THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH
Dosen Pengampu : H.Iskandar Zulkarnain, S.Pd., M.Hum
NAMA : Velysa ayu aprillia
NPM : 2206010020
PROGRAM STUDI BAHASA INGGRIS
FAKULTAS KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN
UNIVERSITAS ALWASHLIYAH MEDAN
2022/2023
PREFACE
First of all, thanks to Allah SWT because of the help of Allah, writer finished writing the
paper entitled “The History Of English” right in the calculated time.
The purpose in writing this paper is to fulfill the assignment that given by Mr. Iskandar
Zulkarnain as lecturer in samantics major.
in arranging this paper, the writer trully get lots challenges and obstructions but with help of
many indiviuals, those obstructions could passed. writer also realized there are still many
mistakes in process of writing this paper.
because of that, the writer says thank you to all individuals who helps in the process of
writing this paper. hopefully allah replies all helps and bless you all.the writer realized tha
this paper still imperfect in arrangment and the content. then the writer hope the criticism
from the readers can help the writer in perfecting the next paper.last but not the least
Hopefully, this paper can helps the readers to gain more knowledge about samantics major.
Author
11 November, 2022
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE...............................................................................................................2
TABLE OF CONTENTS........................................................................................3
CHAPTER I............................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................4
I. Background of the paper.....................................................................................4
II. Purpose Of The Paper........................................................................................5
CHAPTER II...........................................................................................................6
THEORY AND DISCUSSION..............................................................................6
CHAPTER III.......................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION....................................................................................................9
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
I. Background of the paper
English is a West Germanic language that originated from Ingvaeonic languages
brought to Britain in the mid-5th to 7th centuries AD by Anglo-Saxon migrants from
what is now northwest Germany, southern Denmark and the Netherlands. The
AngloSaxons settled in the British Isles from the mid-5th century and came to
dominate the bulk of southern Great Britain. Their language originated as a group of
Ingvaeonic languages which were spoken by the settlers in England and southern and
eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages, displacing the Celtic languages (and,
possibly, British Latin) that had previously been dominant. Old English reflected the
varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms established in different parts of Britain.
The Late West Saxon dialect eventually became dominant. A significant subsequent
influence on the shaping of Old English came from contact with the North Germanic
languages spoken by the Scandinavian Vikings who conquered and colonized parts of
Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries, which led to much lexical borrowing and
grammatical simplification. The Anglian dialects had a greater influence on Middle
English.
After the Norman conquest in 1066, Old English was replaced, for a time, by
AngloNorman (also known as Anglo-Norman French) as the language of the upper
classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English or Anglo-Saxon era,
as during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman,
developing into a phase known now as Middle English. The conquering Normans
spoke a Romance langue d'oïl called Old Norman, which in Britain developed into
AngloNorman. Many Norman and French loanwords entered the local language in
this period, especially in vocabulary related to the church, the court system and the
government. As Normans are descendants of Vikings who invaded France, Norman
French was influenced by Old Norse, and many Norse loanwords in English came
directly from French. Middle English was spoken to the late 15th century. The system
of orthography that was established during the Middle English period is largely still in
use today. Later changes in pronunciation, however, combined with the adoption of
various foreign spellings, mean that the spelling of modern English words appears
highly irregular.
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II. Purpose Of The Paper
2.1 Development of Old English periode.
2.2 Development of Middle English periode.
2.3 Development of Modern English periode.
III. Problem formulation
a. What is the meaning of the Old English period?
b. What are the characteristics of Old English period?
c. What is another name of the Old English period?
d. What was the Middle English period?
e. How would you define Middle English?
f. What is Modern English period?
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CHAPTER II
THEORY AND DISCUSSION
2.1. Development of old English period
Old English (Englisċ, pronounced [ˈeŋɡliʃ]), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded
form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the
early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th
century, and the first Old English literary works date from the mid-7th century. After the
Norman conquest of 1066, English was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman (a relative of
French) as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old
English era, since during this period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-
Norman, developing into a phase known now as Middle English in England and Early Scots
in Scotland.
