2. England before the English
(55 BC-450AD)
Old English
(450-1150)
Middle English
(1150-1500)
Early Modern English
(1500-1700)
Present-day English
(1700-Today)
3. One of the leaves is
our language,
English.
The branch it has
come from is West
Germanic, which
grows out of
Germanic, which
comes from the
roots of
The Indo-European
family of languages.
4. Debatable
Proto-Indo-European tribes (6000 years ago)
later spilt into a number of branches, including the
Germanic branch
this population then expanded/migrated eastward,
westward and northward and
thereby came to inhabit most of Europe and parts of
Western Asia.
5.
6. About 500 B.C. — Britain was invaded by Celtic
tribes and ruled for about 500 years.
100-44 BC — Julius Caesar took several
attempt to invade Britain.
43 AD.—Emperor Claudius conquers Britain
except for Scotland where the Celtic Scots and
non-Indo-European Picts reigned sovereign.
Occupy Britain for nearly 400 years.
100-44BC
7. Founded cities
Built walls, baths, roads, theaters
Intermarried with Celts.
Place names—Lancaster, Manchester,
Winchester, London, Bath
Latin becomes the prestige
language of education
and social life
8. Roman Empire is threatened by invading
Germanic tribes.
410 AD—Emperor Honorius summons all
Roman troops back to Rome.
Celtic tribes in Britain are left
defenseless against future
invasions.
9. Celtic languages—the native language of
the people.
Latin—the language of Rome was the
prestige language.
◦ Education
◦ Government
◦ Written language
10. With the Romans gone, a power vacuum existed.
The Scots and Picts advanced southwards and the weak
Celts could not keep them back.
Germanic tribes from the mainland soon began to fill
that vacuum.
450 AD By this time Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians
have a firm foothold in Britain.
Celts are conquered and/or driven out.
By 600A.D. the victory was complete.
11.
12. What we know as English today begins with
these Germanic invasions. Englaland and
English was born.
England Englaland Angle land
The word English comes from Angles
Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, is an early form
of German.
13. Kent
Essex (East Saxon)
Sussex (South Saxon)
Wessex (West Saxon)
Mercia (angeles)
Northumbria (Angeles)
East Angeles
14. Four dialects emerge
Northumbrian
Mercian
Kentish
West Saxon
15. Most important OE dialect
Most OE literature is in West Saxon
Dialect of King Alfred (AD 899)
Dialect of government and church
16. 597 AD Roman Church sends St. Augustine to
England
England is Christianized
17. Latin is the language of the church
Latin once again becomes prominent in
education
Latin is the written language of the time
18. Various dialects of Old English
All these dialects are forms of German
These dialects also adopt some words from
Celtic languages and from Latin
19. Most powerful people of their time
793 AD. Vikings invade England
Eventually, Vikings control much of England
◦ The Vikings, usually referred to as ‘Danes’
◦ This area is called the Danelaw
Anglo-Saxons continued to control much of
the south
Alfred the Great put up resistance them and
eventually forced the Viking troops to
surrender in 878.
20.
21. Various dialects of Old English
These dialects continue to be influenced by
Latin and Celtic
They are also now influenced by Scandinavian
languages
23. 1066 AD. William the Conqueror invades
from Normandy, France
Brings 600 ships and 10 to 12 thousand men
Defeats King Harold
at the Battle of Hastings
24.
25. William the Conqueror was French
He did not speak English
French now becomes the language of the
government and aristocracy
For the next 300 years all English royalty
speak only French
Common folk speak English
Church speaks Latin and French
26. Common folk speak English, which is slowly
simplifying its form (losing tense and verb
endings, etc)
English is also adopting many, many French
words
Upper class folk speak French
Church speaks French and Latin
Latin and French are also written languages
27. The Middle English period begins with the
Norman conquest at the Battle of Hastings in
1066.
Middle English is mixed of two languages:
Norman French (aristocrat) and English (common
folk).
Norman French Influences on English vocabulary
and spelling
- New words duplicated old English words or
both were existed till today. i.e. hearty (OE) and
cordial (F), and house (OE) and mansion.
By the 13th century approximately 10,000 French
words had come into English.
28. French Words: action, adventure, marriage,
power, vision, beef, venison, honest, prefer,
master, court, crown
Almost half of modern English vocabulary
comes from Latin and French
29. • Royalties and government officials began speaking
French
• English became language of the poor (peasants, butchers,
maids, servants)
• Also the language of poets and writers
• English kings began marrying Norman women
• More people adapted French language, causing the
decline of English usage
30. In 1362AD. the Normans decided to adopt
English as their official language and,
Parliament was opened in English.
This parliament was situated in Westminster,
London, a process of standardisation of
English had begun.
31. Grammar is simplified
Fixed word order is developed
◦ Word order dictates meaning
Chaucer first major writer to use English
32. Two major factors that influenced the
language and served to separate Middle and
Modern English were the Great Vowel Shift
and the advent of the printing press.
33. The Great Vowel Shift was a change in
pronunciation that began around 1400AD.
During the next two centuries there was a
great influx of people into the London region
and the different dialects began to affect the
pronunciation patterns of the standard.
Modern English speakers can read Chaucer
with some difficulty, Chaucer's pronunciation
would have been completely unintelligible to
the modern ear.
34. The vowel shift as a process which led to long
vowel sounds being raised and
diphthongised. Chaucer's Lyf (pronounced
/lif/), for example became the modern life.
35. The last major factor in the development of
Modern English was the advent of the printing
press.
William Caxton brought the printing press to
England in 1476.
Books became cheaper and as a result, literacy
became more common.
The dialect of London, where most publishing
houses were located, became the standard.
Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the first
English dictionary was published in 1604.
36. • Began writing his sonnets and novels
• Created words, such as critical, leapfrog, majestic, pedant, and
dwindle
• Created clichés, such as flesh and blood, and vanish into thin
air
37. Modern English is essentially an expanded version of Early-Modern English,
that is, the vocabulary of Modern English is substantially larger due to
Industrial Revolution and British Colonialism.
Same as Early Modern English, but has richer vocabulary
BRITISH EMPIRE
• Colonized many nations
• Words were borrowed (i.e. pajamas and shampoo from Hindi, tycoon from Japanese, and
sauna from Finnish) and added to the English vocabulary
• Other words have Latin or Greek roots (i.e. biology, oxygen)
WORLD WAR I AND WARLD WAR II
• American soldiers collaborated with British soldiers
• Military slang words were created
• blockbuster, nosedive, camouflage, radar, roadblock, spearhead, and landing strip
