Divisions of the history of the English Language. Brief characteristics of each period.
The Old English period. The area where English was spoken. The number of English speaking people in this period. The tribal character of Old Germanic dialects. The homogeneous character of the Old English word stock. The grammatical structure of Old English (morphology and syntax). The peculiarities of the phonetic system Unstressed vowels and their phonetic value. The Middle English period. Penetration of English all over the British Isles The change of the Old English dialects into local ones. The Middle English vocabulary. French and Scandinavian influence on the Middle English vocabulary. Changes in the phonetic system of Middle English. Destruction of differences in the unstressed vowels. Changes in the grammatical structure of Middle English
The New English period. Early New English. Introduction of printing. The age of Chaucer.the rise of the London dialect. Spread ofEnglish throughout the world. The growth of the New English vocabulary. Changes in the phonetic structure of New English. Loss of vowels in unstressed syllables. Grammatical system of the New English period. Breaking down of the synthetical structure and development of the analytical structure.
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