martes, 1 de marzo de 2011

INTRODUCTION

We can divide in 4 parts the history of the English language:


-          Old English: 5th –mid 12th centuries (1150). German tribes arrive to England (Angles, Saxons, Jutes). The Celts also influenced English language. Then Romans came. Influence of Latin. Full inflections, with four cases: Nom., Acc,. Gen., Dat.
-          Middle English: 1150-1500. Battle of Hastings (1066). Death of Anglo-Saxons. Feudalism. Norman invasion. Three languages live together: English, French and Latin. In 1476 printing press is invented by William Caxton. Levelled inflections, full inflections gradually disappear.
-          Early Modern English (1476-1756). Renaissance. Lost inflections, only a few endings survive. The grammar becomes far simpler. Different spelling live together for the same word. There are no authoritative dictionaries or voices.
-          Late Modern English (1756-nowadays). First authoritative dictionary of the English language, by Samuel Johnson, which provided spellings, sounds and etymology. It was decided not to establish an Academy of English.

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