The History of English How English has Changed

The History of English How English has Changed Over the Past 1500 Years

Outline n n n The Pre-English Period The Old English Period The Middle English Period The Early Modern English Period The Modern English Period

The Pre-English Period

In the Beginning… n n The birth of civilization and language was Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq and Iran) Proto-World—first language ever spoken n n Traced back 50, 000 years Known as the “Mother Tongue” n n Mother of all dead and modern languages Proto-Indo-European is a daughter language; ancestor of European based languages

Centum vs. Satem n All Proto-Indo-European languages can be divided into two major groups: n n Centum—the Western European languages Satem—the Eastern European and Asian languages Difference between groups comes in pronunciation of the word meaning “one hundred” English is a Centum language

Direct Descendants of English West Germanic Low German Old Dutch Modern Low German Dutch High German Frisian Old English Middle English Early Modern English Flemish Modern English Afrikaans Modern High German Yiddish

The Old English Period

Old English Period n England inhabited by Celtic Tribes n n Barbarians Violent and crude people Diseased Romans conquer in 55 AD n n Technology (aqueduct) Roads Weaponry and Defense Latin Language

Old English Period n Roman Empire begins to crumble British Provinces relinquished in 409 AD n Leave little behind… just a little Latin n n Celtic fight over land n One tribe calls on aid of 3 German tribes Angles n Saxons n Jutes n

n German tribes invade; mesh to form Old English n n n Celtic Anglian Saxon Jute Other barbarian tribes retreat to Northern and Western Britain

Old English Period n 597—Pagan Celts converted to Christianity n n 787—Scandinavian Invasion n Language of the Church is Latin Attempt to conquer all of England in 865 English fight back (Alfred the Great) 871—Treaty of Wedmore n Establishes the Danelaw—Scandinavian England; land north and east of line under Viking Rule

Influences on English n Celtic n Anglian n Saxon n Jute n Latin n Scandinavian

Old English Period n n n 1000—the epic Beowulf is written 1042—Scandinavians blend in with English (absorption) 1066—Norman Conquest n End of the Old English Period

Characteristics of Old English n n n Vowels were pronounced longer The letters j, q, and v were never used in writing even though the sounds were Grammatical Gender n n Much like French Writing dealt with themes of religion and isolation

The Old English Language Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum, Si þin nama gehalgod. To bekume þin rike gewurþe ðin willa, on eorðan swa on heofonum urne gedæghwamlikan hlaf syle us todæg, and forgyf us ure gyltas, swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum. and ne gelæd þu us on kostnunge, ak alys us of yfele. soþlike.