Dr. Johanna E. Rubba
English Department (Linguistics)
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California
Last updated 3/8/12
© Johanna Rubba 2012

  FOR IMPORTANT DATES/PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH:

• For each date or period in the list accompanying each unit, answer the question
  
Why do historians of the English language consider this date/period important?

• Be prepared to give information in all directions, so to speak: If given the event, you give the date and its significance; if given the date, the event and its significance; if an important development for English, the date and event associated with it.
  
• PITFALL: Tests will not just ask for the date and/or the event, but for its significance to the history of English: Mainly, what was the impact on the language or on our knowledge of that phase of the language's development? You will find the answer to this question in your readings, class notes, and in the course outlines. Several Sample Answers can be found in this list; they are in red and tagged 'Sample'. Click here to see one.

I RECOMMEND THAT YOU DEVELOP A TIMELINE for the history of English. A model can be found here.

For a list of films and movies (documentaries, TV, feature films) telling stories taking place during the evolution of English (at the very bottom of this page) click here.

Research any information you need that is not present in class notes or in the textbooks by using encyclopedias and other reference books available in the library. These include three encyclopedias of linguistics in the Reference section of Kennedy library, as well as traditional encyclopedias, which will have entries on things like the Roman Empire, etc. The world-wide Web and CD ROM encyclopedias also are wealthy sources of information.

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Dates:

• 7000 - 3000 BCE: Breakup of the Proto-Indo-European language and beginning of Indo-European migrations to Europe and Asia.
• 43 CE: The Romans begin to establish a colony in Britain.
• §§ 410 CE: The Romans have abandoned their colony in Britain, in which they ruled over the Celts; no organized fighting force remains in the areas formerly occupied by the Romans.

1   Overview of the History of English

• §§ 1-1 Timespans for Old, Middle, Early Modern, and Modern English

• 1-2 Historical linguistics: Be able to define and contrast the 'tree/divergence' and 'wave/convergence' models of language change. You don't need to use specific languages to exemplify this; you could use stand-ins such as 'Language A', Language 'B', etc.
• 1-3 History of Western Civilization: Brush up on the major eras of Western Civilization  – the time of the Greek, then Roman empires; the "Dark Ages"; the Medieval period (NOTE SPELLING); the Renaissance and Enlightenment; European colonization of the rest of the world; the Industrial Revolution; the rise of the USA to superpower status over the course of the 20th century. I will not take time to explain much about these in class, and they are necessary background to understanding the course material. (They will be tested only insofar as they overlap with specific Course Objectives.)

• 1-4 How language works: enables sharing of thoughts; spoken or written symbols evoke thoughts in the listener/reader
• 1-5 Component systems of a language: meanings, sounds, words, etc.; all systems of a language are in a constant state of change
• 1-6 Language change is regular, not random (affects whole systems, as well as individual words and expressions, for which changes most often follow typical patterns).
• §§ 1-7 Explanations for how language families arise (how different dialects of a language arise and eventually become different languages)
• §§ §§ §§ 1-8 The various kinds of contact between people that result in language contact; various possible outcomes of language contact, depending on the nature of the relationships between peoples in contact (degree of intensity of contact). Review notions: superstratum - substratum - adstratum relationships; keep track of examples of these from the course material (Latin & Celtic in Britain; English and Celtic in Britain; English and other languages in the British and American spheres of influence)
• 1-9 Language families: define 'language family', be prepared to name and locate by continent(s) the world's four most important language families (in terms of numbers of speakers and/or numbers of languages). (This information is in the Finegan reading on Blackboard.) Be able to name one or two main languages in each family.  SPELL THE NAMES RIGHT!

