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English Language > History of English concepts/occurences > Flashcards

History of English concepts/occurences Flashcards

1
Q

When was Old English spoken?

A

400-1100 AD

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2
Q

Who spoke Old English?

A

Germanic settlers

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3
Q

What was the main influence on Old English?

A

Viking invasion

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4
Q

When was Middle English used?

A

1100-1450AD

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5
Q

What language was most prominent in Middle English period and why?

A
  • French (amongst the rich)

- Norman Invasion 1066 (William the Conqueror)

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6
Q

When did English become widely used by the upper classes?

A

1425

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7
Q

When was Early Modern English spoken?

A

1470-1700

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8
Q

What was introduced in 1476 and by who?

A
  • The printing press

- William Caxton

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9
Q

What did the printing press lead to?

A
  • Mass production of text, so more standardisation
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10
Q

What kind of texts were translated into English?

A
  • Latin and Greek texts
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11
Q

Which dialect was the most popular and prestigious?

A
  • East Midlands dialect (London, Oxford, Cambridge, etc)
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12
Q

When did people speak Late Modern English?

A
  • 1700-now
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13
Q

What 4 things helped the English language in the 19th century?

A
  • Rail travel
  • Colonial expansion
  • The spread of literacy
  • Mass printed press
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14
Q

What are the 4 features of Middle English? Provide an example

A
  • Grammar; simple, reflects the way English and French co-existed
  • French lexis; used in legal, religious and administrative terms (i.e justice, jury, govern)
  • Latin words; 85% of Old English words fell out of use, Latin replaces them
  • Pronunciation; the Great Vowel Shift - vowels became shorter (teem = time, leef = life)
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15
Q

What are the 3 features of Early Modern English? Provide an example

A
  • European Renaissance; new words were needed for new concepts, so lots of Latin, Greek and French words entered (i.e psychology)
  • Shakespeare; coined 1700 new words (i.e excitement, courtship)
  • World Exploration; words from Africa and Asia entered the language
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16
Q

What happened surrounding the orthographical reform?

A
  • Early Modern English; written English was in chaos

- Printers were blames for many inconsistencies in writing

17
Q

What helped written English to not be in chaos? Give the 4 reasons

A
  • Spelling books (late 17th century)
  • Printing conventionss were more regularised
  • Double vowels/separation of u/v
  • First dictionaries (18th century)
18
Q

What were the 2 main Latin influences on the English language?

A
  • More than half of our vocab is latinate (i.e emotion, history, colossal)
  • Most affixes come from Latin (i.e anti-, post-, pre-, -al, -ate, -ic)
19
Q

Who is Jonson and what did he invent?

A
  • One of the earliest grammarians (1640)

- Invented Jonson’s Grammar

20
Q

What two things does Jonson’s Grammar book consider?

A
  • Syntax and spelling

- The pronunciation of English

21
Q

What did Wallis not want?

A
  • He did not want Latin to structure English
22
Q

What are 7 features of early/late modern English grammar?

A
  • Short/long “s”
  • u/v
  • w
  • i/j
  • silent “e”
  • o/u
  • -c vs -ick
23
Q

What is the short/long “s”?

A
  • Short used at the end of words or elsewhere

- Long not used at the end

24
Q

What is the difference between u/v?

A
  • 2 forms of the same letter
  • “v” at the start of words, a consonant
  • “u” elsewhere, a vowel
25
Q

How did “w” used to be shown as?

A
  • vv/VV (double V)
26
Q

What were i/j?

A
  • 2 forms of the same letter
27
Q

What is the silent “e”?

A
  • Added to the end of words, sometimes with a double consonant
  • i.e “manne” - “man”
28
Q

What is the difference between o/u?

A
  • The /u/ sound was written like “o” (like in sun)

- i.e Sommer/plombe = summer/plumb

29
Q

What is the difference between -c and -ick?

A
  • Words like “public” were variously spelt

- Came to be -ick (i.e publick)

30
Q

What did Mulcaster create and when?

A
  • The Elementaire, 1582
31
Q

What are the 3 main features of the Elementaire?

A
  • A guide to good practise in teaching English for it to become more widely used and accepted
  • Ends with a list of 8000 “hard words” (not defined but attempted to lay down standard spelling)
  • The first steps to the standardisation of English
32
Q

What did Lowth and Murray do and when?

A
  • Late 1700s

- Shaped English through use of grammatical structures in schools, implemented rules

33
Q

What were Lowth and Murray’s rules based upon?

A
  • Latin grammar
34
Q

What are 3 main rules within Lowth and Murray’s work?

A
  • Double Negative = positive/affirmative
  • Prepositions are never to be at the end of a sentence
  • Infinitives should not be split as in most languages it is impossible to split them (i.e in French; devoir, faire, avoir)
35
Q

What did Dr Johnson do and when?

A
  • Created the first developed dictionary

- 1755

36
Q

What did Dr Johnson aim to do?

A
  • Aimed to teach “correctness” but recognised the importance of “registering the language”
37
Q

What did Dr Johnson say controlling language was like?

A
  • “Lashing the wind”
38
Q

What are 5 positives of Johnson’s dictionary?

A
  • Consistent definitions
  • Many examples
  • Identifies parts of speech
  • Identifies most strongly stressed syllables
  • Has ordinary words
39
Q

What are 5 negatives of Johnson’s dictionary?

A
  • Archaic Latin words
  • Definitions used hard words
  • Definitions were subjective
  • Ran out of space at the end
  • Examples were morally chosen

English Language (21 decks)

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