History of English, English written language

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Old English (449 - 1066 CE).

The Old English language (also called Anglo-Saxon) dates back to 449 CE. The Celts had been living in England when the Romans invaded. Although they invaded twice, they did not conquer the Celts until 43 CE and Latin never overtook the Celtic language. The Romans finally left England in 410 CE as the Roman Empire was collapsing, leaving the Celts defenseless. Then the Germanic tribes from the present-day area of Denmark arrived. The four main tribes were the Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians. These tribes set up seven kingdoms called the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy that included: Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Wessex, Sussex, Essex, and East Anglia. Four dialects were spoken in these kingdoms: West Saxon, Kentish, Mercian and Northumbrian. The Celts moved north to Scotland, west to Ireland and south to France, leaving the main area of Britain.

In 731 CE, Bede wrote the "Ecclesiastical History of the English People" in Latin. It detailed the sophisticated society of the Germanic tribes. They had destroyed the Roman civilization in England and built their own, while dominance shifted among the kingdoms beginning with Kent and Northumbria. They aligned with the Celtic clergy and converted to Christianity. Laws and contracts were written down for a sense of permanence and control. The Tribal Hidage, a list of subjects who owed tribute to the king, was written during the Mercian period of power.

Alfred the Great was the king of Wessex from 871-899 while Wessex was the dominant kingdom. During his reign, he united the kingdoms together and commissioned the Anglo-Saxon chronicles, a historical record of important events in England that continued 200 years after his death. Alfred also settled a truce with the Vikings who repeatedly invaded the area. The Treaty of Wedmore was signed in 878 CE and this "Danelaw" gave the northeast half of England to the Danes for structured settlement. However, because the languages were so similar, the Danes quickly assimilated and intermarried into the English society.

Although the Danes brought their own writing system with them, called the Futhorc, it was not used in England. It is commonly referred to as Runes. The Insular Hand was the name of the writing system used in England, and it contained many symbols that are no longer found in Modern English: the aesc, thorn, edh, yogh and wynn, as well the macron for distinguishing long vowels. 

Characteristics of the Old English language.

The Germanic tribes were exposed to Latin before they invaded England, so the languages they spoke did have some Latin influence. After converting to Christianity, Latin had more influence, as evidenced in words pertaining to the church. Celtic did not have a large impact on English, as only a few place names are of Celtic origin, but Danish (Old Scandinavian) did contribute many vocabulary words.

Nouns could be of three genders: masculine, feminine or neuter; but these were assigned arbitrarily. Numbers could be either singular or plural, and there were four cases: nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. In all, there were seven groups of declensions for nouns.

The infinitive of verbs ended in -an. In the present tense, all verbs had markers for number and person. The weak past tense added -de, while the strong past tense usually involved a vowel change. Old English also had many more strong verbs than modern English.

Adjectives could be weak or strong. If preceded by a determiner, the weak ending was added to the adjective. If no determiner preceded the adjective, then the strong endings were used. They also agreed in gender, case and number with the nouns they described. The comparative was formed by adding -ra to the adjective, while the superlative had many endings: -ost, -ist, -est, and -m. Eventually the -ost and -m endings combined to form the word "most" which is still used before adjectives in the superlative today.

Adverbs were formed by adding -e to the adjective, or -lic, the latter which still remains in modern English as -like.

The syntax of Old English was much more flexible than modern English becase of the declensions of the nouns. The case endings told the function of the word in the sentence, so word order was not very important. But as the stress began to move to the first syllable of words, the endings were not pronounced as clearly and began to diminish from the language. So in modern English, word order is very important because we no longer have declensions to show case distinctions. Instead we use prepositions. The general word order was subject - verb - object, but it did vary in a few instances:

1. When an object is a pronoun, it often precedes the verb.

2. When a sentence begins with an adverb, the subject often follows the verb.

3. The verb often comes at the end of a subordinate clause.

Pronunciation was characterized by a predictable stress pattern on the first syllable. The length of the vowels was phonemic as there were 7 long and 7 short vowels. There were also two front rounded vowels that are no longer used in modern English, [i:] and [ɪ:]. The i-mutation occurred if there was a front vowel in the ending, then the root vowel became fronted. For example, fot becomes fot+i = fet (This helps to explain why feet is the plural of foot.)

