language change timeline

Question 1

norman conquest (1066)

Answer 1

latin brought french (borrowing of words)

Question 2

great vowel shift (1450)

Answer 2

changed the way vowels are pronounced

Question 3

caxton’s printing press (1476)

Answer 3

began standardisation in britain

Question 4

the british empire (1490s)

Answer 4

british empire started colonising and acquired new words and phrases

Question 5

shakespeare (1616)

Answer 5

introduced over 2000 words and phrases into English language

Question 6

industrial revolution (1720)

Answer 6

regional access developed as travel became popular

Question 7

johnson’s dictionary (1755)

Answer 7

contained 40,000 words and provided spellings and meanings

Question 8

english grammar (1762)

Answer 8

robert lowth’s introduction to grammar book

Question 9

invention of telephone (1876)

Answer 9

able to talk to more people

Question 10

invention of tv (1927)

Answer 10

corruption of accents, RP introduced

Question 11

modern dictionary (1928)

Answer 11

the Oxford dictionary published which took 70 years to write

Question 12

rock and roll (1950s)

Answer 12

rise of teenagers, wanting own culture and language

Question 13

radio (1953)

Answer 13

more use of RP and neoligisms

Question 14

school leaving age 16 (1972)

Answer 14

greater interest in education

Question 15

rap (1980s)

Answer 15

americanisms associated with youth culture

Question 16

world wide web (1990)

Answer 16

communication

Question 17

first text message (1992)

Answer 17

abbreviations, forms of communication