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Period: 450 to 1100
Old English
The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English -
600
Anglo-Saxon language
Anglo-Saxon language covers most of modern-day England -
750
Beowulf
poem written in Old English -
865
The Danes
The Danes launch full-scale invasion and occupy Northumbria -
1100
London
London becomes de facto capital of England -
Period: 1100 to 1500
Middle English
For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. -
1150
Manuscripts
The oldest surviving manuscripts in Middle English date from this period -
1180
Ormulum
The “Ormulum” text of the monk Orm completed -
1300
Middle English language
In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer -
1362
English
English is used in English Parliament for the first time -
1385
Education
English replaces Latin as main language in schools (except Universities of Oxford and Cambridge) -
Period: 1500 to
Modern English
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Period: 1500 to
Early Modern English
Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published. -
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare writes his first plays -
Robert Cawdrey
Robert Cawdrey publishes the first English dictionary, “A Table Alphabeticall” -
The Courante
Publication of the first English-language newspaper, the “Courante” or “Weekly News” -
Shakespeare
First Folio of Shakespeare’s works is published -
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson publishes his “Dictionary of the English Language” -
Dolly Pentreath
Last native speaker of the Celtic Cornish language dies -
First English settlement
First English settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa -
Period: to
Late Modern English
The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries. -
The American Dictionary of the English Language
Noah Webster publishes his “The American Dictionary of the English Language” -
Oxford English Dictionary
First edition of the “Oxford English Dictionary” is published