Download EXTERNAL HISTORY OF LANGUAGES IN BRITAIN

EXTERNAL HISTORY OF
LANGUAGES IN BRITAIN
I.e. history of English in relation to other
languages spoken in what is now the UK,
and the non-linguistic historical and
cultural events that impinged on the
language… Some key dates.
The Prehistoric period
• BC6500 BRITAIN BECOMES AN ISLAND
• 4000+ PROTO-INDOEUROPEAN ANCESTOR
OF ENGLISH SPOKEN NEAR THE
BLACK SEA
• 3000 NEOLITHIC FARMERS ARRIVE IN
BRITAIN
• 2000
STONEHENGE BUILT BY BRONZE
AGE PEOPLE
The Celtic period
• BC 500+
IRON AGE CELTS IN EUROPE AND
BRITAIN. GOEDELIC, BRYTHONIC
•
390
CELTS SACK ROME
•
55
JULIUS CAESAR INVADES BRITAIN….
AND LEAVES
The Roman period
• AD 43
CLAUDIUS CONQUERS ENGLAND. LATIN
•
61
BOADICEA REBELS AGAINST THE
ROMANS, SACKS COLCHESTER
•
200+ GERMANIC PEOPLES INVADE ROMAN
EMPIRE
•
407+ ROMANS LEAVE BRITAIN (410 GOTHS
SACK ROME)
The Anglo-Saxon period
• 410+
CELTIC MONASTERIES (St PATRICK 5th
Cent.);
‘THE DARK AGES’
• 449+
ANGLES, SAXONS, JUTES SETTLE IN
BRITAIN. SAXON KINGDOMS OF WESSEX,
MERCIA etc. OE
• 597
ST AUGUSTINE BRINGS CHRISTIANITY…
AND LATIN (again)
• 700
FIRST OE TEXTS (1000 BEOWULF)
The Viking period
• 878
ALFRED GRANTS DANELAW TO VIKINGS.
ON
• 911
ROLLO/HROLF COLONISES NORMANDY
• 991
BATTLE OF MALDON
• 1011
DANES SACK CANTERBURY
• 1016
CNUT KING OF ENGLAND
The Norman French period
• 1066
NORMAN CONQUEST OF ENGLAND.
FRENCH, ME
• 1204
NORMANDY LOST BY ENGLISH KINGS
• 1277
EDWARD I CONQUERS GWYNEDD
The Norman English period
• 1362
STATUTE OF PLEADING
• 1385+
CHAUCER'S CANTERBURY TALES
• 1400
HENRY IV FIRST ENGLISH SPEAKING KING,
CHANCERY ENGLISH
• 1476
PRINTING INVENTED. CAXTON
The Tudor consolidation period
• 15OO+
RENAISSANCE - GREEK AND LATIN (again)
AMERICA. ENE
• 1525
TYNDALE TRANSLATES NEW TESTAMENT
INTO ENGLISH
• 1588
BISHOP MORGAN - BIBLE INTO WELSH.
SPANISH ARMADA
• 1564
SHAKESPEARE BORN
The Imperial expansion period
• 1600
EAST INDIA COMPANY FOUNDED;
MONARCHY IS RESTORED;
BRITISH EMPIRE. NNE, MANY LANGUAGES
• 1755
DR JOHNSON COMPLETES HIS
DICTIONARY.
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
• 1770+
AUSTRALIA, AFRICA EXPLORED
The Imperial fragmentation period
• 1776
US DECLARES INDEPENDENCE
• 1828
WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY
• 1863
CAMBRIDGE OVERSEAS EXAMINATIONS
• 1947
INDIA AND PAKISTAN BECOME
INDEPENDENT
The Modern international period
• c1955
LATIN NO LONGER REQUIRED AT
OXBRIDGE
• 1962
CATHOLIC MASS IN ENGLISH NOT LATIN
• 1967
WELSH LANGUAGE ACT
• 2007
ENGLISH SPOKEN BY 1.8 BILLION PEOPLE