-
1100
Old English: before 1100
- English arrives at the British Isles with the Jutes, the Saxons and the Angles.
- They spoke Germanic.
- We get the word for their language Englisc and their new home Engla-land from the name of the first tribe that arrived (the Angles.)
- The settlers were pagan (hedning) – but did not remain pagan for long.
- This time the Vikings came from the regions of Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
-
Period: 1100 to 1500
Middle English
- It all begins with the 1066 Norman Conquest
- Language is linked to social status:
- French for the aristocracy.
- English for commoners.
- Latin for academic and religious purposes.
- The English language becomes part of nationalism.
- 1362 – Statute of Pleading
-
Period: 1400 to
Early Modern English
- Renaissance (French for Rebirth)
- Transition from the Middle Ages to modern history.
- Many new words were invented by writers that, through the printing press, became accessible to the common people.
- Shakespeare (1564-1616)
-
Modern English: after 1700
- Marks the end of the Renaissance.
- 1746-55 – the Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary is completed and published.
- It took 9 years to complete!
- The Industrial Revolution.