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A short history of the origins and development of English
The history of the English language really started
with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain
during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons
and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark
and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain
spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were
pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is
now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from Englaland
and their language was called Englisc - from which the words
England and English are derived.
Old English (450-1100 AD)
 The
invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in
Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English
did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers
now would have great difficulty understanding Old English.
Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in
Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong
and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English
was spoken until around 1100.
Middle English (1100-1500)
In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part
of modern France), invaded and conquered England. The new
conquerors (called the  Normans)
brought with them a kind of French, which became the language
of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For
a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where
the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke
French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain
again, but with many French words added. This language is
called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet
Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for
native English speakers to understand today.
Modern English
Early Modern English (1500-1800)
 Towards
the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in
pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels
being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century
the British had contact with many peoples from around the
world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant
that many new words and phrases entered the language. The
invention of printing also meant that there was now a common
language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned
to read. Printing also brought standardization to English.
Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London,
where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In
1604 the first English dictionary was published.
Late Modern English (1800-Present)
The main difference between Early Modern English and Late
Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many
more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the
Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new
words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered
one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language
adopted foreign words from many countries.
Varieties of English
From around 1600, the English colonization of North America
resulted in the creation of a distinct American variety of
English. Some English pronunciations and words "froze"
when they reached America. In some ways, American English
is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British
English is. Some expressions that the British call "Americanisms"
are in fact original British expressions that were preserved
in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example
trash for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend, and fall
for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re-imported into
Britain through Hollywood gangster movies). Spanish also had
an influence on American English (and subsequently British
English), with words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante
being examples of Spanish words that entered English through
the settlement of the American West. French words (through
Louisiana) and West African words (through the slave trade)
also influenced American English (and so, to an extent, British
English).
Today, American English is particularly influential, due to
the USA's dominance of cinema, television, popular music,
trade and technology (including the Internet). But there are
many other varieties of English around the world, including
for example Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian
English, South African English, Indian English and Caribbean
English.
The Germanic Family of Languages
| A brief chronology of English |
| BC 55 |
Roman invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar. |
Local
inhabitants speak Celtish |
| BC 43 |
Roman invasion and occupation. Beginning of Roman rule
of Britain. |
| 436 |
Roman withdrawal from Britain complete. |
| 449 |
Settlement of Britain by Germanic invaders begins |
| 450-480 |
Earliest known Old English inscriptions. |
Old English |
| 1066 |
William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invades and
conquers England. |
| c1150 |
Earliest surviving manuscripts in Middle English. |
Middle English |
| 1348 |
English replaces Latin as the language of instruction
in most schools. |
| 1362 |
English replaces French as the language of law. English
is used in Parliament for the first time. |
| c1388 |
Chaucer starts writing The Canterbury Tales. |
| c1400 |
The Great Vowel Shift begins. |
| 1476 |
William Caxton establishes the first English printing
press. |
Early Modern
English |
| 1564 |
Shakespeare is born. |
| 1604 |
Table Alphabeticall, the first English dictionary, is
published. |
| 1607 |
The first permanent English settlement in the New World
(Jamestown) is established. |
| 1616 |
Shakespeare dies. |
| 1623 |
Shakespeare's First Folio is published |
| 1702 |
The first daily English-language newspaper, The Daily
Courant, is published in London. |
| 1755 |
Samuel Johnson publishes his English dictionary. |
| 1776 |
Thomas Jefferson writes the American Declaration of
Independence. |
| 1782 |
Britain abandons
its American colonies. |
| 1828 |
Webster publishes his American English dictionary. |
Late Modern
English |
| 1922 |
The British Broadcasting Corporation is founded. |
| 1928 |
The Oxford English Dictionary is published. |
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