Language Timeline

• In what century was Old English spoken?

  5th - 11th Century
• What historical event(s) happened Old English when was spoken?

  Viking Raids
• What linguistic developments occurred when Old English was spoken?

  • English developed from the speech of Angles, Jutes and Saxons
  • Vocabulary came from Anglo-Saxons (house, woman, loaf, werewolf), Old Norse and Latin (martyr, bishop)
• What were the levels of standardisation when Old English was spoken?

  • Different areas of settlement resulted in different dialects
  • Largely phonetic so little consistency in written language
• In what century was Middle English spoken in?

  11th - 15th Century
• What historical event(s) happened when Middle English was spoken?

  Norman Invasion
• What linguistic developments occurred when Middle English was spoken?

  French terms were added into English vocabulary (eg judge, jury, evidence)

  10,000 new words from the normans
• What were the levels of standardisation when Middle English was spoken?

  Dialectal variation
• In what century was Early Modern English spoken in?

  15th - 18th century
• What historical event(s) happened when Early Modern English was spoken?

  • Caxton Introduced the printing press (1476)
  • British Empire began
• What linguistic developments occurred when Early Modern English was spoken?

  • Southeast dialect became the basis for the standard form of English
  • Started borrowing more words from around the world (eg Spanish - banana, cargo; Portuguese - molasses, albino)
  • People chose to write in English
• What were the levels of standardisation when Early Modern English was spoken?

  English became more standardised due to Caxton's printing press
• What notable publications came out when Early Modern English was spoken?

  • Shakespeare plays - introduced 2000 new words (eyeball, puppy dog, alligator) and idioms
  • King James commissioned a new translation of the Bible - gave lots of metaphors (eg a leopard cant change its spots)
  • Johnson (1755) published his dictionary in a major attempt to fix the language
• In what century was Modern English spoken in?

  18th - 20th century
• What historical event(s) happened when Modern English was spoken?

  • Industrial revolution
  • Expansion of the British Empire was at its highest
• What linguistic developments occurred when Modern English was spoken?

  More words were being borrowed from around the world

  • India - yoga, pyjamas, bungalow
  • Africa - voodoo, zombie
  • Australia - nugget, boomerang
• What were the levels of standardisation when Modern English was spoken?

  • Grammarians examined the structure and grammar, leading them to propose correct ways of speaking and writing
  • Standard English became prestigious due to differences in social class
• In what century is Present Day English spoken in?

  20th Century - Now
• What historical event(s) happened when Modern English was spoken?

  • World War 1 (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918)
  • World War 2 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945)
• What linguistic developments occurred when Present Day English was spoken?

  Technological advancement impacted structures and ways of communicating language.

  • First email sent in 1972 - conversations got shorter, abbreviations (IMO, FYI, LOL)
  • Internet arrived in 1991 - introduced words such as download, toolbar, firewall

  English became a global language

  • 3rd most widely spoken language (1.46B speakers)
  • Has words from over 350 languages
• The Great Vowel Shift (14th - 18th Century)


  A gradual changing in vowel pronunciation

  • Sit - Seat
  • Loss - Lose
  • Teem - Time