has contributed to the
development of English, from Finnish (sauna) and Japanese (tycoon) to the vast
contributions of French and Latin.
The British Empire was a maritime empire, and the influence of nautical terms on the
English language has been great. Phrases like three sheets to the wind have their origins
onboard ships.
A more scientifically minded attitude took hold by the 19th century when the Oxford
English Dictionary was proposed in 1859. It was to be a factual account of every word in the
English language since 1000 including its main form, pronunciation, spelling variations, part
of speech, etymology, meanings in chronological order and illustrative quotations. The
project was begun in 1879 under its first editor, James AH Murray. The first edition was
published in 1928, with supplements in 1933 and 1972-6. The second edition was published
in 1989 and it recognized American and Australian English, as the International Phonetic
Alphabet for pronunciation.
Finally, the military influence on the language during the latter half of twentieth
century was significant. Before the Great War, military service for English-speaking
persons was rare; both Britain and the United States maintained small, volunteer militaries.

Military slang existed, but with the exception of nautical terms, rarely influenced standard
English. During the mid-20th century, however, a large number of British and American men
served in the military. And consequently military slang entered the language like never
before. Blockbuster, nose dive, camouflage, radar, roadblock, spearhead , and landing
strip are all military terms that made their way into standard English.
QUESTIONS:
A. What was the principal distinction between early and late Modern English and
what factors caused this distinction?
B. How were new words created?
C. How was the introduction of many new words in English formally acknowledged?
D. What influence did the world wars have on English? Give examples please.
UNIT 3 Lesson
27
History of English with focus on Linguistic features - American English and
other varieties
Of great historical significance, beginning around 1600 CE, was the English
colonization of North America and the subsequent creation of American English.
Immigrants from Southeastern England began arriving on the North American continent in
the early 1600's. By the mid-1800's, 3.5 million immigrants left the British Isles for the United
States. The American English language is characterized by archaisms (words that changed
meaning in Britain, but remained in the colonies). 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. 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).
There were also many innovations in vocabulary (borrowing from the French and
Spanish who were also settling in North America). Noah Webster was the most vocal about
the need for an American national identity with regards to the American English language.
He wrote an American spelling book, The Blueback Speller, in 1788 and changed several
spellings from British English (colour became color, theatre became theater, etc.) In 1828,
he published his famous American Dictionary of the English Language.
Dialects in the United States resulted from different waves of immigration of English
speakers, contact with other languages, and the slave trade, which had a profound impact
on African American English. A dialectal study was done in 1920 and the findings are
published in the Linguistics Atlas of the U.S. and Canada.
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, Roanoke, and Iowa. Indian-sounding names like Idaho were sometimes
created that had no native-American roots. But, names for other things besides places were
also common. Raccoon, tomato, canoe, barbecue, savanna, and hickory have native
American roots, although in many cases the original Indian words were mangled almost
beyond recognition.
Spanish has also been great influence on American English. M ustang, 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.

QUESTIONS:
A. How did American English develop into a distinctly different variety of English
compared to British English and in what ways did it actually become different?
B. Mention a number of sources of new English words in the American variety of
English with a few examples for each.
UNIT 3 Lesson
28
History of English with focus on Linguistic features - American English and
other varieties Source:
English around the World

Dialects or “varieties” 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.
Although the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand have
English as an official language, the United States does not have an official language. This is
how it's possible to become a US citizen without speaking English. Canada also has French
as an official language, though it is mostly spoken in the province of Quebec. Because many
of the English speakers who originally inhabited Canada came from the US, there is little
difference in the American and Canadian dialects of English. Similarly, Australian and New
Zealand English have few differences, except Australia was originally settled as a penal
colony and New Zealand was not. New Zealanders were more attached to the Received
Pronunciation of the upper class in England, so their dialect is considered closer to British
English.
British colonialism has spread English all over the world, and it still holds prestige in
South Africa, India, and Singapore, among other nations. In South Africa, English became
an official language, along with Afrikaans and 9 African languages, in the 1996 constitution.
However, only 3% of the country's 30 million people are native English speakers. Twenty
percent are descendants of Dutch farmers who speak Afrikaans, and the rest are native
Africans. Although the British won the Boer Wars of 1899-1901 against the Afrikaans
farmers (the Boers), Britain still promised the Boers self-government under the Union of
South Africa. By 1948, these Afrikaners won state elections and remained in power through
the 1990's. Apartheid (which segregated the Afrikaners and Africans) officially ended under
Nelson Mandela's reign, and although Afrikaans was the language used more often, the
Africans wanted English as the official language. Hence the compromise of 11 official
languages.
India became independent from Britain in 1947, and the English language was
supposed to be phased out by 1965. However, today English and Hindi are the official
languages. Indian English is characterized by treating mass nouns as count nouns, frequent
use of the "isn't it?" tag, use of more compounds, and a different use of prepositions. In
Singapore, Chinese, Malay and Indian languages have an impact on the form of English
spoken. Everyone is taught English in the school system, but there are a few differences
from British English as well. Mass nouns are treated as count nouns, "use to" means
usually, and no articles are used before occupations.
Creoles of English can be found on the coast of West Africa, China, and on islands of
the Pacific and Caribbean (especially the West Indies.) Originally, these creoles were

