How Has English Language Changed

Question 1

Graphology

Answer 1

The writing system of a language, as well as other visual elements on the page.

Question 2

Grammar

Answer 2

The rules for organising meaning in a language. Syntax is part of grammar.

Question 3

Orthography

Answer 3

The part of language concerned with letters and spelling.

Question 4

Phonology

Answer 4

The pronunciation and sound patterns which affect understanding of words.

Question 5

Pragmatics

Answer 5

How the context in which words and phrases are used affects their meaning.

Question 6

Morphology

Answer 6

The structure of words with their meaning.

Question 7

Lexis

Answer 7

The lexis of language.

Question 8

Semantics

Answer 8

The meaning of words.

Question 9

Syntax

Answer 9

The order of words in a sentence.

Question 10

Old English - dates and key events

Answer 10

700-1100
 Roman invasion of England brought

Latin lexis.
 Invasion of West Germanic tribes
(Jutes, Angles and Saxons) –
Germanic influence on the
language.
 Old English – the merging of dialects
of the various invading tribes
including the Vikings and Norse.
 King Alfred the Great defeated the
Vikings in 784 CE – after which
Anglo-Saxon dominated.

Question 11

Middle English - dates and key events

Answer 11

1100 -1500
 1066 – William of Normandy
conquered England.
 French became the language of the
ruling classes.
 Old English only survived among the
peasantry.
 10,000 French words entered the
English language
 Middle English is a fusion of
Norman French and Old English.
 The French became disconnected
from Normandy and the London
dialect of Middle English prevailed.
 This is represented by Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales.

Question 12

Early Modern English - dates and key events

Answer 12

1500 - 1800
This period was influenced by the

following:
 The invention of Caxton’s printing
press.
 The Renaissance – interest in
Classical Greek and Latin.
 Developments in medicine.
 Developments in the arts
 Exploration and travel – including to
America.
 Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary 1755

Question 13

Late Modern English - dates and key events

Answer 13

1800 - present
This period was influenced by the

following:
 Colonialism and empire building
 The industrial revolution

Question 14

The Great Vowel Shift

Answer 14

Where the pronunciation of vowels –
particularly long vowels changed.
This lasted for several hundred years
starting in 1350.
As a result in the GVS, many words are
now pronounced differently to how
they are spelt.
E.g before the GVS, ‘boots’ sounded like
‘boats;’ ‘feet’ sounded like ‘fate.’

Question 15

Shakespeare’s innovations in lexis and grammar (neologism/ affixation/ compounding)

Answer 15

 Famed for inventing many new
words (neologisms)/ idioms.
 Thought to have created 1700 new
words.
 He used affixation (unlock/ unhand)
 Compounding (birthplace/
bloodstained)
 Conversion – shelter (noun) to
ensheltered (verb)

Question 16

The King James Bible

Answer 16

 1611

 Before this, religious texts had been
written in Latin.
 Uses the long ‘s’
Uses many archaisms.
 Uses grammatical structures that
elsewhere were falling out of use:
 Irregular verbs are found in their
archaid forms e.g. digged (for dug.)
 Ye was still being used as the
second person pronoun instead of
‘you’ which was becoming more
popular.

Question 17

Changes in use of pronouns between the early modern and late modern periods

Answer 17

 Thou/ thee /ye become you.
 Thy/ thine become your/your.
 Thou and ye distinguished social
class.
 Thou = more informal form of
address and also used for social
inferiors.

Question 18

Loan words

Answer 18

Introduction of specific words/
constructions/ morphological elements
from one language to another. (e.g.
‘table’ from French.)

Question 19

Examples of spellings in the early modern period

Answer 19

u/v used interchangeably.
i/y used interchangeably.
J was an extended form of i.
Final silent ‘e’ on words.

Question 20

Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary

Answer 20

 1755.

 Johnson was initially a prescriptivist
– sets out to fix language.
 His dictionary of the English
Language was considered to be a
pre-eminent work of reference.
 Johnson later sees the difficulty in
‘fixing’ language – moves from a
prescriptivist to descriptivist stance.

Question 21

Changes in spellings in the late modern period

Answer 21

U came to represent a vowel, v
came to represent a consonant.
 There was increased use of the
double vowel convention in words
like ‘soon.’