1 Anglo Saxon
What do
our days of the week mean?
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
They commemorate the gods Tiw, Woden, Thor and Woden's
wife, Frig.
2. Vikings
List 6
common words we use from Viking languages
A selection of the 1,800 Scandinavian
loan words that probably entered the language at this time: awkward, band,
bull, crawl, die, drag, dregs, freckle, gasp, get, glitter, harbour, knife,
loan, meek, muck, raise, ransack, reindeer, scowl, sister, sky, stack, steak,
thrust, tight, want, weak, widow
Why do
so many Northern & Midland place names end in ‘by’?
More than 1,500 place names in England
have Scandinavian origins, particularly in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
For example, the '-by' in names like
Rugby and Grimsby means ‘farm’ or ‘town; the '-thorpe' in Althorpe and
Linthorpe means ‘village’; and the '-thwaite' in Braithwaite and Langthwaite
means ‘isolated area’.
3. Normans
How many languages were spoken in
England and by whom?
By the 13th century, over 20,000 words
have entered English, mostly from Latin and French.
What is the explanation of our word
‘bastard’?
Most of the Anglo-Norman Kings were
unable to communicate at all in English – though it is said some used it for
swearing. William was known as 'the Bastard', the term possibly coming from
'fils de bast', meaning 'son of the packsaddle', ie born on an improvised bed,
on the run.
4. Resurgence of
English
Why was losing a war important for the
English language?
Ever turbulent, the relationship
between England and France hits a new low with the onset of the Hundred Years
War. England’s French estates are lost, severing the umbilical tie with the
Continent, and a sense of English national identity emerges.
List 6 words that came into English at
this time
A selection of the many thousands of
French words which enter the language at this time.
Fashion – brooch, diamond, embroidery, gown,
jewel, pearl, petticoat
Food and drink – bacon, biscuit,
feast, grape, mackerel, mutton, salmon, vinegar
Learning and art – art, geometry,
grammar, medicine, painting, poet, romance
General – action, carol, chess,
curtain, dance, foreign, forest, mountain, pantry
5. The Printing
Press 1476
Printing helped establish a ‘standard’
version of English – which dialect developed as the standard at this time?
The ‘Great Vowel Shift’ takes place
during the 15th century, and represents a major development in pronunciation
which resulted in many words coming to be pronounced more like they are today.
A speaker in Chaucer’s era pronounced 'time' like the modern English 'team',
'see' like 'say', 'fame' like 'farm'.The dialect of the East Midlands begins to
establish itself as a form of ‘standard English’. This is the most populous
region of England and home to important social, administrative, and educational
centres, including the royal court at London. Spelling also becomes more
standardised and the pace of grammatical change slows down.
But more dialects emerge, compared to
the Old English era. West Saxon is now Southern; Northumbrian is Northern;
Mercian splits into West Midlands and East Midlands; Kentish still encompasses
the south east. In Scotland, the dialect diverges radically from its English
cousins, adopting Gaelic words and developing a unique pronunciation. The
change is dubbed by some ‘Middle Scots’ to distinguish it from ‘Middle
English’.
Where does our word ‘golf’ come from?
'Golf' is recorded in Scots English
from the 15th century; other recorded spellings include gouff, goiff, goff, and
gowff. It is thought to have Dutch origins - 'colf' being the name of the club
used in striking games of the time.
6. The Renaissance
1500-1650 (includes Shakespeare)
Find 2 idioms from the 1611 ‘King
James’ English translation of the Bible you know people still use.
Many modern day idioms can be found in
the King James Bible of 1611: my brother's keeper, a man after his own heart,
how the mighty are fallen, the skin of my teeth, out of the mouths of babes, a
lamb brought to the slaughter, can a leopard change his spots, cast your pearls
before swine, the signs of the times, to kick against the pricks, suffer fools
gladly, filthy lucre, rule with a rod of iron ...
7. Colonising the New World 1600s onwards
List 4 common words from Native
American languages
Many so-called ‘Americanisms’ today
are actually remnants of Middle English that crossed the Atlantic at this
time: for example, 'I guess' for 'I
think', 'gotten' for 'got', 'mad' for 'angry', 'fall' for 'autumn'.
What other languages added to American
English?
American English features loan words
from indigenous Indian languages as well
as from immigrant groups:
Indian languages – chipmunk, hickory,
moccasin, moose, racoon, skunk
Spanish – bonanza, canyon, coyote, lasso, mustang
Dutch – coleslaw, cookie, snoop, boss
German – delicatessen, dumb, hoodlum,
pretzel, spiel
Yiddish – kosher, nosh, schmaltz,
scram, Enjoy!
Italian – espresso, mafia, minestrone,
pasta, pizza
French – bayou, butte, chowder, cent,
poker, praline, saloon
8. Age of the
Lexicographer 1600-1800
Why was there debate about the state
of the language in England
– and how could dictionaries help?
Debate over the state of the language
rages in Britain during the 18th century, following moves in other nations to
control the wagging of their native tongues with dictionaries, grammars and
manuals.
What does ‘Jobbernowl’ mean?
It is referred
to as the term for a stupid person
9. The Industrial
Revolution 1760-1830
Why was there a need for so many new
words in this period?
A project is begun in 1884 to compile
a ‘New English Dictionary’, which will eventually become the Oxford English
Dictionary. In America, the need to define the identity of the new nation
results in Noah Webster's ‘American Dictionary of the English Language’
appearing in 1828.
The ‘novel’ becomes the literary genre
of the age, exemplified by the works of Dickens, Scott and Twain. These books
introduce a wider range of spoken and non-standard English into written
expression.
List 4 of the new ‘-ology’ words
General -
petrology, taxonomy, palaeontology, ethnology, gynaecology, carcinology
10 The Present – Global English
Find a version of English that has
been standardised globally for the
people who use it
In the twentieth century, English
emerges as a world language, universally embraced across the globe. Hybrid,
local variations of the language appear, such as Singlish (Singaporean
English), as recently independent nations promote their identity through local
varieties of the language. There are also moves to standardise English used in
key areas of communication such as air traffic control (Air Speak) and maritime
travel (Sea Speak).
Find a new version of written English
which has developed in the last decade.
The advent of the Internet massively
increases exposure to a wide range of English styles and linguistic
experimentation. New technology results in idiosyncratic varieties of English,
such as the ‘text speak’ invented by mobile phone users communicating via SMS.
