the history of english language

  • 55 BCE

    the romans

    the romans
    In 55BC, there was an invasion by the Romans, who spoke Latin.
    They gave Latin names to places and some of these names are still used today.
    reckle, leg, skull, skirt, skin, sky, egg, score, scream
  • 450

    the anglo-saxons

    the anglo-saxons
    the first people who spoke English
    arrived in England in about the year 450.
    These people were the Anglo-Saxons
    and their language was Old English.
    live, love, heaven, fight, good, evil, man, wife, child, sleep, eat, house, stone, rain, one, two, three, green, black, the, an, to, for, but, around, will, do, and, with, and compound words like mankind and blackbird.
  • 600

    THE CELTS

    THE CELTS
    The first languages are the Celtic ones like Welsh and Scottish Gaelic.
    These people settled the British Isles about
    600 BC. That is more than 2500 years ago!
  • 800

    the vikings

    the vikings
    From about 800, the Vikings started to invade Britain.
    The Vikings came from countries like Denmark and
    Norway and spoke a language that developed
    into Norwegian and Danish
  • 1066

    the normans

    the normans
    In 1066, the Normans invaded England from Normandy in France.
    They spoke an earlier version of French and this became the language of prestige in England.
    like love, live, and laugh
    please, sign, very, peace, nobility, felony, attorney, government, parliament, justice, chivalry, court, courtesy, courage, beef, bacon, baptize, flower, power, royal, annoy, and joy.
  • 1400

    MIDDLE ENGLISH

    MIDDLE ENGLISH
    There were no more invasions of England. English became more important than French.
  • 1476

    the printing press

    the printing press
    With the invention of the printing press in 1476, publishing books in English became very popular.
  • 1564

    WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

    WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
    There are many important authors in Modern English, but one of the most famous writers is William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616).