• 1-10 Proto-Indo-European (PIE) language and culture: What are the two main contenders for the PIE homeland? What are the earliest and latest possible dates when the proto-language began to splinter?  Note the way historical linguists use reconstructed vocabulary items to argue for location and cultural practices of the original Indo-Europeans; be able to give a few examples from the Watkins reading.
• §§ 1-11 Know the place of English in the Indo-European (= IE) family: its "genetic" relationship to the following languages: German, Dutch, the Scandinavian languages (Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic), Common Germanic; Classical Latin, French, Spanish, and Italian; the Celtic languages (Irish Gaelic, Scots Gaelic, Breton, Welsh); Classical Greek; and Sanskrit. Be able to discuss how close the "genetic" relationship between English and these other languages is: How far back in time do we have to go to find a common ancestor for English and each of these other languages? What does that imply for how similar English is to them? Take special note of the relationships within the Germanic family, and of the exact nature of the relationship of English to Latin. The best study tool for this is the Indo-European family tree diagram, which can be found in your readings and numerous places in reference books and on the Web.
• 1-12 Germanic before its arrival in Britain: 
  • Homeland of Proto-Germanic and Common Germanic.
  • §§ Language contacts (and their outcomes) between Common Germanic and other languages IN EUROPE, BEFORE migration to Britain: unknown local languages; Latin
  • Grimm's Law
• 1-13 Britain before the English:
  • Sequence of languages/cultures on the island of Britain from the Stone Age (10,000 years ago) up to the coming of Germanic settlers ca. 450 CE.
• The Celts in England and Ireland:What is the language-family relationship between the Celtic languages and English?
• The Roman presence in Britain: When did Rome colonize Britain, and for how long? Why did they leave? §§ §§ §§ Why was their departure crucial to the history of the English language?

Dates:

• §§ 1066 CE: William, Duke of Normandy in northern France, conquers England at the Battle of Hastings on October 14th of that year. This event is known as the Norman Conquest. French becomes the language of government and other high functions. Production of documents in English declines dramatically, though English is still spoken by the vast majority of inhabitants of England.
• Sample: 1204 CE: Under King John, the earls of England lose their estates in Normandy. This begins a gradual loss of connection to France among the aristocracy, with gradual self-identification as English. Over the next 250 years, skirmishes and wars over territory in France build up animosity between the French and the English, who increasingly see themselves as different from each other. Historians of English consider this date important because the gradual loss of French identity, and acquisition of English identity, meant a gradual return to the use of English in high-function domains.  Aristocratic families gradually became English-speaking, to the point where their children had to be taught French by schoolmasters rather than learning it from other family members at home. However, their history as French speakers left a very important legacy: the entrance into English of a very large number of words which we do not recognize as advanced or exotic vocabulary (as we do for so many of the Renaissance/Enlightenment Greek and Latin borrowings (see below). Production of documents in English resumes, and is generous during the later part of the Middle English period. Historical linguists have evidence of a variety of dialects of English for this period.
• §§ 1362 CE: English becomes the official language for use in Parliament and government actions (although Latin is still a presence there, use of French declines steeply). By the latter half of this century, English is being used in all high domains: education, literature, government, and religion (although in religious domains Latin is still the predominant and 'official' language).
• §§ 1476 CE: William Caxton, an Englishman who has learned printing technology in Europe, sets up the first printing press in England in Westminster, near the government documents office (the Chancery).

Concepts/facts to know:
 

• §§ §§ 3-1The Norman Conquest: When did it happen? Why did it happen? What was its outcome for English social structure, including distribution of ethnicities?
• 3-2 Who were the Normans? What was their ancient connection to both the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings?
• 3-3 Political ties between England and France and how they changed over the Middle English period
• 3-4 Language effects of the Norman Conquest:
• §§ England becomes a triglossic society: Which languages were used in which functional domains? How did this change over the Middle English period?
• §§ Effects on the spoken language: vocabulary (quantity of loanwords; 10-20 examples of loan words; how loans reflect the nature of cultural contact between English and French)
• Effects on written English: Examples of new spellings introduced by French scribes – contrast these with the Old English spellings of the same sounds/words
  
• §§ 3-5 Caxton sets up his printing press in England -- date, and importance for language history
• 3-6 The rise of London as the cultural, economic, and political center of EnglandThe important vernacular (that is, English) literature and other documents of the Middle English period: Chaucer's 'Canterbury Tales'; Layamon's 'Brut' (relate this to Geoffrey of Monmouth's history); Everyman (anonymous author).
• 3-7 Pronoun use as a signal of power/solidarity: 'thou' vs. 'you' -- how were these pronouns used to indicate the speaker's and addressee's social status and relationship to one another?