pidgins so that English-speaking traders could conduct business. Over time, they became
the native languages of the children and evolved into creoles
QUESTIONS:
A. In what way is it possible for foreign immigrants to be accepted as a USA citizen
without knowing English?
B. Why is the New Zealand variety consistently closer to British RP than the
Australian variety?
C. What is the language situation in South Africa and how important is English
there?
D. What role does English play in India?
E. Where do we find creoles of English?
FINAL PAPER Lessons 29/

30
Write a paper using the tables below or any of the material that you find in the appendices
that follow.

English - A Historical Summary


APPENDIX 1
Beowulf
The greatest Old English poem is Beowulf, which belongs to the seventh century. It is a
story of about 3,000 lines, and it is the first English epic (a story in poetry of the adventures
of a brave man or men). The name of its author is unknown.
Beowulf is not based upon events in England, but about Hrothgar, King of the Danes, and
about a brave young man, Beowulf, from southern Sweden, who goes to help him. Hrothgar
is in trouble. His great hall, called Heorot, is visited by night by a terrible creature named
Grendel, which lives in a lake and comes to kill and eat Hrothgar's men. One night Beowulf
waits in secret for Grendel, attacks it, and in a fierce fght pulls its arm off! It manages to
reach the lake again, but dies there. Then its mother comes to the hall in search of revenge,
and the attacks begin again. Beowulf follows her to the bottom of the lake and after a
struggle kills her there. Later, as an aged warrior-king, Beowulf has to defend his country
against a fire-breathing dragon, guarding a huge treasure. He kills the creature but is badly
wounded in the fight, and dies. The poem ends with a sorrowful description of Beowulf's
funeral fire. Here are a few lines of it:
"... alegdon tha tomiddes maerne theoden
laeleth hiofende hlaford leofne
ongunnon tha on beorge bael-fyra maest
wigend weccan wudu-rec astah
sweart ofer swiothole swogende leg
wope bewunden"
Or a modern English translation might go something like this ... " The sorrowing soldiers
then laid the glorious prince, their dear lord, in the middle. Then on the hill the war-men
began to light the greatest of funeral fires. The wood-smoke rose black above the flames,
the noisy fire, mixed with sorrowful cries"
As you can see Old English is almost impossible to read now except by those who have
made a special study of it! There are many other Old English poems. Among them are the
bible-based works Genesis A and Genesis B, Exodus, Daniel, Christ and Satan, The Dream
of the Rood (the rood is Christ's cross) and The Fates of the Apostles. Sadly, we now know
little or nothing of the identity of the poets. Beowulf lines 1 to 11, approximately AD 900
Hwæt! Wē Gār-Dena in geārdagum,
þēodcyninga, þrym gefrūnon,
hū ðā æþelingas ellen fremedon.
Oft Scyld Scēfing sceaþena þrēatum,
monegum mǣgþum, meodosetla oftēah,

egsode eorlas. Syððan ǣrest wearð

fēasceaft funden, hē þæs frōfre gebād,
wēox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þāh,
oðþæt him ǣghwylc þāra ymbsittendra
ofer hronrāde hȳran scolde,
gomban gyldan. Þæt wæs gōd cyning!
Which, as translated by Francis Gummere, reads:
Lo, praise of the prowess of people-kings

of spear-armed Danes, in days long sped,
we have heard, and what honor the athelings won!
Oft Scyld the Scefing from squadroned foes,
from many a tribe, the mead-bench tore,
awing the earls. Since erst he lay
friendless, a foundling, fate repaid him:
for he waxed under welkin, in wealth he throve,
till before him the folk, both far and near,
who house by the whale-path, heard his mandate,
gave him gifts: a good king he!
Other poems in Old English include The Battle of Maldon, which describes a battle thought
against the Dane in 991. Here is another excerpt together with our translation:
"hige sceal the heardra heorte the cenre
mod sceal the mare the ure maegen lytlath
her lith ure ealdoe eall forheawen
god on greote a maeg gnornian
se the nu fram this wigplegan wendan thenceth"
The mind must be the firmer, the heart must be braver, the courage must be the greater, as
our strength grows less. Here lies our lord all cut to pieces, the good man on the ground. If
anyone thinks now to turn away from this war-play, may he be unhappy for ever after"
Apart from poetry we also have surviving examples of song lyrics and prose (the ordinary
written language). Notable examples of lyrics include The Husband's Message, Deor's
Complaint, The Wanderer and The Wife's Complaint. And as for prose we have Laws written
at the beginning of the seventh century; the works of AELFRIC: Homilies (990) and Lives of
Saints (995); and the splendid The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is an early history of England. It was written in several parts,
with different chronicles coming from different cities, and therefore had several different

