Brief History of the English Language
5th Century -three Germanic tribes -the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes arrived in the British Isles. The Angles were named from ENGLE, their land of origin. Their language was called ENGLISC from which the word, English is derived. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes became known as the Anglo-Saxons. The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes became known as the Anglo-Saxons. Some words such as church, bishop, baptism, monk, eucharis, and presbyter came indirectly through Latin and Greek.
The VIKINGS, also known as Norsemen, invaded England by the 8th century , which in turn, gave English a Norwegian and Danish influence. MIDDLE ENGLISH When William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded England, he became its king. French became the language of the court, administration, and culture. It was the language used in schools. The English language became mostly the language of the uneducated classes and was considered a vulgar tongue.
Most of the English words rooted in French are words that have something to do with power, such as crown, castle, parliament, army, mansion, gown, banquet, art, poet, romance, duke, servant, peasant, traitor, and governor. MODERN ENGLISH Modern English developed after Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in Germany around 1450 and William Caxton established England’s first printing press at Westminster abbey in 1476.
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Printing also brought standardization of English. Between the 18th to 20th centuries, the English language continued to change as the British Empire moved across the world---- to the USA, Australia, New Zealand, India, Asia, and Africa. American and British variants are the INTERNATIONALLY accepted variants of the English language. Differences of AE and BE Spelling center-centre program-programme color-colour
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