English language essay

Invasions and settlement introduced…

new languages and vocabulary into English

major events such as the Black Death…

increased contact between different English-speaking communities and contributed to changes in pronunciation and dialects

 the expansion of the British Empire …

spread English to many different parts of the world, where it came into contact with local and Indigenous languages.

finish intro on:

Therefore, language change is inevitable when society changes and is also necessary for language to continue developing and adapting to the needs of its speakers.

The Viking invasions and settlements happened in

 8th–11th centuries

The Viking invasions and settlements brought old norse to England and so

As Vikings and Anglo-Saxons lived together, traded, worked, and interacted, the languages influenced each other and gradually blended in some areas.

The Norman invasion of England happened in…

1066

What happened to english language due to the Norman invasion?

French speaking normans came into power and so French started becoming the language for the ruling classes, government, and the upper classes, it naturally influenced Old English.

English speakers began borrowing many French words (lexemes) such as…

joust, lute, and bounty.

The Black Death happened in

1348 - 1353

Because so many people had passed away due to the black death what happened to the surviving people?

surviving people had more opportunities to move to different areas of England for work.

The danelaw varieties were the english dialects in areas that had been heavily influenced by

Old norse speaking vikings.

Later during and after the black death people moved between different parts of England… and what happened?

This increased contact between different regional varieties, including varieties from the danelaw. This mix of regional dialects and the influence of the danelaw varieties helped reduce the regional differences between dialects and contributed to the later standardization of the English language. 

The Great vowel shift happened between…

1400 and 1700 CE

What did the Great Vowel Shift Do?

involved major changes in the pronunciation of long vowels in English.

around what stage did the Great Vowel shift occur?

This occurred during the period when different English dialects were coming into contract partly due to the population movement following the black death.

Example of the pronunciation changes due to the Great vowel shift

An example of this pronunciation change would be before the Great vowel shift mouse was pronounced M-oo-s and later developed into the modern pronunciation M-ow-s.  

English gets taken to other countries due to the expansion of the British empire in..

the early 17th century. 

In some places English borrowed words from local languages while in other places…

English became a lingua franca meaning it was the common language used by people who speak different first languages.

An Example of where English became the Lingua Franca of an area.

An example of this is Australia, where aboriginal and Torres strait islander peoples originally spoke a hundred of different indigenous languages but following the British colonisation english became the dominant language of Australia

The Viking invasions and Norman Conquest contributed to …

significant lexical changes through the influence of Old Norse and French

the movement of people following the Black Death contributed to..

changes in dialects and phonology, including the Great Vowel Shift.

finishing sentence for conclusion:

Ultimately, language is constantly changing because society is constantly changing, allowing English to adapt and assist communication between people from different communities and cultures.