writers. It is believed that KING ALFRED (849-901) had a great influence on this work. He
probably brought the different writings into some kind of order. He also translated a number
of books written in Latin, including BEDE's Ecclesiastical History, into Old English, so that
his people could read them.
APPENDIX 2
Chaucer and 'Middle English'
Geoffrey Chaucer (c.1340-1400)
The English which was used from about 1100 to about 1500 is called Middle English, and
most critics would rate Geoffrey Chaucer the greatest poet of the time. Indeed, he is often
referred to as the father of English poetry, although, there were many poets before him -
Caedmon, Cynewulf, Aelfric, and numerous unidentified poets.
Chaucer was a well-educated man who read Latin, and studied French and Italian poetry;
but he was not interested only in books. To earn a living he worked as translator, courtier,
diplomat and forester. He travelled widely and made good use of his eyes; and the people
whom he describes are just like real people! His poems clearly show his fondest for women
...

Middle English is much easier for the modern reader to understand than the earlier Old
English. Here are the opening lines of The Canterbury Tales written in about 1387:
From The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, 14th century:
Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote

The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open yë
(So priketh hem Nature in hir corages);
Than longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
Glossary:
 soote: sweet
 swich licour: such liquid
 Zephirus: the west wind (Zephyrus)
 eek: also (Dutch ook; German auch)
 holt: wood (German Holz)
 the Ram: Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac
 yronne: run (German gerannt)
 priketh hem Nature: Nature pricks them
 hir corages: their hearts
The Canterbury Tales total more than 17.000 lines, and is in the form of a 'link and frame'
story - in imitation of Boccaccio's Decamrone. In Chaucer's work a party of pilgrims agree
to tell stories to pass the time on their journey from London to Canterbury. There are more
than twenty of these stories, mostly in verse, and in the stories we get to know about the
pilgrims themselves. The majority of them, like the merchant, the lawyer, the cook, the
sailor, the ploughman, and the miller are ordinary people and each of them can be
recognised as a real person with his or her own character. One of my favourite characters,
for example, is the Wife of Bath. By the time she has finished telling the story we know her
as a woman of very strong opinions who believes firmly in marriage - she has had five
husbands, one after the other! It is equally clear that she believes firmly in the need to
manage husbands strictly. In her story one of King Arthur's knights must correctly answer
within one year the question 'What do women love most?' in order to save his life. An ugly

old witch knows the answer ('To rule')and agrees to tell him if he marries her. He finally
agrees, and at the marriage she becomes young and beautiful again. Of Chaucer's other
poems, the most important are probably Troylus and Cryseyde (1375) and The Legend of
Good Women (1385).
A selection of excerpts Chaucer's work - in the original Old English!:
The Wife of Bath's Tale
'... He seeketh every house and every place
where as he hopeth for to finde grace,
To lerne what thing women loven most.
But he ne coud arriven in no cost
Where as he mighte find in this mattere
Two creatures according with each other
Some saiden women loven best richesse;
Some said honour, some saide jolinesse,
Some rich array, some saiden lust abedde,
And ofte time to be widow and wedde,
Some saide that our hearte is most esed
Whan that we been y-flattered and y-plesed ...'
The Miller's Tale
'... fair was this yonge wyf, and ther-with-al
As any weasele hir body gent and small.
A girdle she werede barred all of silk
An apron eek as whyt as morne milk
Up-on hir loins full of many a gore,
Whyt was hir smok and brouded al bifore ...
Her filet brood of silk, and set ful hye:

