Moments in History that Shaped the English we Speak Today

The history of English is probably one of the most turbulent language histories in Europe and beyond.  The language can be divided into roughly 4 main phases many learners of English as a second language are more or less familiar with.  Naturally, the dates used to distinguish between these phases don’t necessarily indicate a sudden change from one phase to another.  This process was gradual and the dates are there for general guidance only.

SEE ALSO: English Pronunciation from Shakespeare to Modern Times

See how The Open University summarizes the 16-century long history of the English language development in ten minutes:

Old English

5th century to 11th century

It may be said that the English language was born in the 5th century when related Germanic tribes moved to Britain from the European continent.  The exact ethnolinguistic composition of these groups is not 100% clear, but their dialects would certainly have been mutually intelligible.

According to the Anglo-Saxon historian Bede, there were three tribes, called the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.  It has also been suggested that Frisians and other Germanic groups participated in the migration.  Whatever the case may be, even if there were any distinctions between these groups of people, they faded fast.  All of them would eventually be known as Anglo-Saxons, and their language now called Old English.

Since the Lord’s Prayer is widely known and versions of it survive from every stage in the history of English, we will use it as a comparative example to examine the evolution of English through centuries.

At first glance, Old English hardly resembles English in the modern sense, but this is largely superficial–a closer look and one can see the English in it.  It did, however, have three letters that are no longer in use today.  These were ash (Æ), thorn (Þ), and eth (ð).  In the first verse below one can discern “our father who art in heaven.”

Middle English

11th century to 15th century

Old English ended after the 1066 Norman invasion.  Now of course, this didn’t happen overnight; the English didn’t bury the dead after the Battle of Hastings and wake up the next morning speaking Middle English.  These changes happened gradually, the most important being the large number of borrowings into English from Norman French (numbering in the thousands).  It is also during this time that we begin to recognize the language as English (albeit a very old-fashioned version).

To understand the pronunciation differences between Middle English and Modern English, have a look at this short video lesson on Middle English pronunciation rules:

Early Modern English

15th century to 18th century

This stage in the history of English is by far the best known.  It is the language of both Shakespeare and the familiar King James Bible, and it is often mistakenly called “Old English.” However, as discussed above, that term is reserved for the oldest stage of the language.  At this point there is little doubt that we’re dealing with English, so it makes sense to call it “modern.”

Modern English

18th century to present

As for the English spoken in Britain today, it is said to have taken most of its present form after the Restoration period had ended in 1690 and a new phase of peace in the Great Britain began.

This was also the period when the first dictionaries were created, including even a pronunciation dictionary made by John Walker and published in 1791.  This one was called Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and represented the base for further studies into English pronunciation.

Of course, the language had some parallel developments in other parts of the world, which resulted in so many varieties.  This is why we speak American, British, Scottish, Australian and many other Englishes today that may sound significantly different despite the common origin.

Photo credit: Oddernod / Foter / CC BY-SA