History Of English Language Flashcards
1
Q
Old English
500-1100
A
- Romans leave England to the Britons and Celts
- Germanic tribes invade, Jutes, Angles and Saxons
- Revival of Christianity brought Script (writing)
- Beowulf - earliest example of vernacular European Literature
- Viking invasion and Ole Norse
- Alfred the Great defeated the Danes and secured the English Language
- Norman invasion relegated English language to third place behind French and Latin
2
Q
13th Century
The Black Death
A
- Over 1/4 of the population died
- Nearly half of the Latin speaking clergy died
- Few people were left to work the land meaning those who were left gained power, the common man rose up and spoke English
- English became the official language because so little understood French, English quickly replaced French
- Parliament spoke English
- Henry IVth was the first King who spoke English
3
Q
Geoffrey Chaucer
A
- Wrote the Canterbury Tales (1387) in middle English
4
Q
14th Century
A
- Movement to return English to its central place in society
- Christianity was only Latin
- John Wycliffe’s middle English Bible was written, it had to be done in secret, he was condemned by the church
- Over a thousand Latin words came into use in English
- The church banned the English Bible and burned Wycliffe’s rotting corpse
- The Bible remained Latin
5
Q
15th Century
A
- Spelling became more standardised
- The Chancery civil service decided which forms and spellings words should adopt
- Origins of standard written English found in Chancery English
- By the 1500s language is becoming more recognisable
6
Q
The Printing Press
A
- Invented by Gutenberg in Germany 1440
- William Caxton printed his first book in English, Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales
7
Q
16th Century
A
- William Tyndale believed in an English Bible
- Henry VIII split with the Catholic church, be authorised a legally printed English Bible and 85% of the new Bible was written by the freshly excecuted Tyndale
8
Q
17th Century
A
- The vocabulary of English language expanded rapidly
- English naval supremacy led to over 10,000 new words entering the English language through trade.
- Sailors brought swear words
- English plays were enjoyed
9
Q
Shakespeare
A
- added well over 2000 words to our vocabulary
- coined many expressions
- his language is still used today
10
Q
Late modern English
1700 - Present
A
- Attempts to fix the language by Jonathan Swift
- Nothing came of this but a few years later Samuel Johnson published his dictionary in an attempt to stabilise the language
- He acknowledged that no dictionary can be perfect as language is always changing
- 1762, Robert Lowth’s short introduction to English grammar
11
Q
Jonathan Swift
A
- He disliked vagueness and shortened words, unnecessary contractions and words Invented “by some pretty fellow”
12
Q
19th century English
A
- Rail travel and colonial expansion meant more people had access to standard English
- New words had to be invented due to the Industrial Revolution changing the world
- English borrowed words from all over the world
- American English was taking form
