Brief Overview--History of English.pptx

Slide 1

Language Change & English:Mr. WoodsHistory of English in 10 Minutes:

What Languages Changed English? Old English/Anglo-Saxon (450-1200 A.D.):

Around 450 A.D., Germanic tribes such as the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invade Britain

The West Germanic dialects these tribes spoke would become Old English.

Under Alfred the Great (871-99 A.D.), was becoming a literary, standardized tongue.Hwt! We Gar-Denain gear-dagum

eod-cyninga,rym gefrunon,

hu a elingasellen fremedon!

Oft Scyld Scefingsceaena reatum

monegum mgummeodo-setla ofteah;

egsode eorl[as]syan rest wear

feasceaft funden;he s frofre gebad Beowulf, lines 1-7

Old English/Anglo-Saxon (450-1200 A.D.):

Hwt! We Gardena in geardagum,Listen! We of the Spear-Danes in days of old

eodcyninga, rym gefrunon,Of those folk-kings the glory have heard,

hu a elingas ellen fremedon.How those noblemen brave-things did.

Oft Scyld Scefing sceaena reatum,Often Scyld, son of Scef, from enemy hosts

monegum mgum, meodosetla ofteah,from many people mead-benches took,

egsode eorlas. Syan rest wearterrorized warriors. After first he was

feasceaft funden, he s frofre gebad,helpless found, he knew the consequence for that

Old English/Anglo-Saxon (450-1200 A.D.):http://andromeda.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/beowulf.html6Middle English (1200-1500 A.D.):After William the Conquerors invasion c. 1066, English lost its standard, literary status.

Norman French, at this time, began to infuse English with about 10,000 loanwords.

English became a tongue spoken by commoners, with MANY dialects.

WHANthat Aprille with his shoures sooteThe droghteof Marche hath perced to the roote,And bathed every veyne in swichlicour,Of which vertu engendred is the flour;Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breethInspired hath in every holtand heethThe tendre croppes,and the yonge sonneHath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne--Geoffrey Chaucer, Prologue to the Canterbury TalesMiddle English (1200-1500 A.D.):Great Vowel Shift- between 1350 & 1550

Use of the Printing Press- William Caxton in 1476Allowed standard books to be printed, such as the later King James Bible and Dr. Johnsons dictionary.

Shakespearedidnt just add vocabulary, but also prestige to the English Language.

Renaissance, Scientific Revolutionalso added vocabulary/pronunciation, prestige

Middle English (1200-1500 A.D.):William Caxton (1422-1492):

and one of them, named Sheffield, a merchant, came into a house and asked for meat [food], and especially he asked after eggys. And the good wife answered that she could speak no French. And the merchant was angry, for he also could speak no French, but would have his eggesbut she understood him not. And then at last another said that he would have eyren.Then the good wife said that she understood him well.

From David Crystal, The Fight for English10Modern English(~1500 A.D. to NOW):

It took roughly 300 years after Caxton to standardize English, and there were numerous arguments about what was correct or better along the way. http://cp91279.biography.com/1000509261001/1000509261001_2013980530001_William-Shakespeare-The-Life-of-the-Bard.jpg11Transition to Modern English:New Latinate words (in the 16th Century)

Correct English began to be seen as the aristocratic English surrounding London (late 16th century)

Negative Stereotypes emerge about other dialects (early 17th century)

Earliest dictionaries begin to emerge (early 17th century)

17th century grammarians also began to argue against certain usages of the time, which fell out of fashion.

Modern English(~1500 A.D. to NOW):Examples of sentence issues these grammarians would label as incorrect:I think I prefer the more bigger one.

I dont got no money to pay for that.

To boldly go where no man has gone before is a great thing!

And more!!

Modern English(~1500 A.D. to NOW):Final Question: