History of English Language

By Erickson5
  • 450

    Old English 450-1100 AD

    Time era that Beowulf wrote in
  • Period: 450 to

    History of English Language

    Time Span ~ History of the English Language
  • 1066

    William the Conqueror

    Duke of Normandy invaded and conquered England ~ the conquerors were the Normans and the language was a kind of French. There was a linguistic class division~ upper class spoke French and the lower class spoke English.
  • 1100

    Middle English ~ 1100-1500

    Era that Chaucer wrote in ~ 1340 -1400
  • 1500

    Early Modern English 1500 ~ 1800

    Era that Hamlet wrote in. Renaissance of Classical Learning. Printing also created a common language and books became cheaper and more people learned to read.

  • Late Modern English 1800 to Present

    Standardization of English, spelling and grammar became fixed ~ biggest thing was VOCABULARY. Late Modern English there were many more words because of the Industrial Revolution and Technology.