5 events that shaped English Language - Philip Durkin

• (1) Anglo-Saxon settlements 


  • Germanic invaders settled in Britain from North-western coastline of continental Europe in the 5th - 6th century
  • Spoke Germanic languages
  • Old English writings began to appear in 7th, 8th, 9th century, regional variation occured

  Alfred The Great referred this language as English in the 9th Century
• (2) Scandinavian Settlements (9-11th CENTURY)


  • During 9th century, Norse invaders settled in Britain
  • Particularly Northern and Eastern areas
  • During 11th century, England had Danish King, Canute
  • Northern Germanic speech had great influence, words such as 'take', 'they' still in use
  • Doesn't appear in written English until cultural upheaval - ENGLISH CONQUEST
• (3) Middle English Period - 1066 and onwards

  • Centuries after Norman Conquest witnessed enormous changes in English inflectional system of Old English broke down
  • Borrowed many words from French, Latin and Scandinavian loanwords
  • Old English showed tendency to find native equivalents for foreign words

  Middle English accommodates foreign words

  • Continued into Early Modern English period
• (4) Early Modern English period

  • Standardization began in south of Scottish border
  • Written and spoken language continued to evolve and London had greater influence
  • London standard began to dominate due to Printing Press
  • Used more widely in formal contexts and by more elevated members of society
  • Regional varieties came to be stigmatized as lacking social prestige
  • ATTITUDES: lacking status and indicates lack of education
• (4.5) The Great Vowel Shift > 15th-18th century


  • Linguistic sound changes
  • 'pure' vowel sounds were lost
  • Phonetic pairings of most long and short vowels were lost
  • Differentiated English from foreign counterparts
• (5) Early modern English period > 17th Century 


  Colonization and Globalization

  • Exploration, colonization, overseas trade that characterized Britain's external relations for several s=centuries became agents for changes in English Language
  • Gradual development of new varieties of English
  • Own nuance of vocabulary, grammar and distinct pronunciations
  • English became a lingua franca
• Roots of English Language


  • Normans ruled England for 300 years - made French most important language
  • English was seen as inferior language until wealth of British people rose

  East Midland dialect became the most powerful

  • Spoken around London where government and court was - gives power
  • Spoken in Oxford and Cambridge (the only 2 universities), scholar knew dialect too
  • 1870 - education became compulsory for all children not allowed to use own dialect
  • Became known as Standard English