Intro to Language Change

Origins of English

• In the 5th century AD, settlers from west Germany crossed over to Britain

• These tribes were called Saxons, and set up kingdoms called ‘East Anglia’, ‘West Saxon’, ‘East Saxon’ etc

• They spoke a dialect of the Germanic language and this slowly evolved into the English we speak today

William Caxton (1476)

Introduced the printing press to England

2024 Oxford English Dictionary - Word of the Year

Experts noticed that ‘brain rot’ gained new prominence this year as a term used to capture concerns about the impact of consuming excessive amounts of low quality online content, especially on social media. The term increased in usage by 230% between 2023 and 2024

The first recorded use of ‘brain rot’ was found in 1854 in Henry David Thoreu’’s book ‘Walden’, but has taken on new significance as an expression in the digital age

Old English

• The language spoken by Germanic settlers (therefore English is a Germanic language)

• Viking invaders bought with them parts of the North Germanic (Scandinavian) language which integrated into Old English

Middle English

• 11th century Norman invasions meant that French became the dominant language of the elite whilst English remained the language of the masses

• Gradually, English became more widely used and by the 15th century it was used universally, thought it had evolved from Old English into Middle English

Great Vowel Shift

A major change in English pronunciation between the 15th and 18th centuries, where long vowel sounds were raised and some became diphthongs. This shift helped to distinguish Middle English from Modern English and led to many spelling → pronunciation mismatches.

Early Modern English

• Caxton introduced the printing press to England (1476)

• Texts could now be mass produced which led to a process of standardisation that did not exist before → the South East dialect was used as a basis for this

• Shakespeare produced his work

• James I commissioned a translation of the Bible

Modern English

• English became increasingly standardised from 1700 onwards

• Samuel Johnson published the first ‘Dictionary of English’ in 1755, a task others had not been able to complete

• In 1762, Robert Lowth published the first English grammar book, laying out ‘correct’ language usage

• Latin was upheld as the ideal language and was used as a model for English grammar, despite its separate structure

When was Old English?

5th Century

When was Middle English?

11th Century

When was Early Modern English?

15th Century

When was Modern English?

18th Century

What was Present Day English?

20th Century

What is the order of linguistic development?

1) Old English

2) Middle English

3) Early Modern English

4) Modern English

5) Present Day English

What are the features of Middle English?

• Grammar became simpler due to 2 languages having to co-exist

• French lexis became integrated, particularly legal and religious words such as justice, govern and sovereign

• Vowels became shorter eg leef become life and teem became time (known as the Great Vowel Shift)

• An estimated 85% of Old English words fell out of use

How has language continued to develop after Modern English?

• Rail travel, colonial expansion, the spread of literacy and mass production of the printed word extended everyone’s access to a standard written form of English

• The Industrial Revolution changed the way people worked and lived their lives, so new words were needed

• English borrowed huge numbers of words from all over the world

• American English was becoming a language in its own right, with its own rules and spelling

What were the drivers of language change?

• Travel and the movement of people

• Invasion and colonisation

• Developments in technology

• Movements in class/politics

Language Early Beginnings

Before 100BC Britain was populated by various tribes including the Celts, Picts, Irish and Cornish

All spoke a variety of Celtic languages (there were 16)