Historical Language Change Flashcards
When was the Pre- English period
450
Who ruled during the Pre- English period and what was the language
Romans and Celtic
When was the Early Old English period
450-850
Who ruled during the Early Old English period and what was the language
Anglo- Saxons and Germanic dialects that caused English
When was the Later Old English period
850-1100
Who ruled during the Later Old English period and what was the language
Vikings and English with Scandinavian influence
When was the Middle English period
1100-1450
Who ruled during the Middle English period and what was the language
Normans and French
When was the Early Modern English period
1450-1750
Who ruled during the Early Modern English period and what was the language
England and English with borrowings from Greece, France, Portugal, Italy and Spain
When was the Modern English period
1750-1950
What happened during the Modern English period
Industrial revolution and becomes the official language of many countries around the world
When was the Late Modern English period
1950- today
What happened during the Modern English period
English becomes the language of I.T. with 900 million speakers of English
Why is Standard English important (2)
To guarantee intelligibility and to allow speakers all over the world to communicate
What and when was Chancery Standard
An agreed form of English adopted by bureaucrats based on the East Midlands dialect with Northern pronouns. 1430
What and when was Caxton’s Printing Press
Caxton brought a printer to Westminister and printed the first book in England in his own East Midlands dialect called the Canterbury Tales in 1476
Who was John Cheke
A prescriptivist who believed that English was moving away from its traditional Germanic roots and wanted to stop this.
What is prescriptivism
View that language shouldn’t change and standard English is the best.
What is descriptivism
View that language change is inevitable and natural and can’t be stopped. Describing how people speak differently.
What did the English language do in the years of Columbus
When new foods, animals and plants were introduced they used loanwords
Example of a loanword from Columbus time
Spanish patata- potato
2 examples of words from science (Greek & Latin)
Telescope and thermometer
When and why is the King James Bible important
1611 and he attempted to make a standard version of the Bible and used 30 scholars to produce an official translation
What was Cawdrey’s Table Alphabetical?
A list of 2500 words with synonyms to explain their meanings
