the origins of english

Question 1

in which century do the following phases of english start?
- old english
- middle english
- early modern english
- modern english
- present day english

Answer 1

old english - 5th century
middle english - 11th century
early modern english - 15th century
modern english - 18th century
present day english - 20th century

Question 2

english developed first from the language of which 3 germanic tribes?

Answer 2

angles, saxons and the jutes

Question 3

the vikings contributed words to english from which language?

Answer 3

old norse

Question 4

which languages were used principally in the middle english period?

Answer 4

latin, french (norman french) and english

Question 5

what is considered to be the first step towards the establishment of standard english?

Answer 5

printing press- printed many works in english, using the south east dialect as the basis for this new standard, helping to contribute to the establishment of a standard form of english

Question 6

name two important sets of texts which had an influence on the development of early modern english

Answer 6

shakespeare
the bible - james I authorised version of the bible

Question 7

name two historical factors of the 18th and 19th century which impacted on english

Answer 7

industrial revolution - profound effect on the socio-economic and cultural traditions of english, leading to a huge migration from the countryside into cities to work in factories. social. class was a concern, with language used as a marker of social identity - led to the heightened prestige of standard english
British empire - english began to draw heavily on languages from around the world, from india, africa and many other countries