Old English developed from a set of Anglo-Frisian or Ingvaeonic dialects originally
spoken by Germanic tribes traditionally known as the Angles, Saxons and Jutes. As the
Germanic settlers became dominant in England, their language replaced the languages of
Roman Britain: Common Brittonic, a Celtic language; and Latin, brought to Britain by
Roman invasion. Old English had four main dialects, associated with particular Anglo-Saxon
kingdoms: Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish and West Saxon. It was West Saxon that formed
the basis for the literary standard of the later Old English period, although the dominant forms
of Middle and Modern English would develop mainly from Mercian, and Scots from
Northumbrian. The speech of eastern and northern parts of England was subject to strong Old
Norse influence due to Scandinavian rule and settlement beginning in the 9th century.
Old English is one of the West Germanic languages, and its closest relatives are Old
Frisian and Old Saxon. Like other old Germanic languages, it is very different from Modern
English and Modern Scots, and largely incomprehensible for Modern English or Modern
Scots speakers without study. Within Old English grammar nouns, adjectives, pronouns and
verbs have many inflectional endings and forms, and word order is much freer. The oldest
Old English inscriptions were written using a runic system, but from about the 8th century
this was replaced by a version of the Latin alphabet.
a. What is the meaning of the Old English period?
Old English – the earliest form of the English language – was spoken and written in
AngloSaxon Britain from c. 450 CE until c. 1150 (thus it continued to be used for some
decades after the Norman Conquest of 1066).
b. What are the characteristics of Old English period?
The most significant feature of Old English is its pronunciation of words differing from the
ones that exist today. In the words of A.C. Baugh," The pronunciation of Old English words
commonly differs somewhat from that of their modern equivalents. The long vowels in
particular have gone a considerable modification.
c. What is another name of the Old English period?
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Old English is also known as Anglo-Saxon, which is derived from the names of two
Germanic tribes that invaded England during the fifth century. The most famous work of Old
English literature is the epic poem, "Beowulf."
2.2. Development of middle English period
Middle English (abbreviated to ME[1]) was a form of the English language spoken
after the Norman conquest (1066) until the late 15th century. The English language underwent
distinct variations and developments following the Old English period. Scholarly opinion
varies, but the Oxford English Dictionary specifies the period when Middle English was
spoken as being from 1150 to 1500. This stage of the development of the English language
roughly followed the High to the Late Middle Ages.
Middle English saw significant changes to its vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation,
and orthography. Writing conventions during the Middle English period varied widely.
Examples of writing from this period that have survived show extensive regional variation.
The more standardized Old English language became fragmented, localized, and was, for the
most part, being improvised. By the end of the period (about 1470) and aided by the invention
of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1439, a standard based on the London dialects
(Chancery Standard) had become established. This largely formed the basis for Modern
English spelling, although pronunciation has changed considerably since that time. Middle
English was succeeded in England by Early Modern English, which lasted until about 1650.
Scots developed concurrently from a variant of the Northumbrian dialect (prevalent in
northern England and spoken in southeast Scotland).
During the Middle English period, many Old English grammatical features either
became simplified or disappeared altogether. Noun, adjective and verb inflections were
simplified by the reduction (and eventual elimination) of most grammatical case distinctions.
Middle English also saw considerable adoption of Norman vocabulary, especially in the areas
of politics, law, the arts, and religion, as well as poetic and emotive diction. Conventional
English vocabulary remained primarily Germanic in its sources, with Old Norse influences
becoming more apparent. Significant changes in pronunciation took place, particularly
involving long vowels and diphthongs, which in the later Middle English period began to
undergo the Great Vowel Shift.
Little survives of early Middle English literature, due in part to Norman domination
and the prestige that came with writing in French rather than English. During the 14th
century, a new style of literature emerged with the works of writers including John Wycliffe
and Geoffrey Chaucer, whose Canterbury Tales remains the most studied and read work of
the period.
a. What was the Middle English period?
