Brief History of English Language Flashcards
What kind of language is the English language and where did it originate?
West-Germanic Language; England
Top three most spoken language in the world
Mandarin Chinese
Spanish
English
In what century did the Anglo-Saxons settle in England?
5th Century
Earliest forms of English were spoken by ____ who settled in the 5th century England
Anglo-Saxons
mixed Germanic tribes from Scandinavia and Germany
Anglo-saxons
What was the language of Anglo-Saxons called?
Old English
Scandinavian Countries
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Faroe Islands (not a country but okay)
Nordic Countries
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Faroe Islands (not a country but okay)
Three Different Periods of English Language
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
Through what centuries did the Old English period last?
5th - 11th centuries
Three Germanic tribes that arrives when the Old English period began
Angles
Saxons
Jutes
Who inhabited south and east Britain before the three Germanic tribes settled
Celts
Five Main Cases of Old English
Nominative, Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Instrumental
Three Genders of Old English
Masculine, Feminine, Neuter
Two Numbers of Old English
Singular and Plural
What is the alphabet of the Anglo-Saxons?
Futhorc
One of the most famous examples of Old English Literature, an epic, which was written sometime between the 8th and 11th centuries
Beowulf
What year did the Normans invaded England and conquered the Anglo-Saxons
1066
Originally Viking settlers from Scandinavia who had settled in France in the 10th century
Normans
The language of the ruling class in England after the Norman Conquest
French
Who invaded England and conquered the Anglo-Saxons in 1066?
Normans
What ended the Old English Period?
Norman Conquest
Was spoken from around the 12th Century to the late 15th Century
Middle English
Emerged after the Norman Conquest of 1066
Middle English
The language of the lower classes in England after the Norman Conquest
English
process on how the Normans brought many French words and began to replace old English
Normanisation
began in the 14th century and lasted until the 15th century
Late Middle English
Most famous example of Middle English Literature
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer
During this conflict English was used more in official documents and had standardized the language to make it more uniformed
Hundred Years’ War
Through what years did the Hundred Years’ War last?
1337-1453
Middle English was also influenced by the introduction of this which added many religious terms borrowed from Latin
Christianity
The third stage of the English Language
Modern English
In what century did modern English start?
16th century
Emerged after the introduction of the printing press in England
Modern English
What year did the printing press emerge in England?
1476
saw a rediscovery of classical learning, which had a significant impact on English literature
Renaissance
The first English Dictionary
A Table Alphabeticall of Hard Words
What year was the first English dictionary published?
1604
was first published in 1611 and also had a significant impact on the development of Early Modern English
King James Bible
What year was the King James Bible published?
1611
Different varieties of English
Dialects
Most famous example of Early Modern English Literature
William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet
When was Romeo and Juliet first performed?
1597
