Variation over time/language change

Paper 1

From what time period does Early Modern English (EME) span?

1450-1700

From what time period does Modern English (ModE) span?

1700-1900

From what time period does Late Modern English (LME) span?

1900-present day

What causes language change?

• Historical factors

  • Wars and invasions

  • Invaders brought with them words which English would eventually absorb

  • e.g Normans invaded in 1066 and brought French words

• Technological changes

  • New inventions and ways of doing things

• Cultural and social factors

  • Commerce and immigration/emigration

  • Trade and the British Empire

  • e.g ‘pyjama’ is a Hindi word which entered English from the British Empire’s colonial presence in South Asia in the 1870s

From what time period does Old English (OE) span?

449-1100

What was the original language of England?

Celtic

Who invaded in 49AD and occupied England for 400 years?

The Romans

What language did the Roman’s speak?

Latin, as would any Celts working with them.

What year did the Roman’s leave Britain?

410CE

What was the result of the Roman’s leaving Britain in 410CE?

Native Britain’s were left defenceless against attacks from the Scots.

What did King Vortegern do to help defeat the Scots in 449AD?

Invited Germanic tribes

What did the Germanic tribes do when they released Britain was defenceless?

• Took over Britain

• With new invaders came a new language (Anglo-Saxon) which evolved into English as we know it

What were the 4 Anglo-Saxon dialects?

• Northumbrian

• Mercian

• Kentish

• West Saxon

What was the state of language at this stage?

Language had not undergone standardisation as the country had not reached social or political unity.

How does Anglo-Saxon English differ to English today?

• Phonetic langauge with almost all sounds pronounced

• No silent letters

What occured towards the end of the 8th century?

• In 787AD, Vikings from Scandinavia invaded

• After 100 years they were defeated by the English but King Alfred let them remain

Where did the Vikings eventually settle?

• A large area of the North

• Named it ‘Danelaw’

• Spoke their own language (Old Norse)

How did Old Norse impact the English langauge?

• Both languages were spoken side by side (as they were in some ways similar so speakers could communicate with each other to an extent) but eventually Old Norse was absorbed by English.

• Old English relied heavily on inflections to determine the function of words but since the Vikings often mispronounced or omitted these in conversation, they eventually become grammatically redundant. This paved the way towards a reliance on word order.

What major event served as the catalyst for the next major change in English language?

Norman invasion (the battle of Hastings) in 1066

What did William the Conqueror do after the Battle of Hastings in 1066?

Remove all ruling class, clergy and nobility of their land and titles and replace them with Normans.

How many words were introduced to the English language by the Normans?

10,000

What language did the Normans speak?

French and Latin

Why was French the chosen form of communication during this period?

The French language was seen as prestigious.

How did French dominating speech affect the English language?

• Written English decreased rapidly

• English didn’t emerge in writing again until 1150

Who still spoke English?

Common people

• Remained in a phonetic sense

• Each dialect developed their own writing systems

Where were the first literary representations of English dialectal variations?

In Chaucer’s texts

What event led to the decline of speaking French in England?

• King John lost a war to France in 1250 and thus England and France became enemies

• Hundred Years’ War was a conflict between England and France

When did the Black death occur? What were its implications?

• 1348

• It diminished the rural population

Why did peasants move to Urban areas? How did this impact the English language?

• Better working conditions

• Brought their language (English) to areas where they mainly spoke French = decline of French speakers

What are some examples of English gaining status and being used in official domains?

• 1362- English was the language of the law courts

• 1384- Wycliffe’s Bible was written in English

• 1385- English was used in schools

• By the end of the century, literature was written in both English and French (notably Chaucer wrote in English)

During Middle English what categories were French borrowings in English linked to?

• Goverment

• Religion

• Law

• Food

• Clothing

What did Latin borrowings introduce?

• Tended to be more formal lexis

• Introduced new affixes, e.g ‘able’, ‘ible’, ‘ent’

Describe Middle English orthography (<v> and <u>)

• <v> and <u> had no fixed value, they were interchangeable

• General rule: <v> was used for an initial letter and <u> was used for an internal letter

Describe Middle English orthography (<y> and <i>)

<y> and <i> were interhchangeable for the sake of legibility to minimse confusion.

What Latin form replaced the Old English form <cw>?

<qu>

• e.g cwean → queen

Describe Middle English morphology

• Thorn (þ) and ash (æ) fell out of use

• Yogh (ȝ) replaced by <g>

• <sc> replaced by <sh>

• <hw> replaced by <wh>

• Initial <h> was gradually deleted

What factors in EME had significant effects on English?

• Printing press and standardisation

• Great Vowel Shift

• King James I Bible

• Renaissance

Who introduced the printing press and when?

William Caxton, a merchant, in 1476.

What was the first book to be printed in English?

‘The Recuyell of the histories of Troye’

What were the impacts of the printing press?

• More texts could be produced

• Written language reached a much larger audience

• People became more aware of differences in written language in different parts of the country (no standard forms)

How did the printing press cause civil unrest?

Made poor people more aware of their situation.

For commerical reasons, what dialect did Caxton decide to use for printing?

London/East Midlands

Where did Caxton establish the printing press?

Westminster