And certainly she hadde a lecherous ye
She was ful more blisful on to see
than is the new pear tree
There nis no man so wys, that could imagine,
So gay a darling, or swich a wenche ...'
Triolus and Criseyde
'... For thy tak herte, and thenk, right as a knight,
Thourgh love is broken alday every lawe,
Display now sumwhat thy curage and thy might,
Have mercy on thy-self, for any awe.
Let not this wrecched wo thine herte gnaw,
But manly set the worlde on six and sevene;
And, if thou dye a martir, go to hevene.'
Other important works of the Middle English period include:
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by an unknown author. This is, by any standards, one of
the greatest early narrative poems in any European language. The story is of King Arthur
and his knights of the round table. It tells of the adventures of Sir Gawain (one of King
Arthur's knights) in a struggle against an enemy with magical powers as well as great
strength and cunning. The same unknown author is also thought to have
written Pearl and Patience two fine poems of the same period. Check back soon for a full-
page on the works of this anonymous poet!
The Vision of Piers the Ploughman by William Langland (c.1330-1400). This poem written by
a poor man describes the sorrows of the poor, and sadly tells, as in a dream, how most
people prefer the false treasures of this world to the true treasures of heaven.
Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Mallory (died 1471). Eight seperate tales of King Arthur joined
together to form one long story. The tales concern the search for the Holy Grail (the cup
supposedly used by Christ at the last supper), King Arthur's battles against his enemies,
and similar subjects.
A good deal of Middle English prose is religious. Examples of which include: The Form of
Perfect Living by Richard Rolle, and John Wycliffe's translations of the Bible.

APPENDIX 3
William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
Apart from the information recorded in the Stratford-Upon-Avon parish registers about
William Shakespeare's birth as the third child of John Shakespeare and Mary Arden, his
marriage to Ann Hathaway in 1582, the birth of their three children, and his death, most of
what we know about his life is merely the guesswork of historians and biographers.
However, Shakespeare probably did not have an academic education. He may have learned
his craft in the theatre. From 1585 he seems to have been in London in several capacities
connected with the theatre. In 1594 he joined a company of actors, and later became part
owner of the Globe Theatre. But, most of this is uncertain. The only real evidence we have
are his works and the references to them and their author, which we find in the work of
contemporary and later writers.
Some rather splendid Shakespeare lines:
"To be, or not to be, that is the question"
"To me, fair friend, you never can be old. For as you were when first your eye I eyed, such
seems your beauty still"
"The devil can cite scripture for his purpose"
"O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?"
"With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come"
"Through tatterd clothes, small vices do appear. Robes and gowns hide all"

"All the world's a stage"
"Have you not a moist eye, a dry hand, a yellow cheek, a white beard, a decreasing leg, an
increasing belly? Is not your voice broken, your mind short, your chin double, your wit
single, and every part about you blasted with antiquity"
"If music be the food of love, play on"
"Journeys end in lovers meeting"
"All that glisters is not gold"
"Your old virginity is like one of our French withered pears: it looks ill, it eats dryly"
"He that is well paid is well satisfied"
Oh, what a bitter thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes"
"Such as we are made of, such we be"
"The tartness of his face sours ripe grapes"
"Of all base passions, fear is the most accursed"
"Reason and love keep little company together now-a-days"
"Friendship is constant in all other things, save in the office and affairs of love"
"Nothing can come of nothing:"
"Though this be madness, yet there is method in it"
"My only love sprung from my only hate"
"The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together"
"Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind"
"In delay there lies no plenty"
"He is not great who is not greatly good"
"Time is the justice that examines all offenders"
"Love sought is good, but given unsought is better"
"By medicine life can be prolonged, yet death will seize the Doctor too"
"Some cupid kills with arrows, some with traps"

"We may know what we are, but know not what we may be"
"The course of true love never did run smooth"
"So wise so young, they say do never live long"
"Dost thou think because thou art virtuous there shall be no more cakes and ale?"
"We are such stuff as dreams are made on"
"Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon
them"
The Works of Shakespeare in Chronological Order
Poetry:
Venus and Adonis
The Rape of Lucrece
A Lover's Complaint
The Phoenix and the Turtle
Plays:
HenryVI, RichardIII, Titus Andronicus, Love's Labour Lost, The Gentlemen of Verona
The Comedy of Errors, The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night's
Dream
Richard II, King John, The Merchant of Venice, Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing,
Merry Wives of Windsor, As You Like It, Julius Caesar, Trylus and Cressida, Hamlet
Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, All's Well That Ends Well, Othello, King Lear
Macbeth, Timon of Athens, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Pericles, Cymbeline
The Winter's Tale, The Tempest, Henry VIII

