History of the English Language

Class Notes Sept. 17, 2014

Vikings!

793 CE onward

Alfred the Great

Alfred the Great

• Ruled from 871-899 CE• Consolidated a divided “nation”• Used the word Angelcynn• Fought/negotiated with the Danes• Captured London, taking it from the Danes• Established universities; planned towns• First English king to write books! Translated

Latin texts into English (incl. Bede’s Ecclesiastical History)

Normans!

Battle of Hastings, 1066 CE

Later Changes…

• Middle English becomes Modern English during a less dramatic episode

• “The Great Vowel Shift”• Occurs during the end of the 15th century

• The phonetic values (sounds) of long vowels in English are changed

• A standardized (somewhat) grammar

And more later changes…

• Words coined by Shakespeare-- nearly 2,000! (16th/17th centuries)

• Dictionaries (18th century)

• Imperialism allows for borrowed words from around the world (17th-19th centuries)

• Development of linguistics (19th century)

• Scientific, economic, technological terminology (19th-21st centuries)

Works Cited and ConsultedBlack, Joseph, ed. et al. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Vol. 1. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview P., 2006. Print.

Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. NY: Perennial, 1990. Print.

Katsiavriades, Kryss and Talaat Qureshi. “The Origin and History of the English Language.” The KryssTal Website. 1997-2013. 14 Sept. 2014. Web.

Kemmer, Suzanne. “A Brief History of English, With Chronology.” 2001-20015. Words In English. Rice University. 15 Sept. 2014. Web.

MacNeil, Robert. “The Glorious Messiness of English.” Readers Digest, Oct. 1995. Print.