History of English

Description

The dates and information of important events for the development of English through Old English to Middle English to Modern English.
Skye Chen
Flashcards by Skye Chen, updated more than 1 year ago
Skye Chen
Created by Skye Chen over 5 years ago
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Resource summary

Question Answer
449 Invasion by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes brought Germanic language to Britain
597 St Augustine's mission arrives in Kent bringing Christianity and Latin to Britain
680 Estimated date for the composition of Beowulf, earliest piece of Old English literatue
787 Viking raids begin - the Nordic languages arrive
886 Danelaw boundaries created - this generated accent differences
1066 Norman Conquest - influence of French in government and the law, for example
1250-1300 Edward I's campaigns against the Scots and the Welsh leads to English spreading across the British Isles
1362 English first used at the State Opening of Parliament, this establishes English as the official language of the British Isles
1375-1400 Chaucer's major works written - important because they are the first literary representations of English dialectal varieties
1384 Wyclif's translation of The Bible - the first time The Bible had been written in English
1300-1600 The Great Vowel Shift
1476 Introduction of printing - William Caxton establishes his printing press in Westminster
1712 Jonathan Swift proposes an English academy to regulate and promote the 'proper' use of the English Language
1755 Publication of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language - according to Johnson's contemporaries his publication 'conferred stability' in the use of English words
1762 Publication of Robert Lowth's 'Short Introduction to English Grammar' - important because it prescribed the use of 'correct' grammar
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