A Brief History of Old England

ABriefHistoryofOldEnglandTheTraceoftheEnglishLanguagePrehistoricages:Indo-European.Accordingtothephilologists,theoriginalhomeIndo-EuropeanfamilywasthemainlandofEuropeandtheWesternpartofAsia.11principlegroups:Withtheimmigrationofthepeople,thegreattribesplit.Accordingly,thelanguagefallinto,Indian,Iranian,Armenian(asancientcountryinwesternAsia,nowdividedbetweenArmenia,Turkey,Iran),Italic,Balto-Slavic(Baltic),Germanic(theoriginofOldEnglish),Celtic,Hittite(Anatolia,Syria1900-1200B.C.,cuniformsyllabary),Tocharian(spokenintheNEtarimbasinofwesternChinac.500-800A.D.)TheaboriginalsinBritainTheBritishIsleshasherinhabitantslongbeforetherecordofhistory,sincePaleolithicAge（旧石器时代）,50,000yearsaccordingtomoremoderateestimates,250,000intheopinionofsome.ThefirstpeopleinEnglandaboutwhoselanguagewehavedefiniteknowledgearetheCelts.CeltswasprobablythefirstIndo-EuropeantonguetobespokeninEngland.Theotherlanguageappeared.ItwasLatin.Inthesummerof55B.C.,JuliusCaesar,havingcompletedtheconquestofGaul,invadedBriton,andconqueredit.BritonbecameoneofRomanprovincesforaverylongtime.Sincethen,till410A.D.,thelastoftheRomanlegionsofficiallywithdrawnfromtheisland.Abouttheyear449,astraditionallystated,begantheinvasionofBritainbycertainGermanictribes,thefoundersoftheEnglishnation.GermanicTribesThatConqueredEnglandtheJutes(DanishpeninsulainNorth)Saxons(Rhine)Angles(South,fromwhichthewordEnglishcame)ThePeriodsintheHistoryofEnglishTheperiodfrom450to1150isknowasOldEnglish.Itissometimesdescribedastheperiodoffullinflections(变音)，becauseduringmostofthisperiodtheendingsofthenoun,theadjectiveandtheverbarepreservedmoreorlessunimpaired.From1150to1500thelanguageisknownasMiddleEnglish.Duringthisperiodtheinflections,whichhadbeguntobreakdowntowardtheendoftheOEperiod,becomegreatlyreduced,anditisconsequentlyknownastheperiodofleveledinflections.Thelanguagesince1500iscalledModernEnglish.Bythetimewereachthisstageinthedevelopmentalargepartoftheoriginalinflectionalsystemhasdisappearedentirely,andwethereforespeakofitastheperiodoflostinflections.ForeignInfluencesonOETheCelts.TheinfluenceofCelticonOEisweak,becauseoftheCelt’ssubmergedposition,butsomeoldusagesremain,like“London”,“Avon”,“Exe”,“Esk”,“Usk”,“Dover”and“Wye”,thereareriverorwaternames.DoverCastleScotland1Scotland2(LochNess)TheLatin:IthasgreatinfluenceonOE.First,throughtheperiodofRomanEmpire,withCeltictransmission.Ofcourse,thebroadterritoryofRomanEmpirealsobroughtmanynewgadgetstotheBritishIsles.Second,withthespreadofChristianityinBritain,asaresult,some450LatinwordsappearinEnglishwritingsbeforetheloseoftheOEperiod.Religious:abbot,alms,altar,bishop,minster,noon,organ,templeLivingstuff:cap,sock,silk,aloes(芦荟)，balsam,fennel(茴香)，hyssop(海索草)，lily,myrrh,rue（芸香），savory（香味薄荷）BeforetheRomans(beforeAD43)BritaininRomanTime1BritaininRomanTime2BritaininRomanTime3BritaininRomanTime4TheScandinavian(theVikingage)frommidofthe8thAD-the11thAD:OEbroughtship,shall,fish,sky,skill……inpronunciation.Words:axletree(轴干)bandbankbirthbullgapscoreawkwardeggglitternagrakethrive……TheScandinavianinfluencenoronlyaffectedthevocabularybutalsoextendedtomattersofgrammarandsyntax,e.g.V+sasthirdpersonsingular;presentindicativeending“-ing”replace“-and”,“-end”“-ind”;omissionoftherelativepronouninrelativeclause.AftertheRomans1AftertheRomans2AftertheRomans3TheNormanConquestandtheSubjectionofEnglish,1066-1200TheDukeofNormandyconqueredEnglandin1066,andthus,changedthewholecourseoftheEnglishlanguage.Englishbecameasubmergedlanguagesincethen.(1066-1200)Butduring1200-1500,EnglishwasreestablishedgraduallyastheofficiallanguageinEngland.Thebreakthroughtookpartinthe14th-15thcentury.Inthe14thEnglandwonitswaybackintouniversaluse,andinthe15thFrenchallbutdisappeared.TheNormansNormanCastle1NormanCastle2NormanCastle3ChapelandCanalTheCompletionofEnglishIn1204,KingJohnlostNormandy.1280FrenchKing,DecreeofSeparation,orderedtheNoblesinEngland(havingpropertiesbothinEnglandandFrance)onlychoseonetodevotetheirloyalty.TheBlackDeathinthe14thcenturycausedtheriseoflaborclassandmiddleclass(craftsmen,merchants).ItliftedtheEnglish-speakingpartofthepopulation.1362,Englishusedincourt,showingitsdominantplaceasthelanguageofthecountry1425,EnglishreignedthewritingSocompletedtheestablishmentofEnglishinEngland.