The History of the English

Language
An introductory course for the
3rd year students

I. The Subject of the History of

English
We study different aspects of language:
1- phonetics,
2 - grammar,
3 word-stock,
4 - style.
There are two approaches in linguistics
to study them:
Synchronic & Diachronic

Synchronic approach: the aspects

of the language are studied as fixed.
Diachronic approach: the language
aspects are studied in development.

Why study History of the language?

To explain the spelling and
pronunciation of words, the unusual
grammar of English and exceptions,
To show the connection of English
with other Germanic languages,
To show that linguistic alterations are
dependent on the history of the
people.

Periods in the History of English

OE 5th century 11th century
(Norman Conquest 1066)
ME 12th century 15th century
(1475 introduction of printing)
NE 16th century 21st century,
subdivided into:
a) ENE 16-17th centuries,
b) LNE 18-21st centuries.

Old English Period

It began in 410 when the Germanic
tribes invaded the British Isles.
They were:
The Angles
The Saxons
The Jutes
The Frisians

The invasion of the Germanic tribes

Part of Beowulf, written in OE

Britain the home of Celts

7th century B.C. -- The first
inhabitants to settle in Britain (the
Celts).
The Britons the most civilized of the
Celtic Tribes (settled in Ireland, Wales
and Scotland and the Pennines).
The Belgae (in England).

The influence of Romans on Celts

In the 1st c. A.D. J. Caesar made the
Celtic Britain a province of the Roman
Empire.
Romans brought to England their
administration, way of life and
language.
Place-names: Latin castra
Lancaster, Manchester.

Roman influence
The word street in English comes
from Latin strata.
The Romans built the famous Roman
roads. They turned Londinium into a
sizeable port and important trading
centre.

Why is the English language called Anglo-Saxon and

why is it different from the other Germanic
languages?

The Germans destroyed the Roman

civilization in England,
They forced the Celts to move to the
peripheries of the country,
The dialects they spoke were totally
separated from the other Germanic
dialects on the continent.

Introduction of Christianity
In A.D. 597 St. Augustine and a
group of Missionaries settled in
Canterbury.
Monasteries were established all over
the country.
In less than a century England was
Christianized.
Northumbria was the centre of
monastic learning.

The invasion of the Danes

In the 9th century the Vikings invaded
the British Isles from the North-east
and the culture of the English was
transferred to Winchester, the capital
of Wessex (King Alfred 849-890).

The Dialects of OE
Kentish Spoken in Kent (from the
Jutes in 7th century),
West Saxon The main dialect of
the Saxon group spoken in the rest of
England south of the Thames and the
Bristol Channel,

The Dialects of OE
Mercian from the Angles in Mercia,
spoken in the central region from the
Thames to the Humber,
Northumbrian from Anglian tribes
spoken to the north of Humber river
(7th century).

Questions for the seminar:

1. The subject of the history of English
language.
2. The periods in the history of English
language.
3. OE Period.
4. OE Dialects.
5. The Runes.
From Ohtheres account about his voyage
to the North Sea.