Pronunciation of consonants:

 
Part of Beowulf, a poem written in Old English.

Anglo-Saxon or Old English was pronounced quite differently from Modern English.  P, b, t, d, m, n, l, and r were pronounced as they are today.  The letters k, q, v, x, and z were not used.  But then the trouble begins: 
 
A number of letters change pronunciation depending on what letters are around them.  F and s were pronounced as they are today, unless they were between two vowels or a vowel and a voiced consonant, in which case they were pronounced v and z respectively.  The same goes for the distinctly unmodern letters thorn (þ) and eth (ð).  Both were pronounced like the th in thin, unless between vowels (etc.), in which case they were pronounced like the th in then. 
 
C and g had another set of variations:  Before back vowels (a, o, and u), they were pronounced like c in cat and g in guess;  before front vowels (y, i, e, and æ), they were pronounced like ch in chat and y in yes.  The same goes for h:  At the beginning of a word, is is pronounced like our h; otherwise, next to back vowels, it sounded like the ch in the German name Bach; next to front vowels, it sounded like the ch in the German word ich. 
 
Plus, there were several double consonants:  sc was pronounced like sh in ship; cg was pronounced like the j and dg in judge; hl, hr, hn, and hw were pronounced like l, r, n, and w but unvoiced (breathy). 
 
Vowels are actually pretty easy.  The short vowels were a as in Bach, e as in bet, i as in bit, o as in cot (pronounced as they do in England today), u as in book, y as in French tu or German ü, and æ (ash) as in bat.  The long vowels, often marked with an accent acute (´), were á as in father, é like the French é, í as in beet, ó as in French eau, ú as in boot, and y and æ as longer versions of themselves. 
 
There were also three double vowels, each with short and long versions:  ea was eh or ay followed by ah, eo was eh or ay followed by a short o, and ie was ih or ee followed by eh.  But you can get a sense of the sound of Old English if you just pronounce the vowels as you might in Italian or Spanish. 
 
Here are some samples of Anglo-Saxon, from Instant Old English, by Catherine N. Ball

• Ic grete þe -- I greet you
• Wes þu hal; Hal wes þu; Sy þu hal; Wes gesund; Beoð ge gesunde -- Hail! Farewell!
• Wilcume -- Welcome!
• Wilcuman la, mine hlafordas -- Welcome, my lords!
• Leofe broðra -- Dear brothers
• Sweostor min -- My sister, ...
• Leof -- Friend, ... (or Sir, ...)
• Hlaford min -- My lord, ...
• Hlæfdige min -- My lady, ...
• Hwæt eart þu? -- Who are you?
• Beowulf is min nama -- My name is Beowulf
• Min nama is Michael -- My name is Michael
• Wa me -- Woe is me!
• Eala -- Alas! Lo!
• La -- Lo! Oh! Ah!
• Wa la wa -- Woe!
• Giese; Gea -- Yes
• Nese -- No
• Ic þe þancas do -- Thank you [I give you thanks]
• Ic sæcge eow þancas -- Thank you [I say you thanks]
• Ic þancie þe -- Thank you [I thank you]
• Soð is þæt þu segst! -- What you say is true!
• Wel þu writst -- You write well
• Ic nat -- I don't know

Note the letters thorn (þ) and eth (ð).  They should look like a b with a long downstroke and a d with a cross bar, in case they don't register on your browser! 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Middle English (1066 - 1500 CE).

