English Language Evolution and Variation

The earliest stage of the English language, spoken from roughly 450 to 1150 AD, characterized by its Germanic roots and strong inflections.

The period of English that emerged after the Norman Conquest (1066), transitioning from Old English to Modern English, heavily influenced by French.

The modern form of the English language, evolving from Middle English, beginning around the 15th century. It's the English we use today.

The significant event in 1066 when William the Conqueror of Normandy conquered England, leading to the introduction of French and major shifts in the English language.

The major linguistic change during the transition from Old English to Middle English, resulting in the simplification of the English grammar by losing case endings.

The process where vowel sounds in English changed over a period from the 15th to 18th centuries, leading to the modern pronunciation of English words.

A standardized form of English, primarily based on the dialect spoken in the London area, used in formal settings and often considered the prestige variety of English.

A language family encompassing various languages like English, German, Dutch, Swedish, and more, sharing common ancestral roots.

The dominant language in a region or globally, often associated with colonization, trade, and cultural influence.

A language variety characterized by its stable evolution from a mixture of languages, typically forming under conditions of colonization or trade.

A phenomenon in linguistics where words migrate from one language to another, enriching the recipient language's vocabulary.

An accent widely recognized as associated with educated speakers in Southern England, often considered a standard pronunciation.

The study of sound systems in languages, including how sounds are produced, perceived, and organized in a language.

The distinctive feature of Germanic languages, prioritizing the first syllable with strong emphasis.

The branch of language families that includes Germanic languages, as well as Romance languages, Slavic languages, and many others.

The origin of the word 'vocabulary' can be traced back to the ________ language.

The use of definite and indefinite articles (like "the" and "a") to specify whether a noun is definite or indefinite.

The loss and simplification of grammatical structures, resulting in a more analytic language with less reliance on inflections.

A verb conjugation system that relies heavily on auxiliary verbs to express tense, mood, and aspect, rather than extensive inflections.

A language that retains many features from its Old Norse roots, particularly in vocabulary and syntax, making it distinct from other Scandinavian languages.

Non-nasal consonants produced with high-frequency turbulence, creating a hissing or buzzing sound.

A grammatical case used to address someone directly, often found in personal pronouns.

Words that are derived from the same ancestral language, sharing a common origin and often reflecting shared history and culture.

The process of colonial expansion and trade, which contributed to the spread of English as a global language.

Significant lexical variation based on region, meaning that different dialects of Germanic languages have unique vocabulary.

The distinction between vowels that have a long duration (long vowels) and vowels with a short duration (short vowels), which is a key feature of Old English.

The Old English letter 'þ' (thorn) represented the voiceless dental fricative sound /θ/, as in the English word 'think'.

The Old English diphthong corresponding to modern English 'ow' is /auʒ/, as in the English word 'measure'.

In Old English, the letter 'c' could represent both the voiceless velar stop /k/ and the voiceless fricative /x/ (as in 'loch') depending on its position within a word.

In Middle English, the letter 'y' represented a vowel sound similar to /i:/ or /ɪ/, similar to the vowel in the English words 'see' or 'bit'.

During the Middle English period, unstressed prefixes often led to vowel reduction or the pronunciation of the vowel as schwa (ə), the sound in the English word 'about'.

A sound change affecting many Germanic languages, causing Proto-Germanic to evolve into its daughter languages.

A feature of weak verbs in Germanic languages, where the past tense is formed by adding a dental suffix.

A significant feature of Germanic languages, where the vocabulary consists of a high percentage of native words compared to borrowed words.

Historically related languages that share a common ancestor. Germanic languages include English, German, Dutch, Swedish, etc.

A common word formation process in Germanic languages involving combining two or more words to create a new word.

A process by which a language evolves over time, leading to changes in sound systems, grammar, and vocabulary.

A feature of Germanic phonology that involves the presence of sounds like [v] or [z], which are made by vibrating the vocal cords.

The distinction between strong and weak adjectives in Germanic languages relates to their usage based on definiteness and context. Strong adjectives usually have endings while weak ones don't.

A common characteristic of Germanic languages, involving the use of prefixes and suffixes to create new words or modify existing ones.

An influential sound change that affected the consonants in Proto-Germanic. It is named after the linguist Jacob Grimm and is considered crucial in understanding the evolution of Germanic languages.

The group of people who brought Old English to Britain, contributing to the language's Germanic foundation.

In Early New English, the preposition "of" took the place of earlier case endings that indicated grammatical roles of nouns.

The introduction of Latin and French words into Early New English significantly expanded vocabulary, adding more complex and abstract terms.

During the transition from Middle English to Early New English, the pronunciation of vowels changed, leading to a clearer distinction between long and short vowel sounds.

Early New English spelling was often phonetic, meaning words were spelled as they sounded, but this led to inconsistency and lack of standardization.

In Early New English, the informal pronoun "thou" declined, and the more formal "you" became used for both singular and plural forms.

A complex system of vowel changes in German, where a vowel is influenced by a following vowel or consonant.

A process by which two or more words are combined to create a new word.

Verbs that form their past tense by adding a dental suffix (-ed, -t, -d).

Languages that retain many features from Old Norse, including Icelandic, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish.

A characteristic of Germanic phonology where voiced fricatives are prominent (e.g., /v/, /z/, /ð/).

The merging of two vowel sounds into one. For example, the word "food" was originally pronounced with a distinct vowel sound but now has a single vowel sound.

The process where diphthong sounds (two vowels together) are reduced to a single vowel sound.

The silent consonant sound "k" in words like "knight" and "know" became a common feature in Early New English.

The unstressed vowels in Early New English often took on the schwa (ə) sound, like the "a" in "about".

The pronunciation of "th" sounds shifted from /θ/ and /ð/ to /t/ and /d/ in Early New English, as seen in words like "thin" and "then".

The grammatical feature of case endings, which marked nouns and pronouns for their function in a sentence, declined significantly in Early New English.

The use of the subjunctive mood, a grammatical form that conveys a hypothetical or desired action, decreased in Early New English, becoming less common.

The pronoun "thou" and its related forms, like "thee" and "you" (singular), were commonly used in Early New English before being replaced with the singular and plural forms we use today.

The word order in sentences became more standardized in Early New English, with Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) becoming the most common pattern.