Have you ever wondered where the names of the different items you use daily came from? Or listened to people talk and find a particular word interesting or odd and wonder why it has become part of our English language? The English language that we speak today has developed as a result of many different influences and changes over thousands of years. The resulting changes to the English language can be split into three time periods that include, Old English or Anglo-Saxon, Middle English and Modern English which is commonly used today Old English (450-1100 AD), which is also referred to as Anglo-Saxon, is thought historically to be the earliest form of the English language. Originating with the arrival of three West Germanic tribes, who encroached …show more content…
Christian missionaries introduced the Germanic tribes to a much more rounded Roman alphabet, common to that we have today, which was easier to write with and read. Therefore, the Anglo-Saxons quickly adopted this new Roman alphabet. Old English literature developed rather quickly around the 6th and 8th Century. Many beautiful poems and text survive from this period in history, including the best known epic long poem “Beowulf” which may have been written in about the 8th century. With its three thousand one hundred and eighty two lines of work Beowulf shows that Old English was a fully developed language at this time. This poem also illustrates the variety and depth of the English vocabulary at that time, in addition to its fondness for synonyms and subtleties of meanings. Old English is considered a complex language in comparison with that of modern English used today. In Old …show more content…
Nevertheless, some may find that the Old English is uncomplicated and a more consistent language since with it every letter specifically and invariably relates to a single sound. Unlike the modern English there are not silent letters or phonetic inconsistencies to confuse them. Several of the commonly used words today in English have their roots in Old English. Such words as water, strong, house, earth and many more can be traced to Old English. Also at some point in the 6th Century the Old English “sk” consonant cluster changed to “sk” consequentially changing words “skield” to “shield”. This change affected all “sk” words in existence in the language at that time. Therefore, any “sk” clusters in modern English became part of the English language after the 6th Century. Followed by, around the 7th Century, a shift in vowel pronunciation took place. With this vowels began to be pronounced more to the frontal area of the mouth. Consequently, the plural of several nouns also began to have modified vowel pronunciation instead of changes in inflection. This resulted at times in revised spelling which lead to the inconsistent modern English word pairing for example goose/geese, mouse/mice or blood/bleed to name a few. Late in the 8th Century the Viking from Scandinavia began to make raids on
At the heart of Anglo-Saxon literature is the epic poem Beowulf. It was written in Old English somewhere between the middle of the 7th and the end of the 10th century by an unknown poet. Beowulf has come to be recognized as the foundational epic of English and British culture (Shmoop). The story has its roots in a pagan Saxon past, but by the time the epic poem was written down, almost all Anglo-Saxons had converted to Christianity. As a result the poet resolved his new Christian beliefs with the un-Christian behavior of the characters.
As we mentioned above, one of influences that has made changes in English language over time is foreign
As its name suggests, Middle English is the language that was spoken in the country of England around the 12th to 15th centuries. Middle English became the prominent language in England near the end of the 11th century shortly after the Norman invasion by William the Conqueror in 1066. Unlike England's preceding language, Old English, Middle English evolved into much more of a written language. There were many writers and educated English scholars who worked to translate Old English texts into the new Middle English language. There were also writers, such as Geoffrey Chaucer, who used the Middle English language to write new works which employed new and creative literary techniques. One such work, The Canterbury Tales, is a work that has been recognized as having an extreme significance on the development of the Middle English language. This work is argued to be the greatest literary contribution to the Middle English language and is credited with popularizing the language among literary scholars. However, despite its historical influence on the Middle English language, the significance of the work is less seen today because of the evolution of Modern English. As a result, it is important to investigate the origins of this work and in so doing, make an effort to realize the overall importance of reading the text in its original Middle English language.
The Anglo Saxon period is the oldest known period of time that had a complex culture with stable government, art, and a fairly large amount of literature. Many people believe that the culture then was extremely unsophisticated, but it was actually extremely advanced for the time. Despite the many advancements, the period was almost always in a state of war. Despite this fact, the Anglo-Saxon period is a time filled with great advancements and discoveries in culture, society, government, religion, literature, and art.
