Stages in the development of the English language.
It is customary to divide the history of the English language into three main periods: The 1st, called OLD ENGLISH which lasts from the 5th century to the end of the 11th century; the dates of its end as suggested by various authrities range from 1066, which is the year of the Norman conquest, to 1150. During the Old English period, most additions to the English vocabulary were based on native English words. Old words were given new meanings; new words were formed by the addition of prefixes or suffixes, or by compounding. Of foreign languages the most influential was Latin. The Scandinavians also influenced the language of English during the Old English period. From the 8th century, Scandinavians had raided and eventually settled in England, especially in the north and the east. This prolonged if unfriendly contact had a considerable and varied influence on the English vocabulary. The second, called MIDDLE ENGLISH – from the 12th to the 15th century; the period is believed to have ended in 1475, the year of the introduction of printing. The Middle English period was marked by a great extension of foreign influence on English. The Norman Conquest in 1066 brought England under French rule. The English language, though it did not die, was for a time of only secondary importance. French became the language of the upper classes in England. The variety of French they spoke is now called Anglo-French. The lower classes continued to speak English but many English words were borrowed from French. The third, called NEW ENGLISH - from 1500 to the present, which means the English of the last six centuries. Modern English (New English) has been a period of even wider borrowing. English still derives much of its learned vocabulary from Latin and Greek. English has also borrowed words from nearly all the languages of Europe. And with the modern period of linguistic acquisitiveness English has found opportunities even farther afield. From the period of the Renaissance voyages of discovery through the days when the sun never set upon the British Empire and up to the present, a steady stream of new words has flowed into the language to match the new objects and experiences which English speakers have encountered all over the world. The historical events taken as the dividing lines between the periods are really those that affected the language. Study the information in the following table and use it to describe some events in the history of Britain:
Lecture 2
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