Historical Language Change

Question 1

Old English - 5th C

Answer 1

English was a phonetic language – words were spelt as they sounded. This meant that there was little consistency in written language and significant dialectal diversity in spelling.

Question 2

Middle English 11th C

Answer 2

French and Latin were more prestigious than English and were seen as the languages of power. Some Old English letters gone. The Great Vowel Shift changed the way words were pronounced – vowels became shorter, so leef became life and teem became time.

Question 3

Early Modern English 15th C

Answer 3

Interrogatives didn’t always include auxiliary verbs (do, have, be) and were formed with a verb at the start: ‘Spake you with him?’.

Question 4

Modern English 18th C

Answer 4

Contractions (e.g. can’t, would’ve, she’ll, ‘twas, o’er) were commonly used. This was partly because they were used in poetry to make sure that words fit the metre of the verse. It was also because printers contracted words to make them fit on the line.

Question 5

Present Day English 20th C

Answer 5

text is no longer just a noun, but a verb too. Contractions are common to see in our language again, but not always in very formal texts.