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Period: 450 to Jan 1, 1100
Old English
Also known as the Anglo-Saxon period, Old English is said to be no longer recognisably Englsh. It is said to be the result of the merging of the various invaders' dialects. -
Jan 1, 700
Earliest manuscript records of Old English (approximate date)
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Jan 1, 1066
Norman Invasion of England envolving Old English into Middle English
The Norman Invasion of England in 1066 brought French to the language. By the 13th century approx 10,000 words had come into the language; three quarters of which still exist today. Spelling also changed gradually overtime as the Norman scribes began to write English using French spelling. Changes include:
-qu for cw (queen)
-gh instead of h (night)
-ch instead of c (church)
-ou instead of u (house)
-c before e instead of s (cell)
There were also other changes that took place. -
Period: Jan 1, 1100 to Jan 1, 1500
Middle English
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Jan 1, 1150
Earliest surviving texts in Middle English (approximate date)
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Period: Jan 1, 1450 to
The Great Vowel Shift
The GVS was a cricial event in the development of the English language. It was a period of significant alteration in the pronounciation of long vowel sounds, seperating old and modern English. The shift is the reason for many of the 'odd' spellings in modern English, however it is still unclear why it took place. -
Period: Jan 1, 1500 to
Early New English
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Jan 1, 1582
The Elementarie published
The Elementarie (1582) written by the headmaster of Merchant Taylors' School in London, Richard Mulcaster, is regarded an important forerunner of the first dictionary. It was published at a time- according to Merchant- in which English spelling had no certain direction. The Elementarie listed approximately 8,000 words. This included common words such as 'burn' and more obscure words such as 'carpetknight'. The words listed were left underfined as Merchant's focus was on spelling. -
First English dictionary printed
Table Alphabeticall developed by Schoolmaster Robert Cawdrey and printed in 1604 is often regarded as the first English dictionary. It contained approximately 2,500 words, each with a synonym or brief definiton. http://grammar.about.com/od/words/a/earlydiction.htm -
Period: to
Modern English
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The American Philological Association adopted 11 new spellings.
The association adopted and promoted 11 new spellings. These included: ar catalog definit gard giv hav infinit liv tho thru wisht. http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/spell/histsp.html -
The British Spelling Reform Association was founded.
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The American Philological Association produced a list of 3500 spellings.
Previously, the association proposed 11 new spellings. http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/spell/histsp.html -
The (American) National Education Association began promoting a list of 12 spellings.
The 12 words promoted by the American National Education Associated included: tho altho thru thruout thoro thoroly thorofare program prolog catalog pedagog decalog
These words were promoted till 1921. http://www.barnsdle.demon.co.uk/spell/histsp.html -
The Oxford Dictionary is published.
