Historical Language Change

Question 1

What time period was Old English

Answer 1

450- 1100

Question 2

What words from Celtic language survived in modern English (2)

Answer 2

Crag- rock, combe- valley

Question 3

Which place names come from Anglo- Saxon

Answer 3

London, Thames, East Anglia

Question 4

What important modern words originate from Old English

Answer 4

In, on, drink

Question 5

Which modern English words come from Latin

Answer 5

Altar, mass, monk

Question 6

How did Old English develop

Answer 6

Through writing

Question 7

What is Beowulf

Answer 7

The first poem in the English language

Question 8

What was the language of the Vikings?

Answer 8

Old Norse

Question 9

What is Danelaw

Answer 9

North and Eastern England was to be ran by the Danes

Question 10

How did Old Norse influence English in terms of place names and surnames

Answer 10

-by= farm, -thorpe= village

Question 11

Which words did English borrow from Old Norse

Answer 11

beck- stream, ský- sky

Question 12

How did Old Norse simplify English grammar

Answer 12

Endings for articles and pronouns

Question 13

When was Middle English time period

Answer 13

1100-1450

Question 14

Why did English get relegated to the language of the illiterate

Answer 14

Due to England being taken over by the French in 1066 as French was used in government, law and became the language of power and authority

Question 15

How many words were implemented into the Middle English language

Answer 15

10,000 words

Question 16

How did English regain prestige in the Middle English time period

Answer 16

Due to the Black Death wiping away half of the English population. There were serious labour shortages and the importance of the English speaking working class increased. It then all increased which later lead to the French king speaking English and Middle English becoming a blend of Old English and French.

Question 17

What words sat aside with their French counterparts

Answer 17

begin with commence, want with desire, behead with decapitate

Question 18

When was the Early Modern English period

Answer 18

1450-1750

Question 19

When were thou, thy, ye pronouns used

Answer 19

Early Modern English

Question 20

When were 2nd person ending -est and 3rd person ending -eth used

Answer 20

Early Modern English

Question 21

What was the word order in Early Modern English

Answer 21

VSO (Verb, Subject, Object)

Question 22

How did trade affect the English Language

Answer 22

10,000-12,000 new words were introduced

Question 23

How many languages passed words into Engish during Early Modern English

Answer 23

50

Question 24

What aspects of life did Latin and Greek words describe

Answer 24

Religion, philosophy, scholarship, medicine and technology

Question 25

Why is standard English important (2)

Answer 25

To guarantee intelligibility and allows people from all over the world to communicate as there is a mutual ground

Question 26

What was Chancery Standard

Answer 26

An agreed form of English adopted by bureaucrats, the first attempt to create a single code of English and was based on the East Midlands dialect with a few Northern pronouns

Question 27

What was Caxton’s printing press

Answer 27

When Caxton brought the printing invention from Mainz to Westminister in 1476 and printed the first book in England called Canterbury tales in his own East Midlands dialects. The printing allowed his dialect of English to spread across the country.