The period of Middle English begins with the Norman invasion of 1066 CE. King Edward the Confessor had died without heirs, and William, Duke of Normandy, believed that he would become the next king. However, upon learning that Harold was crowned king, William invaded England, killed Harold and crowned himself king during the famous Battle of Hastings. Yet William spoke only French. As a result, the upper class in England began to speak French while the lower classes spoke English.

But by 1250 CE, French began to lose its prestige. King John had lost Normandy to the French in 1204 CE, and after him, King Edward I spoke only English. At this time, many foreigners entered England which made the nobility feel more "English" and so encouraged more use of the English language. The upper class tried to learn English, but they did still use French words sometimes, which was considered somewhat snobbish. French still maintained its prestige elsewhere, and the upper class did not want to lose it completely. Nevertheless, the Hundred Year's War (1337-1453 CE) intensified hatred of all things French. The Black Death also played a role in increasing English use with the emergence of the middle class. Several of the workers had been killed by the plague, which increased the status of the peasants, who only spoke English. By 1362 CE, the Statute of Pleading (although written in French) declared English as the official spoken language of the courts. By 1385 CE, English was the language of instruction in schools. 1350 to 1400 CE is known as the Period of Great Individual Writers (most famously, Chaucer), but their works included an apology for writing in English.

Although the popularity of French was decreasing, several words (around 10,000) were borrowed into English between 1250 and 1500 CE (though most of these words were Parisian rather than Norman French). Many of the words were related to government (sovereign, empire), law (judge, jury, justice, attorney, felony, larceny), social life (fashion, embroidery, cuisine, appetite) and learning (poet, logic, physician). Furthermore, the legal system retained parts of French word order (the adjective following the noun) in such terms as fee simple, attorney general and accounts payable. 

Characteristics of Middle English.

The writing system changed dramatically in Middle English:

• þ and ð were replaced by th (and sometimes y, as in ye meaning the)
• c before i or e became ch
• sc became sh
• an internal h was added after g
• hw became wh
• cw became qu
• the new symbols v and u were added; v was used word initially, and u was used everywhere else
• k was used much more often (cyning became king)
• new values were given to old symbols too; g before i or e was pronounced ǰ; ʒ became j, and c before i and e became s in some cases
• a historical h (usually not pronounced) was added to some words (it was assumed that these words had once begun with an h): honor, heir, honest, herb, habit
• sometimes words were written with o but pronounced as [ʊ] but later were pronounced [ʌ]: son, come, ton, some, from, money, honey, front, won, one, wonder, of

Because of the stress shift to the beginning of the word, Middle English lost the case suffixes at the ends of nouns. Phonological erosion also occurred because of this, and some consonants dropped off while some vowels became əand dropped off too. The generalized plural marker became -s, but it still competed with -n.

Verb infinitives dropped the -an ending, and used "to" before the verb to signify the infinitival form. The third person singular and plural was marked with -(e)th; but the singular also competed with -(e)s from the Northern dialect. More strong (irregular) verbs became weak (regular) as well.

Adjectives lost agreement with the noun, but the weak ending -e still remained. The comparative form became -er and the superlative became -est. Vowels tended to be long in the adjective form, but short in the comparative form (late - latter). The demonstratives these and those were added during this period. And the adverb ending -lič became -ly; however, some "flat" adverbs did not add the -ly: fast, late, hard.

The dual number disappeared in the pronouns, and the dative and accusative became the object forms of the pronouns. The third person plural pronouns replaced the old pronouns with th- words (they, them, their) borrowed from Scandinavian. She started being used for the feminine singular subject pronoun and you (plural form) was used in the singular as a status marker for the formal.

Syntax was stricter and more prepositions were used. New compound tenses were used, such as the perfect tenses, and there was more use of the progressive and passive voice. The use of double negation also increased as did impersonal constructions. The use of the verbs will and shall for the future tense were first used too. Formerly, will meant want and shall meant obliged to.

