History of the English Language

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History of the English Language

• the abridged version

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Language Family Tree
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(No Transcript)
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First, there were tribes

• Anglo-Saxons from invaded the island in 5th
  century
• Came from along northern coast of Holland,
  Denmark, and Germany
• Dominated smaller native tribes
• Britons, Picts, etc.
• Beginning of English mix of Germanic languages

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Language Similarities

• English Frisian Dutch German
• bread          brea           brood        Brot
• fly            fleane         vliegen     
  fliegen
• salt           sâlt           zout        
  Salz

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Next, there were Vikings

• Danish and Norwegian Vikings settled northern
  parts of Britain
• Norse words entered into English
• Days of the week derive from names of Norse gods

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Finally, there was William

• the Conqueror, that is. 1066.
• Came from Normandy in northern France
• French became language of aristocracy
• French seeped into common English usage
• Ex lunar glacial arbor

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Example Old English

• Beowulf 11th century heroic epic poem
• One of the first preserved in its entirety
• Translated like this
• Went he forth to find at fall of night
• Looks like this
• Gewat ða neosian, syþðan niht becom
• Sounds like this

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Example Middle English

• Roughly 1150 to 1475
• The Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer
• 13th century
• Looks like this
• Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote
• The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
• Sounds like this
• Wan thot A'prill with his sure-es so-tuh
• The drewgt of March hath pear-said to the row-tuh

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Thenthe Great Vowel Shift! (mainly 15th 16th
centuries)

• Middle English
• y,i "myne, sight
• e, ee "me, meet, mete" (close e)
• e "begge, rede" (open e)
• a, aa "mate, maat"
• u, ou "hus, hous"
• o, oo "bote, boot" (close o)
• o "lof, ok" (open o)

• Sounds like Modern
• meet
• mate
• bag
• father
• boot
• oak
• bought

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Example Early Modern English

• Roughly 1450-1650
• New works
• King James Bible
• Shakespeare
• Marlowe
• Milton
• Ex If we think to regulate printing, thereby to
  rectify manners, we must regulate all recreation
  and pastimes, all that is delightful to man. No
  music must be heard, no song be set or sung, but
  what is grave and Doric.

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Example Modern English

• Many dialects, due to colonization
• Mostly recognizable now
• Still changing!
• Word.