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An Essay On The History Of Old English
According to Algeo 2010 give an account of the old english
An Essay On The History Of Old English
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AngloSaxon Language
Nearly all knowledge of the English language before the seventh century is hypothetical. Most of this knowledge is based on later English documents and earlier documents in related languages (3). The English language of today represents many centuries of development. As a continuous process, the development of the English language began in England around the year 449 with the arrival of several Germanic tribes including: the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes (1, p.49). English, like all other languages, is subject to constant growth and decay (1). Many of the political and social events that have so profoundly affected the English people in their life have generally had an impact on their language (1). The evolution and developmental changes of Anglo-Saxon Language and Modern English have been characterized by three basic periods: Old English, Middle English, and Modern English.
Old English was spoken and written in England during the early part of the Middle Ages, from about 600-1100 (2). The language’s earliest stage of development was known as Old English (OE) (3). The four main varieties of the language that were taken to Britain were: Kentish which was associated with the Jutes; West Saxon, from the Southern region, Wessex; Mercian, an Anglian dialect which was spoken in Mercia; and Northumbrian, one of the northernmost Anglian dialects (3). The “vocabulary expanded chiefly through compounding and derivation,” but there were also a few changes in meaning that contributed to this growth (3, p473). The first written form of the language was runic letters which was replaced by a modified version of the Roman alphabet during the Anglo-Saxon conversion to Christianity (3). Very little of OE cou...
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...atus of reasonable importance among the world (1). Although “the Germanic dialects that migrated in the 5th century to Britain have expanded into a 20th century global common language,” the position that the language will occupy in the future is still uncertain (3p472).
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“Oxford English Dictionary.” (2002, January). History of the Dictionary. [Online]. Available Internet: www.oed.com Directory: public/inside File: history
Since it’s been a predominant topic of our discussion, let us talk about the infamous English language. We can be sure that it has painstakingly progressed throughout generations of reevaluation and modernization, and has thus become what it is today. It has gone in several directions to try and mesh with the various epochs of language, from the Shakespearean era to the common English slang we use now, we can all agree that English is a language that has been transcending and will continue to transcend into many
Murray, J. A., & Burchfield, R. W. (1933). The Oxford English Dictionary (Vol. 1): Clarendon Press Oxford.
The English language has been in constant transition throughout its history, but the most significant transformation in modern English can be credited to William Shakespeare. With Shakespeare’s invention of commonly used expressions, his creation of new words, and his use of iambic pentameter, he was able to affect the language in a way that no person since has. Shakespeare’s influence on modern English is not only visible in everyday speech, but also in the fact that his work has survived over four hundred years and it continues to be performed and read worldwide.
Author(s): Judie Newman Source: The Modern Language Review, Vol. 98, No. 4 (Oct., 2003), pp. 817-826
how the English language has changed in the many years from then until now. The
Mitchell, Bruce and Robinson, Michael A Guide To Old English, fifth edition 1992 , Blackwell Publishers , Oxford .
In Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language, Johnson argues the importance of preserving language. Other dialects had a produced their own dictionaries, such as the French and Italians. Various writers of the eighteenth century were alarmed at the fact that there was no standard for the English language, since there was no standard it could easily become extinct. Johnson explored many points, such as how and why languages change as well as how many words are formed.
During the 16th century, developments in the arts, literature, medicine, science and renewed interest in classical languages, flooded the English language with new words. According to The British Library Board (2015), Cawdrey described that well-to-do gentleman decorated sentences with fancy phrases and complicated words from abroad. As a result, Cawdrey felt that by creating and publishing the ‘A Table Alphabeticall’, the English language would be better organised and help readers understand challenging
Mollin, S., 2006. “English as a Lingua Franca: A New Variety in the New Expanding Circle?”, The Nordic Journal of English Studies 5(2), pp. 41-57. Available from
Fromkin, Victoria, Robert Rodman, and Nina Hyams. An Introduction to Language. 8th ed. Boston: Thomson, 2007.
" Modern Language Association 111.3 (1996): 408-20. JSTOR.com - "The New York Times" Web. The Web. The Web. 11 June 2013.
Trudgill, P., ‘Standard English: what it isn’t’, in Standard English: the widening debate, ed. by T. Bex & R.J. Watts (London: Routledge, 1999), pp. 117-128.
113-117. 151-195. The. English: A Linguistic Tool Kit, (2012), (U214, Worlds of English, DVD ROM), Milton Keynes, The Open University. English in the World, (2012), (U214, Worlds of English, DVD ROM), Milton Keynes, The Open University.
8. Simpson, J. A., & Weiner, E. S. (1989). The Oxford English dictionary (2nd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press ;.
Have you ever wondered where the names of the different items you use daily came from? Or listened to people talk and find a particular word interesting or odd and wonder why it has become part of our English language? The English language that we speak today has developed as a result of many different influences and changes over thousands of years. The resulting changes to the English language can be split into three time periods that include, Old English or Anglo-Saxon, Middle English and Modern English which is commonly used today