VCE English Language 2025 Unit 2 AOS 1: 'English Across Time' Essay SAC Plan & Evidence

Viking Paragraph: When did the Vikings Invade England?

The 793 CE.

Viking Paragraph Part 1.

The arrival of the Vikings in England around 793 CE was an important milestone in English history, and the influence of Old Norse can be seen in England today. Old Norse imprinted itself upon the language, integrating its vocabulary and grammatical structures, influencing English syntax. An estimated 400 borrowings from Old Norse can still be found in present day to day English. Examples include nouns such as ‘skin’, ‘egg’ and ‘knife’, and verbs such as ‘die’, ‘get’ and ‘give’. These borrowings added greater diversity to the English language, as synonyms such as ‘sick’ and ‘ill’ are able to coexist with slightly different connotations, allowing for more precision of expression.

Viking Paragraph Part 2.

Prior to Viking influence, Old English used a complex inflectional system. The noun ‘hund’ (dog), for example, had no suffix in its accusative form, but was spelt as ‘hunde’ in its dative form. As such, contact with the Vikings caused English to develop into an analytical language, with a fixed syntactic word order and fewer suffixes, making it simpler and more accessible.

When did the Normans invade England?

1066, defeating the English at the Battle of Hastings.

French Rule Paragraph Part 1.

The defeat of the English forces at the Battle of Hastings saw the language demoted to second class, and French became the language of wealth and nobility. About 10,000 French lexemes were added to the English vocabulary during the 200 years French occupation, including nouns such as ‘poet’, ‘nobility’ and ‘chivalry'. These are all words associated with wealth, nobility and the upper-class, and as such, there was elevation of connotation of French words in England, and English words experienced a deterioration of connotation. An example of this is the diversion of denotation for the French word ‘Maison’ and the English word ‘House’. Initially synonyms, when the English borrowed the word ‘mansion’ from French, it became a word to describe a large, expensive house, whereas the English ‘house’ retained its humbler meaning. These lexical additions gave English more expression and precision, giving writers and speakers the ability to choose words with specific connotations.

French rule paragraph Part 2.

Finally, contact with the French saw the creation of some English spelling inconsistencies. Words such as ‘honest’, ‘honour’ and ‘hour’ all adopted the French silent ‘h’ that is used inconsistently across the language due to its late arrival.

How did religion and plague change the English language?

It made significant lexical and semantic changes, as well as changes in pronunciation.

When did St Augustine arrive in England?

597 CE.

How did Latin change English?

St Augustine arrived in England in 597 CE, bringing Christianity and the Latin language. Latin became the language of the learned, bringing the relevant, prestigious lexemes, such as the nouns ‘monk’, ‘alter’ and ‘school’, all within the semantic domain of religion and academia. Today, Latin is still viewed as a fancy and prestigious language to learn. It is used in the fields of science, medicine and law, which are linked to high-profile careers involving large amounts of academic study. Latin’s influence on English has created a broader scope for academic research and discussion that changed education forever. However, Latin’s prestige meant that spelling inconsistencies were created when scholars tried to tie modern spellings back to their Latin roots. For example, the silent ‘b’ was added to the word ‘debt’ to connect it to its Latin ancestor ‘debitum.’

When did the Black Death arrive in England?

Around 1348 CE.

How did the Black Death influence the English language?

The disease ravaged densely populated urban areas, populated mostly by the French- speaking upper class, and thus decreasing French influence over the country. As more jobs became available in the cities, English-speaking peasants began to move about the country. Dialects began to mingle, causing changes to pronunciation and contributing towards the Great Vowel Shift. For example, the word ‘name’, pronounced as ‘nahm’ in some parts of England, saw a shift in pronunciation as speakers overcorrected in an attempt to resemble the London dialect’s pronunciation ‘nehm’, leading to our modern-day pronunciation of ‘name’.