• 3-8 Three definitions for lexicon: 1) a printed dictionary in book or online form;  2) the vocabulary inventory in the mind of a single speaker of the language; 3) the entire vocabulary stock of a language, pooling the knowledge of all living users (the collection of all single speakers' mental dictionaries).
• 3-9 The nature of the lexicon: What is a lexeme/lexical item; what subcategories (kinds) of lexical item are there? (Word parts, single words, compound words, multi-word lexemes = lexical phrases; idioms) How easy is it to put boundaries on the vocabulary of a language?
• §§ 3-10 The history of lexicon: etymology. What does this term refer to? How do linguists develop the etymology of a word? What is their major source of evidence for the history of a word?
• §§ §§ §§ 3-11 Sources of lexicon: From where has English gotten its words over time? Distinguish native words (words descending directly from PIE > Common Germanic > OE > ME > EME > ModE, and also words built from the existing resources such as roots and suffixes/prefixes in the lexicon) from loanwords, which came into the language because of contact with other languages. Be able to give examples of native vs. borrowed words. Find native words by browsing the Oxford English Dictionary on the shelf or online (it is available in our library and in the Cal Poly online databases). DO NOT rely on other websites or dictionaries for etymologies. Note: the most likely candidates for native words are very basic ones such as body parts, kin terms (mother, son), basic movements and postures (sit, lie, fall, walk), natural phenomena (rain, sky, hill, stream), and "little grammatical words" such as the, him, of, and. But you may be surprised at how many of these English has borrowed.
• §§ 3-12 Types of semantic change: generalization, specialization, amelioration, and pejoration. Be able to give 2 examples of each.
• 3-13 What is a folk etymology?  Give 2-3 examples
  
  

For dates and concepts, remember to focus on why historians of the English language consider the item important: What were its linguistic effects? Did the item result in sources of knowledge about earlier forms of English?
Dates:

• §§ Sample: 1300s through 1600s: The Renaissance in Europe, spreading later in this period to England; characterized by a revival of the study of Greek and Roman classical civilizations (800 BCE - 400 CE); the beginning of 'humanism' and the secular pursuit of knowledge ('philosophy', 'science'). One aspect of the English Renaissance was a resurgence of interest in the literature of Classical Greece and Classical Rome, much of which was translated into English. These translations (as well as scholarly treatises originating in the minds of English scholars such as Sir Isaac Newton) presented a problem, as many concepts expressed by Greek or Latin words did not have a corresponding word in English. There was debate about how best to solve this problem: Create words from English stock to express these ideas, or borrow the Latin and Greek words? Borrowing won out in the end, and thousands of Latin and Greek words, as well as prefixes and suffixes, were imported into English. Since many of these words had to do with sophisticated concepts of science, philosophy, etc., most people needed a significant level of education to learn and use them. This situation persists today: most of our 'big words' come from Latin and Greek, and specialized vocabulary in many scientific disciplines (especially medicine) derives from these two languages. Vocabulary sections of tests such as the SAT attest to the continued importance of knowing 'big words' as a sign of being well-educated. It is to the Renaissance borrowing trend that we owe our need to spend hours studying vocabulary in school.
• §§ 1500s: The foundations of Empire: English sailors and merchants begin exploring the world and establishing colonies of the English Crown in India, Africa, North America, and the Caribbean. This brought English into contact with many unrelated languages, and brought English to parts of the world where it had previously been unknown.
• 1500s: The Reformation in Europe: Corruption in the Church leads to the splintering of the unified Roman Church into the numerous Protestant sects we know today (Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, Quakers, etc.). The Roman Church survives today as the Roman Catholic Church.
• §§ 1534: The English Reformation: Set in motion by Henry VIII's desire to divorce his first wife; Henry, his advisors and the Archbishop of Canterbury split from the Roman church and establish the Church of England. Made translation of the Bible into English officially approved.
• §§ 1700s: The Enlightenment: Development of humanism; challenge to a purely Biblical understanding of the universe in favor of understandings arrived at purely through human reasoning, not through divine revelation as given in holy books or through prophets and popes.
• Throughout the period: Expansion of foreign trade, mechanization, and increased power of craft guilds begins to shift the basis of wealth from inherited land to assets such as ownership of a craftshop or of stock in foreign trade companies, or of cash or valuable goods.