Short summaries of, and lines from, some of our favourite works:
Romeo and Juliet (1594-95)
The first of Shakespeare's great tragedies. The plot of this story: pure and tragic love, is
known throughout the world. The deaths of Romeo and Juliet are in many ways necessary:
their families are enemies, and death appears to be the only way out of their hopeless
situation. The tragedy is deeply sad and moving.
THE NURSE REMEMBERS JULIET'S AGE
NURSE: Even or odd, of all the days of the year,
Come Lammas-eve at night shall she be fourteen;
That shall she, marry; I remember it well.
'Tis since the earthquake now eleven years;
And she was weaned, i never shall forget it,
Of all the days of the year, upon that day ...
The Merchant of Venice (1594-97)
In this play Antonio, a merchant, borrows money from the jew, Shylock, to help his friend
Bassanio, who wants to marry therich and beautiful Portia. Shylock hates Antonio and only
agrees to lend the money on condition that, if it is not repaid at the right time, Antonio shall
pay a pound of flesh. When Antonio's ships are wrecked, and to everyone's surprise he
cannot pay the money, Shylock demands his pound of flesh. the case is taken to court, and
Antonio has no hope. then suddenly Portia, dressed as a lawyer, appears in court. At first
she tries to persuade Shylock to have mercy, but she does not succeed, even with the
famous speech about mercy:
It (mercy) droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed:
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes
'T is mightiest in the mightiest; it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
Then Portia herself becomes hard: Shylock may have his flesh - but not one drop of blood;
there is nothing about blood in the agreement. As Shylock cannot take the flesh without
spilling some blood, Antonio is saved.

Macbeth (1605-06)
In Macbeth the hero, Macbeth, is told my three old witches that he will receive high honours
and then become king. The high honours come, and he decides to help fate to make him
king. King Duncan stays with him at his castle, and he and his wife, Lady Macbeth, murder
the king; but Duncan's sons escape. One of the sons, Malcolm, brings an army against
Macbeth, who is killed. Lady Macbeth is already dead. here are some words of Macbeth
when he hears of her death:
She should have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
the way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more; it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
Twelfth Night (1600)
This play has been called the perfection of english comedy. The whole play is alive with
humour and action. The Duke of Orsino believes that he is in love with the Lady Olivia, but
he is more in love with love. "If music be the food of love," he says at the beginning of the
play, "play on." Like several other of his plays there are twins, and they cause great
confusion when the girl dresses like her brother. Two other characters, Sir Toby Belch and
Sir Andrew Aguecheek provide much amusement with their foolish plans and their drinking.
The play contains a number of songs. Here is one:
O, mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O, stay and hear; your true love's coming,
That can sing both high and low.

Trip no further, pretty sweeting;
Journeys end in lovers meeting,
Every wise man's son doth know.
What is love? 'T is not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What's to come is still unsure.
In delay there lies no plenty;
Then come and kiss me, sweet and twenty,
Youth's a stuff will not endure.
Hamlet
Some of Shakespeare's most famous lines are from this play:
To be, or not to be, that is the question:

Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them?
To die: to sleep;
No more; and, by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to, 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die, to sleep;
To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.
Othello
I had rather be a toad
O curse of marriage!
That we can call these delicate creatures ours,
And not their appetites! I had rather be a toad
And live upon the vapour of a dungeon
Than keep a corner in the thing I love
For others' uses.

Early Modern English
From Paradise Lost by John Milton, 1667:
Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit

Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning how the Heavens and Earth
Rose out of chaos: or if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed
Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle Flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, whyle it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rhyme.
Modern English
Taken from Oliver Twist, 1838, by Charles Dickens:
The evening arrived: the boys took their places; the master in his cook's uniform stationed
himself at the copper; his pauper assistants ranged themselves behind him; the gruel was
served out, and a long grace was said over the short commons. The gruel disappeared, the
boys whispered each other and winked at Oliver, while his next neighbours nudged him.
Child as he was, he was desperate with hunger and reckless with misery. He rose from the
table, and advancing, basin and spoon in hand, to the master, said, somewhat alarmed at
his own temerity—
"Please, sir, I want some more."
The master was a fat, healthy man, but he turned very pale. He gazed in stupefied
astonishment on the small rebel for some seconds, and then clung for support to the
copper. The assistants were paralysed with wonder, and the boys with fear.
"What!" said the master at length, in a faint voice.

"Please, sir," replied Oliver, "I want some more."
The master aimed a blow at Oliver's head with the ladle, pinioned him in his arms, and
shrieked aloud for the beadle.
APPENDIX 4
Chronology of Events in the History of English: 600 AD – 1100 The Pre-

English Period
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/chron.htmlpre-600 A.D.
THE PRE-ENGLISH PERIOD

