A Brief Essay on the History of Standard Written English
Created | Updated Aug 16, 2005
English belongs to the Germanic group of languages, which began as a common language three thousand years ago in the Elbe River region (A History of the English Language). Three Germanic tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes came to the British Isles in the 5th century AD and displaced the Celtic language spoken by the natives living there. Old English was the result, and four major dialects emerged: Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon, and Kentish. Northumbrian was the primary culture and language of Britain until the Viking Invasions in the 9th century AD. The Viking invasions introduced many new words into Old English. By the 10th century AD, the West Saxon dialect had become Britain's official language. The language consisted of an Anglo-Saxon base with borrowed words from the Scandinavian language and Latin (KryssTal:The English Language).
William the Conqueror invaded and conquered England in 1066 (A History of the English Language). The Old English nobility was wiped out, and the Duke established French domination . Anglo-Norman became the language of the aristocracy and the government, and the language of the common masses remained English. Until 1200, England was a bilingual country (Where Did English Come From). The Black Death in the 14th century increased the importance of the laboring and merchant classes, and by doing so, increased the importance of the English language. Anglo Norman and English mixed, creating Middle English (A History of the English Language). Around the 14th century, the Great Vowel shift started, it would last until the 17th century and change the pronunciation of many words. The printing press invented by William Caxton in 1475 pushed the spoken and written form of English to a standardized form (Where Did English Come From). Most of the publishing houses were located in London, and as a result, the London dialect became the standard form.
Early Modern English came about in the 1500s. During the Renaissance, the revival of classical scholarship brought classical Latin and Greek words into the language (A History of the English Language). Shakespeare and the Bible also helped to standardize Early Modern English. The King James version of the Bible was written, as a result of the King's standardization of Protestant worship, and for three hundred years it would be the standard bible in English. Shakespeare's works introduced a variety of clichés and words into the language (A History of the English Language). In 1632, Parliament enacted the Statute of Pleading, which closed the linguistic divide between the nobility and the commoners and replaced French with English as the language of the law (A History of the English Language).
Late Modern English came about in the 1800s as a result of the Age of Reason, the Victorian Age, the settling of the Americas, and the Industrial and Scientific Revolution. The Age of Reason had a strong emphasis on order and regulations, and a strong central government used English as the national language for all purposes. With the expansion of the British empire, new words from abroad also became part of the English language (Where Did English Come From). The Victorian Age further standardized grammar. The settling of the Americas added Native American, Spanish, French, and West African words to the English language, and the many discoveries and inventions of the Industrial and Scientific Revolution also added new words to the language. Many of the new words used to describe new inventions and discoveries were created from Latin and Greek roots, however a few were created from English roots.
Bibliography
A History of the English Language. September 13, 2003. Microsoft Internet Explorer.
http://www.wordorigins.org/histeng.htm
KryssTal:The English Language. September 13, 2003. Microsoft Internet Explorer.
http://www.krysstal.com/english.html
Modern English History. September 13, 2003. Microsoft Internet Explorer.
http://www.uta.edu/english/tim/courses/4301w00/modhist.html
Where Did English Come From. September 13, 2003. Microsoft Internet Explorer.
http://www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/chapters/history.php#top.
William the Conqueror invaded and conquered England in 1066 (A History of the English Language). The Old English nobility was wiped out, and the Duke established French domination . Anglo-Norman became the language of the aristocracy and the government, and the language of the common masses remained English. Until 1200, England was a bilingual country (Where Did English Come From). The Black Death in the 14th century increased the importance of the laboring and merchant classes, and by doing so, increased the importance of the English language. Anglo Norman and English mixed, creating Middle English (A History of the English Language). Around the 14th century, the Great Vowel shift started, it would last until the 17th century and change the pronunciation of many words. The printing press invented by William Caxton in 1475 pushed the spoken and written form of English to a standardized form (Where Did English Come From). Most of the publishing houses were located in London, and as a result, the London dialect became the standard form.
Early Modern English came about in the 1500s. During the Renaissance, the revival of classical scholarship brought classical Latin and Greek words into the language (A History of the English Language). Shakespeare and the Bible also helped to standardize Early Modern English. The King James version of the Bible was written, as a result of the King's standardization of Protestant worship, and for three hundred years it would be the standard bible in English. Shakespeare's works introduced a variety of clichés and words into the language (A History of the English Language). In 1632, Parliament enacted the Statute of Pleading, which closed the linguistic divide between the nobility and the commoners and replaced French with English as the language of the law (A History of the English Language).
Late Modern English came about in the 1800s as a result of the Age of Reason, the Victorian Age, the settling of the Americas, and the Industrial and Scientific Revolution. The Age of Reason had a strong emphasis on order and regulations, and a strong central government used English as the national language for all purposes. With the expansion of the British empire, new words from abroad also became part of the English language (Where Did English Come From). The Victorian Age further standardized grammar. The settling of the Americas added Native American, Spanish, French, and West African words to the English language, and the many discoveries and inventions of the Industrial and Scientific Revolution also added new words to the language. Many of the new words used to describe new inventions and discoveries were created from Latin and Greek roots, however a few were created from English roots.
Bibliography
A History of the English Language. September 13, 2003. Microsoft Internet Explorer.
http://www.wordorigins.org/histeng.htm
KryssTal:The English Language. September 13, 2003. Microsoft Internet Explorer.
http://www.krysstal.com/english.html
Modern English History. September 13, 2003. Microsoft Internet Explorer.
http://www.uta.edu/english/tim/courses/4301w00/modhist.html
Where Did English Come From. September 13, 2003. Microsoft Internet Explorer.
http://www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/chapters/history.php#top.