Concepts/facts to know:
 

• §§ 4-1 How the above events contributed to English as a standard language, in Leith's meaning of the term (see the online reading "Standardisation and Writing"):
• use of English in high-function domains (previously reserved for Latin and/or French)
• effect on the English lexicon
• emergence of a set of written works that serve to codify English
• §§ 4-2 How the above events affected the class structure of English society
• §§ 4-3 Effects of the printing industry on literacy rates and demand for books in English
• 4-4 The state of the language:
• §§ the Great Vowel Shift
• How the Great Vowel Shift and massive lending from Latin, Greek disrupted the relationship between English spelling and English pronunciation
• §§ Expansion of the lexicon in learned domains -- at least 10 examples of such words, from different domains (science, technology, medicine, literature, etc.). What were the consequences of this massive borrowing for later generations of people pursuing higher education, right up to today?
• the Inkhorn controversy: What was it, and who won?
  

Dates:

• Dates for Unit 4, plus:
• §§ §§ §§ 1476 CE: William Caxton sets up the first printing press in England in Westminster, near the government documents office (the Chancery).

• §§ 5-1 Linguistic insecurity: How does the definition of this term relate to the class structure of Renaissance and later England?
  
• §§ §§ §§ 5-2 The standardization process as it applied to English:
• Selection: Which of England's many dialects became the standard dialect? Why was this choice important for today's standard dialect?
• Acceptance: What social forces persuaded people outside of London, or from lower social classes, to accept as 'proper English' a dialect which was not their own (unlike attitudes during the Middle English period)?
• Elaboration: How was the language expanded to adapt it to use in high-function domains?
• Codfication: Written documents (specific titles, authors, dates of publication) which became models of 'proper English'
• Major codifying documents: 
• §§ 1549: The Book of Common Prayer (in English), the main book for religious services for the Church of England.
• §§ 1611: Publication (in English) of the King James Bible or Authorized Version of the Bible, the major document of the Church of England.
• §§ 1755: Samuel Johnson's 'A Dictionary of the English Language' published.
• 1762: Publication of Robert Lowth's 'Short Introduction to English Grammar' and
• §§1794: Publication of Lindley Murray's 'English Grammar'.
• §§ §§ §§ 5-3 The legacy of 16th-18th-century standardization: What role do class/ethnic divisions continue to play in language attitudes and socioeconomic gatekeeping?

NOTE: ITEMS IN THIS UNIT MAY CHANGE SLIGHTLY. I will inform you of changes.

Dates:

• §§ 1577: Sir Francis Drake sails around the world; English voyages of  discovery, conquest, and immigration begin.
• §§ 1600s: Establishment of English outposts in Africa, India, North America, and the Caribbean.
• §§ 1828: Appearance of Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language (its importance as a codifying document)
• 1884-1928: Publication of the immense Oxford English Dictionary. (its importance as a codifying document)
• Sample:  Mid-20th century (World War II, 1939-1945, and following few decades): The British Empire begins to contract and decline; the USA supplants Britain as the world's major economic and political power. Historians of English consider this important because the transfer of superpower status from Britain to America meant that English would remain an important world language (because it is the principal language of the USA). If another nation, such as Brazil, Germany, or China had become a major superpower, the importance of English would be declining rapidly, just as the importance of Latin declined rapidly once the Roman Empire and later the Roman Church ceased to be global powers. World history has seen the spread and decline of many languages accompanying the rise and fall of empires.
• 1907: Publication of Edwin Woolley's Handbook of Composition: A Compendium of Rules Regarding Good English, Grammar, Sentence Structure, Paragraphing, Manuscript Arrangement, Punctuation, Spelling, Essay Writing, and Letter Writing (its importance as a codifying document)
  

• §§ 6-1 The British Empire: Its beginnings; how far it spread over the time period 1600-1950; its eventual decline.
• §§ §§ §§ 6-2 Types of colonies and different language effects of each: Plantation colonies ("re-education") vs. settlement colonies ("sweep-aside"); the emergence of new native varieties of English; decimation/extinction of indigenous languages; the emergence of English-based Pidgins and Creole languages.What are some specific examples of English-based Creoles and the places where they arose?
• §§ 6-3 English in the United States: The role of language in establishing a national identity independent from England. Codification of a standard American English via dictionaries and school grammars. The origin and continued development of varying dialects of English in the United States.
• 6-4 The future: What factors will determine the continued dominance of English as a world language? What sorts of events could cause a different language to take over this role? Given the history of the world, do you think English will long remain the world's dominant language?
• 6-5 English domination: The threat of English and other major languages to indigenous languages around the world