ca. 3000 B.C.
(or 6000 B.C?)
Proto-Indo-European spoken in Baltic area.
(or Anatolia?)
ca. 1000 B.C.
After many migrations, the various branches of Indo-European have become distinct. Celtic
becomes most widespread branch of I.E. in Europe; Celtic peoples inhabit what is now
Spain, France, Germany, Austria, eastern Europe, and the British Isles.
55 B.C. Beginning of Roman raids on British Isles. - First Roman incursions of recognition,
under
the command of Julius Caesar.
43 A.D. Roman occupation of Britain. Roman colony of "Britannia" established. Eventually,
many Celtic Britons become Romanized. (Others continually rebel). The Romans founded
Londinium on the banks of the Thames.
200 B.C.-200 A.D.
Germanic peoples move down from Scandinavia and spread over Central Europe in
successive waves. Supplant Celts. Come into contact (at times antagonistic, at times
commercial) with northward-expanding empire of Romans.
Early 5th
century.
Roman Empire collapses. Romans pull out of Britain and other colonies, attempting to shore
up defense on the home front; but it's useless. Rome sacked by Goths.
Germanic tribes on the continent continue migrations west and south; consolidate into ever
larger units. Those taking over in Rome call themselves "Roman emperors" even though the
imperial administration had relocated to Byzantium in the 300s. The new Germanic rulers
adopted the Christianity of the late Roman state, and began what later evolved into the not-
very-Roman "Holy Roman Empire".
ca. 410 A.D.
First Germanic tribes arrive in England.
410-600
Settlement of most of Britain by Germanic peoples (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, some Frisians)
speaking West Germanic dialects descended from Proto-Germanic. These dialects are
distantly related to Latin, but also have a sprinkling of Latin borrowings due to earlier
cultural contact with the Romans on the continent.
432 AD - St. Patrick begins his mission to Christianize Ireland.

465 AD - Alleged date of birth of the legendary King Arthur.

Celtic peoples, most of whom are Christianized, are pushed increasingly (despite
occasional violent uprisings) into the marginal areas of Britain: Ireland, Scotland, Wales.
Anglo-Saxons, originally sea-farers, settle down as farmers, exploiting rich English
farmland.
By 600 A.D., the Germanic speech of England comprises dialects of a language distinct
from the continental Germanic languages.
Chronology of Events in the History of English: 600 AD – 1100 The Old English
Period
ca. 600-1100
THE OLD ENGLISH, OR ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD
600-800
Rise of three great kingdoms politically unifying large areas: Northumbria, Mercia, Wessex.
Supremacy passes from one kingdom to another in that order.
ca. 600
Christianity introduced among Anglo-Saxons by St. Augustine, missionary from Rome. Irish
missionaries also spread Celtic form of Christianity to mainland Britain.
787 - 1000 AD - Attacks Scandinavians (Vikings) .

793
First serious Viking incursions. Lindisfarne monastery sacked.
800
Charlemagne, king of the Franks, crowned Holy Roman Emperor; height of Frankish power
in Europe. Wessex kings aspire to similar glory; want to unite all England, and if possible the
rest of mainland Britain, under one crown (theirs).
840s-870s
Viking incursions grow worse and worse. Large organized groups set up permanent
encampments on English soil. Slay kings of Northumbria and East Anglia, subjugate king of
Mercia. Storm York (Anglo-Saxon Eoforwic) and set up a Viking kingdom (Jorvik). Wessex
stands alone as the last Anglo-Saxon kingdom in Britain.
871
Vikings move against Wessex. In six pitched battles, the English hold their own, but fail to
repel attackers decisively. In the last battle, the English king is mortally wounded. His young
brother, Alfred, who had distinguished himself during the battles, is crowned king.
871-876
Alfred builds a navy. The kings of Denmark and Norway have come to view England as ripe
for the plucking and begin to prepare an attack.
876
Three Danish kings attack Wessex. Alfred prevails, only to be attacked again a few months
later. His cause looks hopeless.
878
Decisive battle at Edington; Alfred and a large contingent of desperate Anglo-Saxons make
a last stand (they know what awaits them if they fail). Alfred leads the Anglo-Saxons to
decisive victory; blockades a large Viking camp nearby, starving them into submission; and
exacts homage from the kings of Denmark and an oath that the Danes will leave Wessex
forever.

