By Kaisa in Language learning 3 min read . ), English is in a constant state of flux. Unlike languages that developed within the boundaries of one country (or one distinct geographical region), English, since its beginnings 1,600 or so years ago, evolved by crossing boundaries and through invasions, picking up bits and pieces of other languages along the way and changing with the spread of the language across the globe. Our favorites from a recent vocab update? A History of the English Language. Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language. These include some very basic words such as take and even grammatical words such as they. The invaders all spoke a language that was Germanic (related to what emerged as Dutch, Frisian, German and the Scandinavian languages, and to Gothic), but we'll probably never know how different their speech was from that of their continental neighbours. KHF Prende el sonido Haz Clik para pasar la diapositiva What is English? You are now subscribed. You'll hear from us soon! However it is fairly certain that many of the settlers would have spoken in exactly the same way as some of their north European neighbours, and that not all of the settlers would have spoken in the same way. The changes in pronunciation weren’t the result of specific social or historical factors, but social and historical factors would have helped to spread the results of the changes. 30+ countries later, I’ve discovered that home is everywhere and anywhere, as long as I have my husband and camera at hand. Old English was left to the peasants, and despite its less glamorous status, it continued to develop and grow by adopting a whole host of Latin and French words in 1,000-1,400 AD, including everyday words such as “beer”,”city”, “fruit” and “people”, as well as half of the months of the year. In addition to spreading the English language far and wide, this resulted in the development of dozens of local versions and dialects of English and brought with it – yes, you guessed it – more new words! And as the English-speaking world was at the center of a lot of scientific progress, scientific advances went hand-in-hand with the evolution of the language. Grammar With the Viking invasions (Vikings were a tribe of Nordic people that ransacked their way through Northern and Northwestern Europe 1,000-1,200 years ago), Old English got mixed up with Old Norse, the language of the Viking tribes. Those that survive in modern English include brock (badger), and coomb a type of valley, alongside many place names. In this way, although computer technology has in the short term given a massive boost to the use of English, it is likely in the longer term to make language use a matter of choice. Although English was spoken widely on the British Isles by 1,000 AD, the Norman invasion established French as the language of royals and of power. The eventual effects on the English language of both of these developments can only be guessed at today, but there can be little doubt that they will be as important as anything that has happened to English in the past sixteen hundred years. The period is a long one and it is generally considered that Old English was spoken from about A.D. 600 to about 1100. And on that note: the most amazing thing about English is that it’s STILL evolving. These were purely linguistic ‘sound changes’ which occur in every language in every period of history. (An eBook reader can be a software application for use on a computer such as Microsoft's free Reader application, or a book-sized computer THE is used solely as a reading device such as Nuvomedia's Rocket eBook.) Clipping is a handy way to collect important slides you want to go back to later. The written and spoken language of London continued to evolve and gradually began to have a greater influence in the country at large. Five Events that Shaped the History of English. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. Of course, nobody can see into the future, but sooner or later the dominant position of the English language is going to be successfully challenged. You only have to flick through the etymologies of any English dictionary to get an impression of the huge number of words entering English from French and Latin during the later medieval period. Cambridge University Press, 2006.