Pronunciation changes:

• Loss of initial h in a cluster (hleapan - to leap; hnutu - hut)
• [w] lost between consonant and back vowel (w is silent in two, sword, answer)
• [č] lost in unstressed syllable (ič - I)
• [v] lost in middle of words (heofod - head; hæfde - had)
• Loss of final -n in possessive pronouns (min fæder - mi fæder) and the addition of -n to some words beginning with a vowel (a napron - an apron, a nuncle - an uncle)
• Voiced fricatives became phonemic with their voiceless counterparts
• [ž] phoneme was borrowed from French as the voiced counterpart for [š]
• Front rounded vowels merged with their unrounded counterparts
• Vowel length became predictable (lost phonemic status); an open syllable with no consonant following it contained a long vowel, while a closed syllable with at least one consonant following it contained a short vowel

In addition, there were dialectal differences in the north and south. The north used -(e)s for the plural marker as well as for the third person singular; and the third person plural pronouns began with th- (borrowed from Scandinavian). The south used -(e)n for the plural, -(e)th for the third person singular, and h- for the third person plural pronouns. The north used [a] and [k] while the south used [o] and [č] for certain words. Eventually, the northern dialect would become the standard for modern English regarding the grammatical endings, but the southern pronunciation of [o] and [č] would also remain.

An example of Middle English by Chaucer.

The period of Middle English is roughly from 1150 to 1475.  The main dialects of Middle English were:

Northern (corresponding to the original Northumberland) 
Midlands (the original Mercia) 
Southern (the original Wessex)

Some of the main characteristics of these dialects follow.  Notice how modern English takes some things from northern Middle English (the plural of nouns and the third person singular of verbs, for example) and some from southern Middle English (the long o in words like stone and the ch sound instead of the k in words like church).  Some of these choices were conscious ones, made by scholars in the service of the King. 
       
Plural pronouns:

Northern they, their, them 
Midlands they, hir, hem 
Southern hi, hir, hem 

Verb third person singular

Northern -s (hits) 
Midlands -th (hitteth) 
Southern -th (hitteth) 

Verb plural

Northern -s (hits) 
Midlands -en (hitten) 
Southern -eth (hitteth) 

Old English long o

Northern a (stan) 
Midlands o (stone) 
Southern o (stone) 

Old English c

Northern k (ik, kirk) 
Midlands ch (ich, chirch) 
Southern ch (church) 

Old English f

Northern f (fox) 
Midlands f (fox) 
Southern v (vox) 

The evolution of the personal pronouns gives you a sense of the changes from Anglo-Saxon through Middle English to Modern English (oblique replaces accusative and dative): 
 
Anglo-Saxon 
 
nom      ic     wé    þú      gé       hé      héo     hit    híe 
acc      mé     ús    þé      éow      hine    híe     hit    híe 
dat      mé     ús    þé      éow      im      hire    him    heom 
gen      mín    úre   þín     éower    his     hire    his    hira/heoras  
 
Late Middle English 
 
nom      I     we     thou    ye      he      she    hit     they 
obl      me    us     thee    you     him     hir    hit     hem/them 
gen      my    oure   thy     your    his     hir    his     hir/their  
 
Modern English 
 
nom      I      we     -      you     he      she    it      they 
obl      me     us     -      you     him     her    it      them 
gen      my     our    -      your    his     her    its     their 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Early Modern English (1500 - 1650/1700 CE).

William Caxton introduced the printing press to England in 1476 and the East Midland dialect became the literary standard of English. Ten thousand words were added to English as writers created new words by using Greek and Latin affixes. Some words, such as devulgate, attemptate and dispraise, are no longer used in English, but several words were also borrowed from other languages as well as from Chaucer's works. In 1582, Richard Mulcaster proposed in his treatise "Elementaire" a compromise on spelling and by 1623, Henry Cockrum published his English dictionary. The printing press helped to standardize the spelling of English in its modern stages.