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English Language History

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  • 400

    Proto - English (4th Century)

    Proto - English (4th Century)
    The languages of Germanic peoples gave rise to the English language. Latin loan words such as wine, cup, and bishop entered the vocabulary of these Germanic peoples before their arrival in Britain and the subsequent
  • 450

    Old English (from the mid-5th century to the mid-11th century)

    Old English (from the mid-5th century to the mid-11th century)
    After the Anglo-Saxon settlement, the Germanic language displaced the indigenous Brythonic languages and Latin in most of the areas of Britain that later became England. The original Celtic languages remained in parts of Scotland, Wales and Cornwall (where Cornish was spoken into the 18th century), although large numbers of compound Celtic-Germanic placenames survive, hinting at early language mixing.[5] Latin also remained in these areas as the language of the Celtic Church and of higher educat
  • Jan 1, 1066

    Middle English – from the late 11th to the late 15th century

    Middle English – from the late 11th to the late 15th century
    For centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Norman kings and high-ranking nobles in England and to some extent elsewhere in the British Isles spoke Anglo-Norman, a variety of Old Norman, originating from a northern langue d'oïl dialect. Merchants and lower-ranked nobles were often bilingual in Anglo-Norman and English, whilst English continued to be the language of the common people. Middle English was influenced by both Anglo-Norman and, later, Anglo-French.
  • Jan 1, 1500

    Early Modern English (from the late 15th to the late 17th century)

    Early Modern English (from the late 15th to the late 17th century)
    The English language underwent extensive sound changes during the 1400s, while its spelling conventions remained rather constant. Modern English is often dated from the Great Vowel Shift, which took place mainly during the 15th century. English was further transformed by the spread of a standardised London-based dialect in government and administration and by the standardising effect of printing. Consequent to the push toward standardization, the language acquired self-conscious terms such as "a

  • Modern English – (from the late 17th century to the present)

    Modern English – (from the late 17th century to the present)
    The Dictionary of the English Language was the first full featured English dictionary. Samuel Johnson published the authoritative work in 1755. To a high degree, the dictionary standardized both English spelling and word usage. Meanwhile, grammar texts by Lowth, Murray, Priestly, and others attempted to prescribe standard usage even further.
    Early Modern English and Late Modern English vary essentially in vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from the Industrial Revolutio