history

• Cetic tribes dominated, only connection with modern English = lexis in name places


  450 AD
• Romans invaded, Latin introduced - left a mark


  55 BC
• Anglo + Saxons arrived from north Germany, Old English spoken, Roman alphabet used, half of language now comes from Old English


  450 AD to 1066
• Norman conquest in 1066, language became medieval French, French scribes introduced spelling patterns, English becomes official language in 1362, Black Death in 1347 - 1350 kills most monks educated in Latin, Gutenberg invented the printing press in 1458 but no Standardised spelling


  1066 - 1485
• The Great Vowel Shift, long vowel sounds made higher in the mouth, pronunciations sound similar to today


  1300 - 1500
• Tudor period, rise in patriotism, words from Latin + Greek were imported, the suffixes "ize" + "ism" was introduced, Lexis expanded by travel to New world, double negatives used excessively


  1485 - 1603
• Science was heavily influenced, Bible had huge influence on English, King James Bible compiled, first English dictionary = 1604 by Robert Cawdrey, not reliable resource, Shakespeare single handedly changed the English language, estimated 2000 neologisms in his work


  11th century
• Standardised spelling was done, Samuel Johnson's dictionary published - 150 years after Cawdrey, he was prescriptivist but became descriptivist, it was an impressive academic achievement but had so many mistakes in spelling and definition


  18th Century
• Influence from overseas, English is global language (computing, communication, entertainment), greater tolerance for regional accents, Crystal + Aitchinson tries to argue Change is not bad

  20th century + beyond