Language Change

Question 1

Years of Old English

Answer 1

449 - 1066 AD

Question 2

What event ended the period of Old English and started the period of Middle English?

Answer 2

1066 The Norman Conquest

Question 3

How did Christian missionaries impact the Anglo-Saxon language?

Answer 3

Rounded Roman letters
Latin
Altered meanings

Question 4

Name of people in Britain before Anglo-Saxons

Answer 4

The Celts

Question 5

What was the period of Middle English?

Answer 5

11th-15th century

Question 6

Give an example of an important text of Middle English

Answer 6

Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales

Question 7

What were some distinct characteristics of Middle English grammar?

Answer 7

Decline of inflections
Development of modal auxiliary verbs
Formation of compound tense

Question 8

What key aspects characterised Middle English sentence structure?

Answer 8

Greater freedom in word order due to inflections, more negation for emphasis, prepositions often placed at the end of clauses, and the use of ‘thee’ and ‘thou’ for the 2nd person singular pronoun.

Question 9

What is a significant linguistic aspect found in The Canterbury Tales that later became a staple of English poetry?

Answer 9

Iambic pentameter

Question 10

How were double negatives (negation) used in Middle English, as seen in Canterbury Tales?

Answer 10

Emphasis and dramatic effect

Question 11

What year was the King James Bible published?

Answer 11

1611

Question 12

What version of the Bible did Henry VIII commission?

Answer 12

The Great Bible