'Middle English' – a period of roughly 300 years from around 1150 CE to around 1450
– is difficult to identify because it is a time of transition between two eras that each have
stronger definition: Old English and Modern English
b. How would you define Middle English?
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Middle English (abbreviated to ME) was a form of the English language spoken after
the Norman conquest (1066) until the late 15th century. The English language underwent
distinct variations and developments following the Old English period.
2.3. Development of modern English period
Modern English (sometimes New English or NE (ME)[2] as opposed to Middle
English and Old English) is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel
Shift in England, which began in the late 14th century and was completed in roughly 1550.
With some differences in vocabulary, texts from the early 17th century, such as the
works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are considered to be in Modern
English, or more specifically, are referred to as using Early Modern English or Elizabethan
English. English was adopted in regions around the world, such as Anglo-America, the Indian
subcontinent, Africa, Australia and New Zealand through colonisation by the British Empire.
Modern English has many dialects spoken in many countries throughout the world,
sometimes collectively referred to as the Anglosphere. These dialects include (but are not
limited to) American English, Australian English, British English (containing English
English, Welsh English and Scottish English), Canadian English, Caribbean English,
HibernoEnglish, Indian English, Pakistani English, Nigerian English, New Zealand English,
Philippine English, Singaporean English, and South African English.
According to the Ethnologue, there are almost 1 billion speakers of English as a first
or second language. English is spoken as a first or a second language in many countries, with
most native speakers being in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New
Zealand and Ireland; there are also large populations in India, Pakistan, the Philippines and
Southern Africa. It "has more non-native speakers than any other language, is more widely
dispersed around the world and is used for more purposes than any other language". Its large
number of speakers, plus its worldwide presence, have made English a common language
("lingua franca") "of the airlines, of the sea and shipping, of computer technology, of science
and indeed of (global) communication generally".
a. What is Modern English period?
Modern English is conventionally defined as the English language since about 1450 or 1500.
Distinctions are commonly drawn between the Early Modern Period (roughly 1450-1800) and
Late Modern English (1800 to the present).
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CHAPTER III
CONCLUSION
English is a West Germanic language that originated from Ingvaeonic languages brought to
Britain in the mid-5th to 7th centuries AD by Anglo-Saxon migrants from what is now
northwest Germany, southern Denmark and the Netherlands. The Anglo-Saxons settled in the
British Isles from the mid-5th century and came to dominate the bulk of southern Great
Britain. Their language originated as a group of Ingvaeonic languages which were spoken by
the settlers in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages, displacing
the Celtic languages (and, possibly, British Latin) that had previously been dominant. Old
English reflected the varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms established in different
parts of Britain. The Late West Saxon dialect eventually became dominant. A significant
subsequent influence on the shaping of Old English came from contact with the North
Germanic languages spoken by the Scandinavian Vikings who conquered and colonized parts
of Britain during the 8th and 9th centuries, which led to much lexical borrowing and
grammatical simplification. The Anglian dialects had a greater influence on Middle English.
After the Norman conquest in 1066, Old English was replaced, for a time, by Anglo-Norman
(also known as Anglo-Norman French) as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded
as marking the end of the Old English or Anglo-Saxon era, as during this period the English
language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing
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into a phase known now as Middle English. The conquering Normans spoke a Romance
langue d'oïl called Old Norman, which in Britain developed into Anglo-Norman. Many
Norman and French loanwords entered the local language in this period, especially in
vocabulary related to the church, the court system and the government. As Normans are
descendants of Vikings who invaded France, Norman French was influenced by Old Norse,
and many Norse loanwords in English came directly from French. Middle English was
spoken to the late 15th century. The system of orthography that was established during the
Middle English period is largely still in use today. Later changes in pronunciation, however,
combined with the adoption of various foreign spellings, mean that the spelling of modern
English words appears highly irregular.
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