MOVIES/FILMS related to the history of English/England:

• "Henry VIII", a recent (2006?) PBS series which tells the story of this fascinating English monarch, his many wives, and his defiance of the powerful Roman Church.
•  King Arthur, which tells the story of the legendary king. Unlike many Camelot films, this one is placed in the correct historical period, the 5th century, when the Celts of Britain were defending their homeland, recently left defenseless by the departure of the Roman armies. They fought, among others, the Anglo-Saxon peoples coming from Europe--the people whose language became English. Stars Clive Owen, Keira Knightley.
  
• Do You Speak American? A new PBS documentary surveying and exploring the origins/features of American English in all its variety.
  
• The Story of English: A PBS documentary from 1985 that gives cultural and linguistic history starting with Old English and leading through World English. Nine 60-min. episodes. Available in Kenendy Library and the SLO City/County library, and video rental outlets.
• The 13th Warrior: An Arab from Baghdad joins a troop of Vikings on their return to their Germanic homeland to save their people from the 'mist monsters'. Based on a Michael Crichton (originator of ER and Jurassic Park) novel of a different title. Antonio Banderas plays the Arab.
  
• Brother Cadfael mysteries (PBS-TV Mystery series): Set in the 1100s. Brother Cadfael is a monk in a monastery near Shrewsbury, England. Although now pious and celibate, he lived an adventurous past as a Crusader, traveling to Jerusalem to defend it from Islamic takeover. He is the monastery's resident physician and herbologist, but also solves murder mysteries 'on the side'. Stars Derek Jacoby.
  
• The Lion in Winter: Stories of Henry II, King of England, and his wealthy and cultured queen Eleanor of Aquitaine (12th century). Stars Peter O'Toole (Henry), Katherine Hepburn (Eleanor), Anthony Hopkins (Richard Lionheart). In 2003, a new version of this story was filmed for television, starring Glenn Close and Patrick Stewart.
  
• Braveheart: Set in Scotland of the 13th century; portrays the heroic struggles of the Celtic Scots against the English, who were at that time still trying to expand into the farthest corners of Britain. Mel Gibson stars.
  
• The Return of Martin Guerre: Set in France, but gives great insight into everyday life of the period and the awesome power of the church over individuals' lives. (In French with English subtitles; stars Gerard Depardieu). The story is of a farmer who, upon his marriage, runs away and is not heard from for years. Years later, he returns, and proves a good and loving husband and a good farmer. Then suspicions begin to arise that he is an impostor -- and another man claiming to be Martin shows up in the village. The first claimant to Martin's identity is put on trial, his life at stake for impersonation (and hence adultery). Stars Gerard Depardieu.
  
• A Man for All Seasons: The story, interpreted from a modern viewpoint that some critics say is inaccurate, of Thomas More, Chancellor of England under Henry VIII, who was killed for refusing to sanction Henry's split from the Roman church. Paul Scofield, Robert Shaw star.
  
• Elizabeth: Kate Blanchett stars as Henry VIII's daughter, who came to the throne to rule England during Shakespear's times. The movie tells of her coming to the throne and how she met the challenges of her reign.
• Shakespeare in Love: A fanciful tale suggesting that Shakespeare (played by Joseph Fiennes) stole his best lines and wrote 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'The Tempest' as a result of his hopeless love for a noblewoman played by Gwyneth Paltrow.
• A Knight's Tale: Heath Ledger stars as a lowly peasant who tries to win fame and fortune by posing as a medieval knight in Chaucer's times (Chaucer is a character in the movie) and winning jousting tournaments. The hallmark of the film is the use of modern rock music and a modern viewpoint.
• The Queen: The story of how Elizabeth II (England's current monarch) responded to the death of Princess Diana, her daughter-in-law. Stars Helen Mirren, who won the Best Actress Oscar for this role in 2007.
• The Tudors: 2007 Showtime cable televison series in ten parts. Tells the story of Henry VIII and other Tudors. Stars Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (Mission Impossible III, Match Point, Bend It Like Beckham), Sam Neill (Jurassic Park), and others.