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600 BCE
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! -
55 BCE
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. -
450
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.
Words: 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, -
800
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.
Words:freckle, leg, skull, skirt, skin, sky, egg, score, scream, and cake. -
1066
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.
Words: please, sign, very, peace, nobility, felony, attorney, government, parliament, justice, chivalry, court, courtesy, courage, beef, bacon, baptize, flower, power, royal, annoy, and joy. -
1400
The Canterbury Tales
There were no more invasions of England. English became more important than French. A number of books were published in Middle English.
The most famous is a book of stories called
The Canterbury Tales (1400) by Geoffrey Chaucer. -
1476
The printing press
With the invention of the printing press in 1476, publishing books in English became very popular.
Words:swagger, gloomy, zany, and bedroom. -
William Shakespeare
There are many important authors in Modern English, but one of the most famous writers is William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616).
Words:telescope, astronomer, biology, physics, electricity, psychology, geothermal, dinosaur, museum, orchestra, symphony, lexicon, apostrophe.