Under Alfred's terms of victory, England is partitioned into a part governed by the Anglo-
Saxons (under the house of Wessex) and a part governed by the Scandinavians (some of
whom become underlords of Alfred), divided by Watling Street. 15 years of peace follow;
Alfred reigns over peaceful and prosperous kingdom. First called "Alfred the Great".
925
Athelstan crowned king. Height of Anglo-Saxon power. Athelstan reconquers York from the
Vikings, and even conquers Scotland and Wales, heretofore ruled by Celts. Continues
Alfred's mission of making improvements in government, education, defense, and other
social institutions.
10th century
Danes and English continue to mix peacefully, and ultimately become indistinguishable.
Many Scandinavian loanwords enter the language; English even borrows pronouns
like they, them, their.
978
Aethelred "the Unready" becomes king at 11 years of age.
991
Aethelred has proved to be a weak king, who does not repel minor Viking attacks. Vikings
experiment with a major incursion at Maldon in Essex. After losing battle, Aethelred bribes
them to depart with 10,000 pounds of silver. Mistake. Sveinn, king of Denmark, takes note.
994-1014
After 20 years of continuous battles and bribings, and incompetent and cowardly military
leadership and governance, the English capitulate to king Sveinn of Denmark (later also of
Norway). Sveinn sets up a Norse court at the new capital of Viking England, Jorvik (a city
which survives as York, capital of the English county of Yorkshire). Aethelred flees to
Normandy, across the channel.
1014
Sveinn's young son Cnut (or Canute) crowned king of England. Cnut decides to follow in
Alfred's footsteps, aiming for a peaceful and prosperous kingdom. Encourages Anglo-Saxon
culture and literature. Even marries Aethelred's widow Emma, brought over from
Normandy.
1050s
After Cnut's death his sons bicker over the kingdom. When they die without issue, the
kingdom passes back to the house of Wessex. The new king is Edward, son of Aethelred
and Emma, who had been raised in exile in Normandy. Edward is a pious, monkish man
called "The Confessor".
Edward has strong partiality for his birthplace, Normandy, a duchy populated by the
descendents of Romanized Vikings. Especially fond of young Duke William of Normandy.
Edward is dominated by his Anglo-Saxon earls, especially powerful earl Godwin. Godwin's
son, Harold Godwinson, becomes de facto ruler as Edward takes less and less interest in
governing.
1066
January. Edward dies childless, apparently recommending Harold Godwinson as
successor. Harold duly chosen by Wessex earls, as nearest of kin to the crown is only an
infant. Mercian and Northumbrian earls are hesitant to go along with choice of Harold.
William of Normandy claims that Harold once promised to support HIM as successor to
Edward. Harold denies it. William prepares to mount an invasion. Ready by summer, but the
winds are unfavorable for sailing.
September. Harald Hardradi of Norway decides this is a good time to attack England.
Harold Godwinson rushes north and crushes Hardradi's army at Stamford Bridge.
The winds change, and William puts to sea. Harold rushes back down to the south coast to
try to repel William's attack. Mercians and Northumbrians are supposed to march down to
help him, but never do. They don't realize what's in store for them.
October. Harold is defeated and killed at the battle of Hastings.

December. William of Normandy crowned king of England in Westminster Abbey on

Christmas
Chronology of Events in the History of English: 600 AD – 1100 The Middle English
Period
ca. 1100-1500
THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD
1066-1075
William crushes uprisings of Anglo-Saxon earls and peasants with a brutal hand; in Mercia
and Northumberland, uses (literal) scorched earth policy, decimating population and laying
waste the countryside. Anglo-Saxon earls and freemen deprived of property; many
enslaved. William distributes property and titles to Normans (and some English) who
supported him. Many of the English hereditary titles of nobility date from this period.
English becomes the language of the lower classes (peasants and slaves). Norman French
becomes the language of the court and propertied classes. The legal system is redrawn
along Norman lines and conducted in French. Churches, monasteries gradually filled with
French-speaking functionaries, who use French for record-keeping. After a while, the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is no longer kept up. Authors write literature in French, not English.
For all practical purposes English is no longer a written language.
Bilingualism gradually becomes more common, especially among those who deal with both
upper and lower classes. Growth of London as a commercial center draws many from the
countryside who can fill this socially intermediate role.
1204
William Caxton brings a printing press to England from Germany. Publishes the first printed
book in England. Beginning of the long process of standardization of spelling.
The English kings lose the duchy of Normandy to French kings. England is now the only
home of the Norman English.
1205
First book in English appears since the conquest.
1258
First royal proclamation issued in English since the conquest.
ca. 1300
Increasing feeling on the part of even noblemen that they are English, not French. Nobility
begin to educate their children in English. French is taught to children as a foreign language
rather than used as a medium of instruction. Robert of Gloucester makes reference to
English as a language still spoken in Britain only by " low people . "
1337
Start of the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
1362
English becomes official language of the law courts. More and more authors are writing in
English. English is used for the first time at the opening of the English Parliament.
ca. 1380
Chaucer writes the Canterbury tales in Middle English. the language shows French
influence in thousands of French borrowings. The London dialect, for the first time, begins
to be recognized as the "Standard", or variety of English taken as the norm, for all England.

