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Questions and Answers
What contributed to English becoming a hybrid language?
What contributed to English becoming a hybrid language?
Which language was spoken in Britain before English?
Which language was spoken in Britain before English?
What influence did Latin have on the development of English?
What influence did Latin have on the development of English?
Which groups of people contributed to the development of English through their speech?
Which groups of people contributed to the development of English through their speech?
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What influenced the vocabulary of English significantly during the 9th and 10th centuries?
What influenced the vocabulary of English significantly during the 9th and 10th centuries?
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How did Latin-speaking monks contribute to the written form of English?
How did Latin-speaking monks contribute to the written form of English?
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During which period did the Norman invasion take place, making French the verbal language of the court?
During which period did the Norman invasion take place, making French the verbal language of the court?
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Which event in 1458 contributed to standardizing the English language, especially after its introduction by Caxton in 1476?
Which event in 1458 contributed to standardizing the English language, especially after its introduction by Caxton in 1476?
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Which event in 1603 is associated with James I commissioning the authorized version of the Bible?
Which event in 1603 is associated with James I commissioning the authorized version of the Bible?
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Which individual played a role in standardizing spelling with their dictionary in 1755?
Which individual played a role in standardizing spelling with their dictionary in 1755?
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In which century did Noan Webster publish the 'American Dictionary of the English Language'?
In which century did Noan Webster publish the 'American Dictionary of the English Language'?
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Which development began with James Murray compiling the New English Dictionary?
Which development began with James Murray compiling the New English Dictionary?
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Study Notes
Origins of English
- Half of modern English vocabulary comes from Old English.
- English developed from the speech of Angles, Jutes, and Saxons who arrived from north Germany.
- Celtic was the language of Britain before English.
Old English (450 AD - 1066)
- Written form of English was influenced by Latin-speaking monks who used the Roman alphabet.
- New letters (æ, ð, and þ) were introduced, spoken as "ash", "eth", and "thorn".
- Vocabulary was drawn from both Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse.
- Viking raids began in 793 and continued until the 11th century.
- Language was mainly phonetic, with little consistency.
- Writing took the form of runes.
Middle English Period (1066 - 1485)
- Norman invasion brought French as the verbal language of the court.
- Latin was important in the church for written expression.
- Terms for law and politics came from Norman French.
- Writers like Chaucer chose to write in English to stabilize the language.
- Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1458, introduced to England in 1476 by Caxton.
Tudor Period (1485 - 1603)
- Printing press used the South East dialect as the basis for standardizing English.
- Growing pride in the English language led to many writers choosing to write in English.
- Shakespeare produced his work in English.
- James I commissioned the authorized version of the Bible in 1603.
English Language Development
- Vocabulary expanded due to new learning during the Renaissance and imports from Greek and Latin.
- Travel to the New World and ideas in math and science also contributed to vocabulary growth.
- English settlers founded colonies in North America.
- Richard Mulcaster published a list of 7,000 words with spelling forms in 1582.
17th and 18th Centuries
- Puritan ideas of clarity and simplicity influenced writing of prose.
- English became the preferred language of American colonies over Dutch.
- Standardizing of spelling (Johnson's Dictionary, 1755) and grammar (Lowth's Short Introduction, 1762, and Lindley Murray's English Grammar, 1794) occurred.
- Classical languages were seen as paradigms for English.
- The Romantic Movement began, with interest in regional and social class varieties of English.
19th and 20th Centuries
- Interest in the past led to the use of archaic words.
- Noan Webster published the American Dictionary of the English Language in 1828.
- The British Empire caused huge lexical growth.
- Modern language science began with Jakob Grimm and others.
- James Murray began compiling the New English Dictionary (later the Oxford English Dictionary) in 1879.
- Modern language science developed, focusing on descriptive rather than prescriptive approaches.
- Modern recording technology allowed for the study of spoken English.
- Overseas forms of English grew in influence.
- US and International English became dominant.
- English became a global language, used in computing, communications, and other fields.
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Description
Explore the historical development of the English language from its roots in Old English to its evolution influenced by Germanic tribes, Vikings, Norman French, Latin, and Celtic languages. Understand how the languages of Angles, Jutes, and Saxons contributed to the formation of English.
