History of the English Language

Question 1

When was Old English until?

Answer 1

5th Century to 11th Century

Question 2

When was Middle English until?

Answer 2

11th Century to 15th Century

Question 3

When was Early Modern English until?

Answer 3

15th Century-18th Century

Question 4

When was Modern English until?

Answer 4

18th Century-20th Century

Question 5

When is Present-day English?

Answer 5

20th Century

Question 6

What was Old English?

Answer 6

Anglo/Saxon speech influence- vikings raids from 793-11th century

;both Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse had influence on English; beowulf is a key text

Question 7

What letters were from Old English?

Answer 7

B-A letter called thorn which is pronounced /th/

Question 8

What was Middle English?

Answer 8

When Normans invaded in 1066 and French became dominant language- English however came to prominence towards end of Middle English and ‘The Black Death’ played a big role as it killed many clergymen and lower classes continued to use English

Question 9

What is Early Modern English?

Answer 9

William Caxton introduced printing press from Europe in 1476- texts could now be mass-produced- King James I has new version of Bible written in English in 1611- Robert Cawdrey published a dictionary in 1604 in English

Question 10

What is Modern English?

Answer 10

From 1700+, English became more standardised-1712;Jonathan Swift rage vs contractions;

1755-Samuel Johnson published Dictionary of English;

1762-Robert Lowth published first English grammar book

1870-School compulsory until 12