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500
Beginning
They also called Anglo-Saxon, had tree genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. Noun and adjective paradigms contained four cases: nominative, genitive, dative, and accusative, while pronouns also had forms for the instrumental case. Old English had a greater proportion of strong verbs. -
Period: 500 to 1100
Old english
The conquest of the Celtic population in Britain by speakers of West Germanic dialects eventually determined many of the essential characteristics of the English language. Over time, the dialects of the various invaders merged, giving rise to what we now call "Old English." -
1066
Term
The Norman invasion: King Harold dies at the Battle of Hastings, and William of Normandy is crowned King of England. Over the following decades, Norman French became the language of the courts and the upper classes; English is still the language of the majority. Latin is used in churches and schools. For the next century, English, for all practical purposes, is no longer a written language. -
Period: 1100 to 1500
Middle english
The Middle English period saw the collapse of the inflexible old English system and the expansion of vocabulary, with many borrowings from French and Latin. -
1171
Creation of University of Oxford
Henry II declares himself supreme lord of Ireland, introducing Norman French and English into the country. Around this time, the University of Oxford was founded. -
1200
English as a dominant language
Late thirteenth century: Under Edward I, royal authority is consolidated in England and Wales. English becomes the dominant language of all classes. -
1337
100 Years' War and Black Death.
Geoffrey Chaucer composes The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. English becomes the official language of the courts and replaces Latin as a medium of instruction in most schools. John Wycliffe's English translation of the Latin Bible is published. The Great Vowel Change begins, marking the loss of so-called "pure" vowel sounds and the loss of the phonetic pairings of most long and short vowel sounds. -
1362
Offical language in England
The defense statute makes English the official language in England. Parliament opens with its first speech in English. -
1500
English spelling
William Caxton brings to Westminster (from the Rhineland) the first printing press and publishes Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. Literacy rates increase significantly, and printers begin to standardize English spelling. The monk Galfridus Grammaticus (also known as Geoffrey the Grammarian) publishes Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae, the first book of words from English to Latin. -
Period: 1500 to
Modern english
During the period of modern English, British exploration, colonization, and foreign trade accelerated the acquisition of loans from countless languages and encouraged the development of new varieties of English (World English), each with its own nuances of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Since the mid-twentieth century, the expansion of American media and business around the world has led to the emergence of global English as a lingua franca. -
Period: 1500 to
Early modern period
Samuel Johnson, who with dictionary of the English Language (1755)laid the foundations of modern lexicography in English, or like L. Munay, who with his an English Grammar (1795) specified the fundamental rules of its grammar. -
Period: to
Late Modern English
Grimm's law identifies the relationships between certain consonants in Germanic languages (including English) and their originals in Indo-European. The formulation of Grimm's Law marks an important advance in the development of linguistics as a field of academic study. A standard variety of American English is developed. English is established in Australia, South Africa, India and other British colonial outposts.
