The History of the English Language

Research paper

Copy this thesis on to a card. It is the last sentence of your

introduction.

• The English language developed over a long period of time and is divided into three periods: Old English, Middle English, and Modern English (Beers, 55).

•and M

Standard

• 1.2 Understand the most important points in the history of English language and use common word origins to determine the historical influences on English word meanings.

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• Better than .com

• www.bibme.org

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Research Question

• How did the English language develop and why is it the largest in the world?

Thesis Statement

• The English language developed over a long period of time and may divided into three periods: Old, Middle, and Modern English.

etymology

• The study of word origins or the history of a word

•(www.brainpop.com)

Map of Europe

England

The Celts Old English #1

• Celtic language first in Britain.

• Scots, Irish, Welsh descendants of Celtic

Romans: Julius Ceasar

They spoke Latin; He conquered, but they did not leave their language since Rome was falling.

• Romance Languages: French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian.

#1Old English begins when the Anglos, Saxons, Jutes invade

England in 500 A.D. (Light History)

• Old English is an Anglo-Saxon Germanic language

Old English Source #3

• A.D. 450-1066• In the 5th century, the tribes of Anglo-Saxons

from Northern Europe arrived in Britain. They found a Celtic speaking people who had earlier been conquered by the Romans. They combined their Germanic language with the Celtic and started to form a new language (Beers, 55). Old English continued on the next slide.

#3 Old English Continued (p. 55)

• A.D. 450-1066• Then the Vikings or Norsemen who spoke Norse

arrived from Scandinavia. These languages (Celtic, Anglo-Saxon Germanic, Norse) formed Old English, an oral language.

• Mostly one syllable words• The written language was Latin.• Horse, Night and Wife are O.E.• (Beers, 55)

#3 Old English Continued (p. 55)

• A.D. 450-1066• Then the Vikings or Norsemen who spoke

Norse arrived from Scandinavia came. These languages formed Old English, an oral language.

• The written language was Latin.• Horse, Night and Wife are O.E.• (Beers, 55)

Beowulf, an Old English Epic Poem Source #1

• Most famous work of Old English literature

Source 1(Light History)

• Almost every one syllable word we speak is from Anglo Saxon German

• Old English 500-1065AD

Middle English 1066-1550AD

• In 1066, William the Conqueror from Normandy, France invades England.

William the Conqueror from Normandy, France

The Norman Conquest/The Battle of Hastings

England becomes bilingual during Middle English

• English: ox, sheep, swine, calf• French: beef, mutton, pork, veal

• The rich and upper class spoke French Latin, but the lower class spoke Anglo-Saxon German (Beers, 55).

Middle English #3

• Three words that survive today from French/Latin Middle English are government, justice, and literature (Beers, 55).

Chaucer was a 14th century author of The Canterbury Tales written in

Middle English

Caxton invented the Printing Press in 1476

Modern English is 1500 to present

• Renaissance was the rebirth of interest Greek and Roman art, literature

• Astro-star• Naut-sailor • Astronaut

Modern English

• Great vowel shift

• In Middle English the last vowel of a word was emphasized, but in Modern English, the first vowel is typically stressed.

William Shakespeare

• Used 21,500 different words

• 3,000 invented words

Shakespeare invented:

• Words Shakespeare Invented

• Academe accused addiction advertising amazement arouse assassination backing bandit bedroom beached besmirch birthplace blanket bloodstained barefaced blushing bet bump buzzer caked cater champion circumstantial

Shakespeare invented these

• Coldblooded compromise courtship countless critic dauntless dawn deafening discontent dishearten drugged dwindle epileptic equivocal elbow excitement exposure eyeball fashionable fixture flawed frugal generous gloomy gossip green eyed gust hint hob nob hurried impede impartial invulnerable jaded label lackluster laughable lonely

Shakespeare

• Lower luggage lustrous madcap majestic marketable metamorphize mimic monumental moonbeam mountaineer negotiate noiseless obscene obsequiously ode olympian outbreak panders pedant premeditated puking radiance rant remorse less savagery scuffle secure skim milk submerge summit swagger torture tranquil undress unreal varied vaulting worthless zany gnarled grovel

King James Bible 1604

1755 Johnson’s Dictionary

Johnson’s Dictionary helped standardize spelling

Good

• Good, gode, guod, guode, goode, goed, gowd, godd, guid guide, gud, gwde, guyd, gewd

• 7 years in the making. This dictionary helped standardize spelling.

Source #1

• Engel, Elliot. A Light History of the English Language. Raleigh: Media Consultants, 1997

Source # 2

• www.brainpop.com

• Etymology- the history of a word or word origin

Source # 3

Works Cited

• Beers, Kylene. Holt Literature and Language Arts. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2001.