History of the English Lenguage

Anglo-Saxon invasion of Great Britain

450

When they invaded Great Britain, they brought with them Germanic dialects that form the basis of Old English.

The Northumbrian speech group was destroyed by the Viking invaders

793

In the 8th century, the Northumbrian speech group led in literature and culture, but that leadership was destroyed by the Viking invaders, who sacked Lindisfarne, an island near the Northumbrian mainland, in 793.

The Parker Chronicle was written

871

During King Alfred’s reign, in the last three decades of the 9th century, Winchester became the chief centre of learning. There the Parker Chronicle (a manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle) was written; there the Latin works of the priest and historian Paulus Orosius, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, and the Venerable Bede were translated; and there the native poetry of Northumbria and Mercia was transcribed into the West Saxon dialect.

The four dialects of Old English equalized more or less to the same level

1066

One result of the Norman Conquest of 1066 was to place all four Old English dialects more or less on a level. However, the five dialects of Middle English (Northern, West Midland, East Midland, South West and South East) followed their own paths and developed their own characteristics.

The death of Chaucer

1400

The death of Chaucer at the close of the century marked the beginning of the period of transition from Middle English to the Early Modern English stage.

The importance of the initiation of the printing by William Caxton

1476

When William Caxton started printing at Westminster in the late summer of 1476, he was painfully aware of the uncertain state of the English language. In his prologues and epilogues to his translations, he made some revealing observations on the problems that he had encountered as translator and editor.

"Romeo and Juliet" was written by William Shakespeare

1593

This play written by William Shakespeare had a significant impact on the English language, bringing new words, phrases and expressions such as "so-so", "fight fire with fire", among many more.

The first English dictionary was published

Apr 15, 1755

The first authoritative, full-featured English dictionary, "A Dictionary of the English Language", was published by Samuel Johnson in 1755. Wikipedia (2025). History of English. Wikipedia. https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historia_del_idioma_ingl%C3%A9s (30/01/2025)