The Evolution of Language

Old English to
Middle English to
Today
 Beginnings of the English
Language
 England was originally part of the Roman Empire,
so Latin and Greek were spoken in the area
 When the Empire collapses, the native Britons go
back to using their own regional dialects
 In the 400s, each group of people living in what is
now England had their own language; the dialects
were close enough for each to understand the other
 Settlements in Britain (approx 600 AD)

Jutes

Native Britons

Angles

Saxons
 A Change is Coming

 In the 800s, the Vikings arrive (mostly from

Denmark) and settle with the Anglo-Saxons on the
east coast
 Their language was different enough for two things
to happen:
1. Many Old Norse words entered into
English (like “they” and “them”)
2. Complex structure of language becomes
more simplistic, because people now argued
about which form of the language to use
 Elements of Old English
(approx 400-1050)
 Anglo-Saxon or Old English was pronounced quite
differently from Modern English
 P, b, t, d, m, n, l, and r were pronounced as they
are today
 The letters k, q, v, x, and z were not used
 Inclusion of distinctly unmodern letters thorn (þ)
and eth (ð). Both were pronounced like the “th” in
thin, unless between vowels, in which case they
were pronounced like the “th” in then.
 Examples of Old English

 Min nama is Michael -- My name is

Michael.

 Hwæt eart þu? -- Who are you?

 Wel þu writst -- You write well.

 Side by Side Comparison

 Old English Pronouns  Modern Pronouns

ic I
wé we
þú --
gé you
hé he
héo she
hit it
híe they
 Beowulf

 Old English secular poem

 Anonymous author
 Set in Denmark
 Danish king sent for the hero Beowulf to save
his people from the vicious attacks of a
monster named Grendel.
 Only surviving manuscript of its time period
(approx 1010 AD)
Page of Beowulf Manuscript
 The Most Important Date - 1066

 William the Conqueror invades from

Normandy (the Norman Invasion); he brings
with him a dialect of French
 French words are introduced into the
language (like “maison”)
 The grammar rules get easier still
 Middle English (approx 1150-1475)

 Change in language from Old to Middle

English caused partially by William the
Conqueror’s invasion
 French is a big influence
 Spelling remains inconsistent – based on
writer’s dialect
 Who Speaks What?

 English = commoners
 French = aristocracy, monarchy
 Latin = clergy
 Greek = philosophers, scientists, medical
practitioners
 Side by Side Comparison

 Late Middle English Pronouns  Modern Pronouns

I I
we we
thou --
ye you
he he
she she
hit it
they they
Geoffrey Chaucer (early 1340s – 1400)

 Made a crucial contribution to English

literature in using English at a time when
much court poetry was still written in Anglo-
Norman or Latin
 Born in London to prosperous wine
merchants
 Educated and spoke a variety of languages –
French, Latin, and Italian
 The Canterbury Tales

 Written mostly between 1392-1395

 Depicts a pilgrimage of about 30 travelers on
their way to shrine of St. Thomas á Becket
 On the way, they amuse themselves by
telling stories
 Stories are linked by conversations between
travelers that reveal a lot about the characters