A Potted History of the English Language – Lyceum 19th September
This Lyceum was led by Mrs Wood in which she talked about a potted history of the English
language.
Our language has changed so much over thousands of years due to invasions and different
groups of people settling in Britain as it is known today. One example of how our language has
changed is that we use slang which is arbitrary use of language accepted by a particular group at
any given time. Colloquial language reflects social changes.
We then were shown a Power Point presentation. It started off with the early beginnings which
were about 100BC when Britain was occupied mainly by the Celts, Picts, Irish and Cornish.
These tribes spoke a variety of languages; these were the origins of the English language.
In the 5th century, the Germans crossed into Britain. Also, there were other tribes like the
Saxons, Jutes and Angels who dominated parts of the country called East and West Anglia. They
spoke a dialect of the Germanic language which slowly evolved into English.
When the Vikings invaded, they brought their language as well which integrated into old English.
Middle English came when the Normans invaded around the time 1100-1450AD. French was
the most dominant language as it was the language of the law, the nobility and the church.
Early modern English was from around 1470-1700AD and this was when William Caxton
invented the printing press when texts could be mass produced and were made easily available.
At this point language needed to be standardised and grammar became prescribed, much of
which is still in current use. Also at this time, the first dictionary was produced by Samuel
Johnson.
English is now a world language of communication.
Charles
Year 8