5 events that shaped English Language - Philip Durkin

• (1) Anglo-Saxon settlements > 5th - 6th century

  • Germanic invaders settled in Britain from North-Western coastline of continental Europe
  • Spoke Germanic languages
  • Old English writings began to appear in 7th, 7th, 9th, century, regional variation occurred

  Alfred The Great referred this language as English in 9th century
• (2) Scandinavian Settlements > 9th century


  • Norse invaders settled in Britain
  • Particularly Northern and Eastern areas
  • During 11th century, England had Danish king, Canute
  • North Germanic speech had great influence - use of words (e.g. 'take', 'they')
  • Doesn't appear in written Eng until cultural upheaval - Norman Conquest
• (3) Middle Eng Period > 1066 and so,


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

  Middle English accommodates foreign words

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


  • Began in south of Scottish border
  • Written and spoken language continued to evolve and greater influence of London
  • London standard began to dominate due to Printing Press
  • Used more widely in formal context 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 > 15-17th century 


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


  Colonization & Globalization

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


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

  East midland dialect became most powerful

  • Spoken around London where government and court was
  • Spoken in Oxford and Cambridge (the only two unis), scholars knew dialect too
  • 1870 - education compulsory for all children - not allowed to use local dialects
  • BECAME KNOWN AS STANDARD ENGLISH