This lesson contains 10 slides, with text slides and 1 video.
Items in this lesson
Slide 1 - Video
The English Language:
Mix of languages led to: - Old English: 450-1100 - Middle English: 1100-1500 - Early Modern English: 1500-1800 - Late Modern English: 1800-now
Slide 2 - Slide
Influences on the English Language:
Slide 3 - Slide
Old English (450-1100)
- Up until 450: a mix of languages, mostly Celtic, some Latin - Part of Roman empire 43 - 410 AD
- Angles, Saxons & Jutes invade England - Add lots of new words: eald (old), brodor (brother), hus (house)
Slide 4 - Slide
Slide 5 - Slide
Development:
- Modern English = I steal, you steal, he steals, we steal - Old English = ic stele, þu stilst, hē stilð, we stelaþ
- Similar to the German "Naamvallen" - English & German are part of the same Germanic language family and have the same origin.
Slide 6 - Slide
Middle English (1100-1500
- Vikings have invaded England - Added 2000 words
- 1066: Norman Conquest - The French conquer the British Isles - Latin = the new important language of church & politics - More difficult words enter the language: justice, liberty, etc.
Slide 7 - Slide
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
- The Hundred Years War ends the French rule - 15th century: invention of the printing press - More books = more access = more standardisation
- Shakespeare adds 1700 words (puppy, fashionable, alligator) - 16th century onwards: colonialisation
Slide 8 - Slide
Late Modern English (1800-now)
- Industrial Revolution & Enlightenment (Verlichting): new words for technological, philosophical & scientific concepts
- English spreads the world: vocabulary added for things & animals from other countries.
