THE HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

By luciaa.qquesada
  • 600 BCE

    THE CELTS

    THE CELTS
    The first languages are the Celtic ones like Welsh and Scottish Gaelic.
  • 55 BCE

    THE ROMANS

    THE ROMANS
    They spoke Latín. They gave Latin names to places and some of these names are still used today.
  • 450

    THE ANGLO-SAXONS

    The first people who spoke English. These people were the Anglo-Saxons and their language was Old English.
    Some words of their period: clan, crag and wraith.
  • 800

    THE VIKINGS

    The Vikings came from countries like Denmark and
    Norway and spoke a language that developed
    into Norwegian and Danish.
    Some words of their period: freckle, leg, skirt, sky...
  • 1066

    THE NORMANS

    They spoke an earlier version of French and this became the language of prestige in England.
    Some words of their period: love, live and laugh.
  • 1400

    THE CANTERBURY TALES

    A number of books were published in Middle English.
    The most famous is a book of stories called
    The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer.
  • 1476

    THE PRINTING PRESS

    With the invention of the printing press in 1476, publishing books in English became very popular.
  • 1564

    WILLIAM SHAKESPEAR

    There are many important authors in Modern English, but one of the most famous writers is William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616).