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Apr 1, 1000
Old English
Old English is a language that was developed when the invading Germanic tribes came into Britain. English speakers now a days would have a very hard time trying to understand Old English. Words that came from the Old English time are be, water, and strong. Old English was spoken from 450-1100 AD. -
Apr 1, 1400
Middle English
When the Duke of Normandy invaded England they brought a new type of language with them, French. The upper classes would speak French when the lower class would speak English. This language was used from 1100-1500. (It would also be hard to understand in todays world) -
Modern English
In the 1500-1800 the Middle English took a turn and turned into Modern English. In this era was the changing of how you would pronounce vowels. (The Great Vowel Shift) The vowels kept becoming shorter and shorter. By the 16th century was the Renaissance of Classical learning and a lot of new words enterd the language. The invention of printing also came out in this era which which brought the first English dictionary. This was in 1604. -
Late Modern English
This era is a lot like the Modern English era. The only real difference is the vocabulary. We invented new technology, discoverd new things, and adopted foreign words from many different countries. Having all these things means having all new names for them. -
Dictionary Came out
This is the year that the official dictionary came out. -
Present day
Today, our English may seem very normal, but from the old days, its very different. And its good to go back and check out your past every once and a while.