Old English literature flourished during the time the Anglo-Saxons ruled Britain from 450 AD to 1066 AD. Old English was first oral, but later used a runic alphabet written on manuscripts. Old English, is of course, related to our modern English, but is referred to the language and literature spoken and written in England. Works such as Beowulf and The Wanderer are priceless and timeless pieces of literature almost like a time capsule telling us about the history, society, and
Language as a dynamic structure is exposed to constant development, transformation and alteration. Media, society, culture, science, technology and politics are the core factors that contribute towards language evolution. Due to numerous linguistic and extra linguistic factors, newly coined units in the language are in the process of entering and influencing the English language. These new units, known as neologisms, serve as our guidance in understanding the never-ending evolution in the English language. Furthermore, neologisms ease each individual’s process of coping with changes by creating mental bridges between the old and the contemporary. The English language vocabulary is facing constant change, as neologisms enter in a blink of an eye through the media. The mass media being the major source and ground on which English neologisms are coined, plays a significant role of intermediary between the English population as active consumers and the language itself.
Baugh, A.C., & Cable, T. (2001). A history of the English language (5th ed.). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
Because English is a living language there are frequent changes in the meaning that words carry. These changes can be largely influenced by environment. One of the best examples of this fact is some of the distinct differences between British and American English.
The Great Vowel Shift happened in Modern English between 1500- 1800 which make some changes from Middle English to Modern English. Otto Jespersen is a Danish linguist and he is the discoverer of The Great Vowel Shift. He is the first person who studied the Vowel system and Great Vowel Shift. Furthermore, that period called The Great Vowel Shift because of the huge shift that occurred in vowel system at that time. Additionally, the changes appear in pronunciation during 15th -18th century. Moreover, The Great Vowel Shift is a huge change in the sound system and affects the long vowel of English in 15th to 18th centuries. The meaning of the Great Vowel Shift is "racial change in pronunciation during 15th century as a result of which long vowel sound began to be made higher and further forward in the mouth short round sound were largely unchanged".(The...
The duration of Early Modern English took place during the English Renaissance, and hence the amazing evolutions that occurred within it (Myers 166). After the Renaissance came the Age of Reason, and it is during this time that the language becomes recognizable to today (Smith 9). The most common example of Early Modern English is the fact that Shakespeare wrote in it, and it poses the most similarities to Modern day; the language moved from a synthetic one to a more analytical one, and relied less on inflectional endings and more with word order to convey information (Durkin 1). Early Modern English is the premise for the ever-evolving language that millions speak
Another significant influence on the formation of the English language was the writer Geoffrey Chaucer from the 13th century, who wrote the infamous “Canterbury Tales”, which is usually considered the first great works of English...
The beginnings of English can be found in the occupation of England from the 5th century by north and west German ethnic groups who brought their 'indigenous dialects' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 1). The Oxford English Dictionary defines English as 'Of or related to the West Germanic language spoken in England and used in many varieties throughout the world' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 7). Invasion in the 9th century by Scandinavians, who settled in the north of England and the establishment of Danelaw in 886 AD defining the area governed by the Danes in the north and east, had a marked effect on the language spoken there (Beal, J. 2012, p. 59). These periods are known as Early and Later Old English (Beal, J. 2012, p. 50).
The English language arose from the early Anglo Saxon inhabitants in ancient England and spread to Scotland and other European countries via the British Empire and later to the United States through colonial political and economical influences. It later dispersed to other parts of the world through these same influences to become one of the leading languages of the world. It has over the years developed by adopting different dialects to create a language, which is the standard lingual Franca in many countries. The rapid growth of the English language and its adoption by different cultures across the globe is sufficient ground to make it the global language.
Standardization of the English Language There are several important events before 1500 that, when listed together, show a series of steps in the struggle for English language supremacy. These steps are mainly governmental, legal and official events that pushed English usage. In 1356 The Sheriff's Court in London and Middlesex were conducted in English for the first time. When Parliament opened in 1362 the Statute of Pleading was issued declaring English as a language of the courts as well as of Parliament, but it was not until 1413 that English became the official language of the courts everywhere. Thirteen years later in 1423, Parliament records start being written in English.
The year 1066 is one of the most important years in the history of the English language. This is the year that the Normans invaded England. The Normans were a group of people who lived on the other side of the English Channel. Though the people of the area originally spoke a variation of the Scandinavian languages, eventually, the group learned French as Edward the Confessor brought French language into his court in Normandy. In January 1066, the English king died without an heir, so the Norman king at the time, William the Conqueror decided to invade England and by December of the same year, he was crowned King of England. Within 30 years of his crowning, most of the land was owned by the Normans as William