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The first ever civilizations to speak a form of English (old English) were the Anglo-Saxons in 450 AD after they conquered England in about 450 AD. This era is now what we call 'old English'
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Norwegian Vikings landed in England on the first official Viking raid. During this period, over 1,800 words of Scandinavian origin enter the English language. Words like: Berserk, wife, muck, skull, knife, die, and cake!
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In 1066 the Normans invaded England from Normandy, France. After the invasion the English language started to evolve, soon after that the Old English letters begin to die out. Some of the words that we got from the Normans are: catch, wage and reward
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At this time there were no invasions of England. Many famous books are published in this century, the most famous book published was 'The Canterbury Tales' by Geoffrey Chaucer. The English spoken in this era was called 'Middle English'
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The Printing Press was invented in 1476 by Thomas Caxton. Before the printing press was invented, any books or papers had to be completed by hand.
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The New Testament of the bible was translated into English by William Tyndale in 1525. This meant that people who could only speak English could read the Bible themselves without a translator or going to Mass. The Church did not like this so the first Bibles were smuggled into England.
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Shakespeare was a very famous writer, writing plays like Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet. William Shakespeare invented many words that we use today e.g. bet, unreal, swagger and lonely.
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Modern English has been defined by many events and eras making the English language what it is now, with new words being added to the dictionary constantly our language is FOREVER evolving! Some new words that have been added to the dictionary are: Snap chat, Blog and Instagram