Other dialects are relegated to a less prestigious position, even those that earlier served as
standards (e.g. the Wessex dialect of southwest England).
1474
Chronology of Events in the History of English: 1500 The Modern English Period
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/chron.html
1500-1650
Early Modern English develops. The Great Vowel Shift gradually takes place. There is a
large influx of Latin and Greek borrowings and neologisms.
 1516 - Henry VIII created the first postal system in England.
 1558 - Start of the reign of Elizabeth I (daughter of Henry VIII) and the Elizabethan
era, a period characterized by a substantial increase in English vocabulary and the
monumental literary works of Spenser, Shakespeare and Jonson.
 1564 - Birth of William Shakespeare.
 1603 - Death of Elizabeth I and the end of the Elizabethan period.
1611
King James Bible published, which has influenced English writing down to the present day.
1616
Shakespeare dies. Recognized even then as a genius of the English language. Wove native
and borrowed words together in amazing and pleasing combinations.
 1620 - Pilgrims arrive in North America and established the Plymouth Colony.
1700s
Classical period of English literature. The fashion for borrowing Latin and Greek words, and
coining new words with Latin and Greek morphemes, rages unabated. Elaborate syntax
matches elaborate vocabulary (e.g. writings of Samuel Johnson).
The rise of English purists, e.g. Jonathan Swift, who decried the 'degeneration' of English
and sought to 'purify' it and fix it forever in unchanging form.
17th-19th centuries
British imperialism. Borrowings from languages around the world.
- Industrial Revolution, which leveraged the economic power of England, allowing the
expansion of British colonialism and therefore the English language in the 19th century
 1776 - Declaration of Independence of the United States.
 1890 - 1920 - The rise of the British Empire.
Development of American English. By 19th century, a standard variety of American English

develops, based on the dialect of the Mid-Atlantic states.

Establishment of English in Australia, South Africa, and India, among other British colonial
outposts.
19th century
Recognition (and acceptance) by linguistic scholars of the ever-changing nature of
language. Discovery of the Indo-European language family. Late in century: Recognition
that all languages are fundamentally the same in nature; no "primitive" or "advanced"
languages.
19th-20th centuries
Scientific and Industrial Revolutions. Development of technical vocabularies. Within a few
centuries, English has gone from an island tongue to a world language, following the
fortunes of those who speak it.
20th century
Communications revolution. Spread of a few languages at the expense of many. Languages
of the world begin to die out on a large scale as mastery of certain world languages
becomes necessary for survival. Classification and description of non-Indo-European
languages by linguists continues, in many cases in a race against the clock.
1945-?
American political, economic, military supremacy. Borrowing patterns continue. English
has greater impact than ever on other languages, even those with more native speakers.
Becomes most widely studied second language, and a scientific lingua franca.
By the 1990s, preferences begin to shift in many places from British to American English as
the selected standard for second language acquisition. The twin influences of British and
American broadcasting media make the language accessible to more and more people.
Hollywood and the pop music industry help make English an irresistible medium for the
transmission of popular culture. Even long-established European cultures begin to feel
linguistically and culturally threatened, as English comes into use in more and more
spheres and large numbers of English borrowings enter their languages.
New waves of immigrants to the U.S. Linguistic diversity increases where the newcomers
settle, but immigrants repeat the pattern of earlier settlers and lose their language within a
generation or two. The culture at large remains resolutely monolingual (despite the fears of
cultural purists). But as ever, the language continues to absorb loanwords, continually
enriched by the many tongues of the newcomers to these shores.

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The History of English

Orientation about course programme, discussion assessment methods

The Anglo-Saxon Settlement

It's never easy to pinpoint exactly when a specific language

Erik Vermeulen Page 1

Old English (450-1100 AD)

Germanic invaders entered Britain on the east

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The Scandinavian Settlements

Middle English (1100-1500)

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In the 14th century English became dominant

1066 and after

The centuries after the Norman Conquest witnessed enormous

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Late Modern English (1800-Present)

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Colonization and Globalization

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Today, American English is particularly influential, due to the USA's dominance of

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The Celts originated presumably from people who already lived in

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Migration of the Germanic speaking people

During the sixth and seventh

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Soon after the Germanic invasions, the inhabitants

German dialects are spoken by the Angles and Saxons who

OLD ENGLISH (500 - 1100 AD)

Translation of Old English Text

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to becume þin rice come thy kingdom

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At that time, Britain was divided into

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The Conquest of England by the Normans -THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS

King Edward of England (called "The Confessor" because of his

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The bloody battle ended only in the evening; King

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MIDDLE ENGLISH (1100 - 1500)

Anglo-Saxon French Anglo-Saxon French Anglo-Saxon French Anglo-Saxon French

answer respond fair beautiful hide Conceal pig pork

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The Great Vowel Shift

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MODERN ENGLISH (starting at 1500)

While Middle English was characterized by a marked diversity of dialects, Modern

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ENGLISH AS THE LANGUAGE OF THE WORLD

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English is a member of the Indo-European family of languages. This broad family

Old English (500-1100 AD)

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secret for Grendel, attacks it, and in a fierce fght pulls

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Example of the Strong Noun Declension for each Gender

THE BIBLE NATIVITY STORY

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