The chronological division of the history of English

OE Period: 7th c. B.C. - Celtic Invasion (Celts), Celtic Dialects; 7th c. B.C. – 410 A.D. - Roman Invasion (Celts, Romans), Celtic Dialects, Latin; mid.5th c. – late 6th c. - Anglo-Saxon Invasion, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Celtic Dialects, OE Dialects!; 597 - Introduction of Christianity, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Celtic Dialects, OE Dialects, Latin; after 8th c. - Scandinavian Invasion, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians (Danes), Celtic Dialects, OE Dialects, Latin, Scandinavian Dialects; ME Period: 1066 - Norman Conquest, Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians, Normans, Celtic Dialects, ME Dialects, Latin, French; late 14th c. - English – official L of the country, the English, ME Dialects, London Dialect (standard); NE Period: 1475 - Introduction of Printing (William Caxton), The English, English (NE); 16th – 17th c. - Expansion of the British Empire, The English, English – national L spreading overseas; Modern English Period: 20th c. - English – a global L.

Historical Background and Linguistic Situation:

1. When the first people arrived to Britain 50000 B.C. it was still part of the continent. Later, 5000 B.C., at the end of the Ice Age, Britain became an island separated from the rest of Europe by the English Channel.

2. The first distinctive inhabitants of the British Isles were the Iberians who came from the territory of present-day Spain around 3000 B.C. They were known for their stone work and battle axes made of stone.

3. The Beaker Falk who came from Eastern Europe around 2000 B.C. were known for their pottery.

4. The Picts came around 1000 B.C. They were considered to be a mixture of the Celts and the Iberians and were called so because they were covered all over with paintings and tattoos. Their L is still a mystery for the scholars – it can be easily read but the scholars cannot decode it (cannot understand what is written).

5. The next to come were the Celts. They arrived in 700 B.C. from the territory of Central and Northern Europe. There were 2 main Celtic tribes that settled in the British Isles: Scots: first they settled in Ireland and then moved to Scotland and intermixed with the Picts. Celtic Ls: The Gaelic Branch: 1. Irish/Erse (Ireland); 2. Scotch Gaelic (the Scottish Highlands); 3. Manx (dead; the Isle of Man); Britons settled in the south-east of England. Celtic Ls: The Britonnic Branch: 1. Breton (Brittany, modern France); 2. Welsh (Wales); 3. Cornish (dead; Cornwall). The Celts also had their own ancient alphabet called Ogham (additional information).

6. The Romans: 55 B.C. – Julius Caesar attacked Britain. Reasons: economic (tin ore, corn, slaves); political (the Romans fought with the Celts of Gaul on the continent who found shelter in Britain and were supported by the Celts of Britain). Soon after his arrival, Julius Caesar left Britain with many slaves and riches; 43 A.D. – Emperor Claudius conquered Britain and it became a province of the Roman Empire. Contributions: paved roads; cities (trading centres); walls (protection from the Celts – e.g. Hadrian’s Wall between England and Scotland); Latin L (literacy); 410 A.D. – the Roman Empire began to collapse and the Roman troops were withdrawn from Britain and sent home to help and preserve the Empire.

7. After the 5th c. the 3 waves of the Germanic tribes arrived to Britain: 1st wave: Jutes or/and Frisians (Kent, Isle of Wight); 2nd wave: Saxons (Sussex, Essex, Wessex); 3rd wave: Angles (East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria).

The feudal system that the Germanic tribes brought with themselves had led to the isolation of each tribe and political disunity (feudal wars). As a result, this period witnessed a great dialectal diversity. The most important dialects were the dialects of the 4 most powerful kingdoms.

6. OE dialects. The role of the Wessex dialect.

Kent (Kentish was spoken in Kent, Surrey, the Isle of Wight), from the tongues of Jutes/ Frisian; Wessex (West Saxon was spoken along the Thames and the Bristol Channel), origin from a Saxon dialect, 9th c. – Wessex was the centre of the English culture and politics. West Saxon – the bookish type of L (Alfred the Great – the patron of culture and learning); Mercia (Mercian was spoken between the Thames and the Humber), a dialect of north Angles; Northumbria (Northumbrian was spoken between the Humber and the Forth), a dialect of south Angles; 8th c. – Northumbria was the centre of the English culture.

The first historian who started to record the history of the Germanic tribes on the British Isles and is considered to be the first English historian is Bede the Venerable, an English monk, who wrote “The Ecclesiastical History of the English People”.

The most important dialect in the OE period was the West Saxon dialect.