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History of English

By Brend__a
  • 4000 BCE

    Proto-Indo-European splits into different languages (6000 years ago)

    Proto-Indo-European splits into different languages (6000 years ago)
    Between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, people spoke Proto-Indo-European language, which split into different groups of languages, included Germanic Branch.
  • 1000 BCE

    Germanic: a common language in the Elbe river region (3000 years ago)

  • 500 BCE

    Britain was invaded by Celtic tribes (5th Century BC)

    Inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language until about 5th century AD.
  • 200 BCE

    Germanic split into 3 groups (2nd Century BC)

    This language split into three different groups:
    [- East Germanic, spoken by people who migrated to southeastern Europe (languages of this group are not spoken today, but Gothic is still written)
    - North Germanic, which evolved into the modern Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic)
    - West Germanic, ancestor of modern German, Dutch, Flemish, Frisian and English.]
  • Period: 1 CE to 400

    Latin influences: Early Loans (1st – 5th century)

    Old English receives Latin influences in a period of early loans: Around fifty words came into Germanic from Latin before to invade Britain; these are from two different semantic fields: war (camp, pil, straet, mil) and domestic life (cuppe, disc, pyle, cycene, linen, gimm).
  • 43

    Roman Empire conquers Britain (1st Century)

    Emperor Claudius invaded Britain and this became part of the Roman Empire, except for Scotland, where the Celtic Scots and Picts reigned.
  • 400

    Angles, Saxons and Jutes invaded Britain (5th Century)

    Three Germanic tribes invaded Britain: the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, from the North Sea (Denmark and northern Germany, now). The Celtic groups, when the Roman Empire collapsed, asked for help to the Germanic tribes, but these invaded Scotland so pushed Celts to Wales, Cornwall and Ireland.
  • Period: 450 to 700

    Primitive Old English Period (5th - 8th Century)

    The period when the Roman Empire collapsed before Germanic tribes invaded there.
  • Period: 450 to 1100

    Old English period (5th – 12th Century)

    This English didn’t look or sound like today. It has no Celtic influence: conquerors don’t usually borrow words from subdued.
  • 600

    Angles, Saxons and Jutes conquered Scotland (7th Century)

    Angles, Saxons and Jutes conquered Scotland (7th Century)
    Angles, Saxons and Jutes had completely conquered Scotland and all Britain. Here, English was born.
  • Period: 600 to 900

    Latin Influences on English: Period of the Christianizing of Britain (7th – 10th century)

    The old English receives words from Latin related to religion and learning fields (alms, angel, anthem, candle, collect demon, disciple, hymn, mass, organ, psalm, sabbath, temple).
  • 800

    Vikings started attacks on England (9th century)

    Vikings started attacks on England, then, fifty years later they started settling in Britain. So they also influenced in Old English.
  • Period: 1100 to 1500

    Middle English Period (12th – 16th Century)

    This begins with the Norman conquest at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, when William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, defeated King Harold and became king of England. This brought Norman French into England, a French language influenced by Germanic. Many words from this are related to food: beef, pork, veal. And others like: continue, justice, journey, souvenir, people.
  • 1300

    Real start of Middle English (14th century)

    Since the Norman conquest, lower classes continue speaking English, but the aristocrats or upper classes spoke Norman French. In 1300, however, this two languages became into one: Middle English; an English with many French words added.
  • Period: 1500 to

    Early Modern English (16th – 19th century)

    Shakespeare English
    This started when Middle English ended and a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation began (the Great Vowel Shift) when vowels were pronounced shorter and shorter.
    In this century, many new words were entered in the language thanks to the Renaissance of Classical learning and the contact with people from around the world (America). Besides the invention of printing, that made books became cheaper and more people learnt to read.

  • English Colonization of North America (17th century)

    In American variety of English, pronunciations and words were “frozen".
    Spanish also had an influence on American English with words that entered English through the settlement of the American West.
    French words (through Louisiana) and West African words (through the slave trade) also influenced it.
    American English is influential, but there're many other varieties like Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean English.

  • The First English Dictionary was published (17th century)

    English was standardized by the dialect of London.
  • Period: to

    Late Modern English (19th – Present century)

    The main difference with Early Modern English is vocabulary. Late M.I. has many more words due to two factors:
    [- Industrial Revolution, which with its technology created a need for new words.
    - Expansion of British Empire, what caused the adoption in English of foreign words from many countries.]

  • The first American English Dictionary is written

    Noah Webster wrote the first American English Dictionary, simplifying spellings (centre -> center, colour -> color) and adding uniquely American words such as "squash" and "chowder".