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350
Roman Britain (43-410)
With the Roman Conquest in 43 AD came the first written records of England's history. Julius Caesar had of course paid earlier visits to England in 55 and 54 BC however these had only been to please his adoring public back home in Rome (political propaganda!) In 43 AD the emperor Claudius resumed the work of Caesar by ordering the invasion of England under the command of Aulus Plautius. -
410
Anglo-Saxon Conquest of England
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500
Angles, Jutes and Saxons Origins
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May 26, 735
Bede
Bede was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow (see Wearmouth-Jarrow), both in the Kingdom of Northumbria.
He is well known as an author and scholar, and his most famous work, Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (The Ecclesiastical History of the English People) gained him the title "The Father of English History". -
Jun 15, 1000
Old English Extent
The approximate extent of Old Norse and related languages in the early 10th century:
RED: Old West Norse dialect
ORANGE: Old East Norse dialect
PINK: Old Gutnish dialect
BLUE: Crimean Gothic
YELLOW: Old English
GREEN: Other Germanic languages with which Old Norse still retained some mutual intelligibility -
Sep 28, 1066
Norman Conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of the Kingdom of England by the troops of William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy (in Northern France adjacent to the English Channel) and their victory at the Battle of Hastings (on the other side of the Channel in Southeast England) on 14 October 1066 over King Harold II of England. -
Oct 25, 1400
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales. Sometimes called the father of English literature, Chaucer is credited by some scholars as the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin. -
Jan 1, 1500
Native American Languages
The Algic (also Algonquian-Wiyot-Yurok or Algonquian-Ritwan) languages are an indigenous language family of North America. They are all thought to descend from Proto-Algic, a second-order proto language reconstructed using Proto-Algonquian and the attested languages Wiyot and Yurok.
The term Algic was used by Edward Sapir, who discovered the relationship between the two Californian languages Wiyot and Yurok and the Algonquian family. He applied the term Algic for this superordinate grouping. -
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), `The Bard of Avon', English poet and playwright wrote the famous 154 Sonnets and numerous highly successful oft quoted dramatic works including the tragedy of the Prince of Denmark, Hamlet, ... -
Treaty of Utrecht
The Treaty of Utrecht, which established the Peace of Utrecht, comprises a series of individual peace treaties, rather than a single document, signed in the Dutch city of Utrecht in March and April 1713. The treaties among several European states, including Great Britain, France, Spain, Savoy, and the Dutch Republic, helped end the War of the Spanish Succession. -
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states. All but two of these countries were formerly part of the British Empire. -
Word Origins
Survey of about 80,000 words (1973)
* Langue d'oïl, including French and Old Norman: 28.3%
* Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24%
* Other Germanic languages (including words directly inherited from Old English; does not include Germanic words coming from the Germanic element in French, Latin or other Romance languages): 25%
* Greek: 5.32%
* No etymology given: 4.03%
* Derived from proper names: 3.28%
* All other languages: less than 1% -
English Native Speakers
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American English Dialects
Map
There are 8 major dialect areas in North American English, shown in blue on the map and in the Dialect Description Chart below. 6 of these begin at the eastern seaboard and proceed west, reflecting western settlement patterns. Subdialects are shown in red. In the Dialect Description Chart additional features not shown on the map are provided for distinguishing the dialects. -
Germanic Languages
The Anglo-Frisian languages (sometimes Insular Germanic) are a group of Ingvaeonic West Germanic languages consisting of Old English, Old Frisian, and their descendants. The Anglo-Frisian family tree is: * Anglo-Frisian o English group (Insular Anglo-Frisian or Anglic) + English + Scots + Yola (extinct) o Frisian group (Continental Anglo-Frisian) + West Frisian + Saterland Frisian (East Frisi -
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American Dialects
Main American Dialects -
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Old English Dialects
Old English is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and southern Scotland between the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily the literary register of Anglo-Saxon. It is a West Germanic language and is closely related to Old Frisian. It also experienced heavy influence from Old Norse, a member of the related North Germanic group of languages.
