Chronological divisions in the History of English

Plan:

1. Pre-written (pre-historical) period.

2. Old English.

3. Middle English.

4. Modern or New English.

1. The historical development of a language is a continuously uninterrupted process without sudden breaks or rapid transformations. The commonly accepted, traditional periodisation divides English history into three periods: Old English (O.E.), Middle English (O.E.), and New or Modern English (M.E.), with boundaries attached to definite dates and historical events affecting the language. Old English begins with the Germanic settlement of Britain (5^th c.) and ends with the Norman Conquest in 1066. Middle English begins on the introduction of printing (1475), which is the start of the Modern or New English period. The New period lasts to the present day.

The amendments proposed to the traditional periodisation shift: it has been suggested that M.E. began not in 1066, but at 1150. Henry Sweet proposed his point of view to single out periods of transition and subdivide three main periods into: early, classical and late. Some scientists Such as B. Strang prefer a division should be accomplished according 2 centuries or periods. The changes are not distributed in time. There are periods of intensive changes and periods of relative stability.

The first pre-written or pre-historical period, which is called Early Old English, lasts from the Germanic invasion on Britain till the beginning of writing from 5^th to 7^th c. It is a stage of tribal dialects. These dialects were used for oral communication and there was no written form.

2. The second period extends from the 18^th c. till the 11^th c. is called Old English (Anglo-Saxon). It is written Old English. The tribal dialects gradually changed into local or regional dialects. Dialects were equal as a medium of oral communication. But in the sphere of writing one of the dialects were Saxon had gained the supremacy.

3. The third period is known as Early Middle English, starts in the 10^th c. and lasts till the 14^th c. It was the stage of the greatest dialectal divergence caused by the feudal system and by foreign influences – Scandinavian and French. Under Roman rule the official language in England was French or its variety – Anglo-French. It was a time of great changes of all levels of the language, especially in vocabulary and grammar.

English absorbed two layers of lexical borrowings: Scandinavian and French. These borrowings were different. Scandinavian borrowings were intensive: fewer nouns were used. But French one was extensive, more numeral. French language was spoken in royal court, in school, and it was used by nobility.

Grammatical changes were so great by the end of the period; they had transformed English from a synthetic language into an analytical one.

The fourth period – from the later 14^th c. till the end of the 15^th c. is called Classical Middle English. It was the age of restoration of English to the position of state and literary language, and also it was time of literary flourishing, when Jeffrey Chaucer created the first English book: “Canterbury Tales”. Chaucer’s language was recognized as literary norm of the language.

4. The fifth period – Early New English. Dates from 1475 – 1660. In this period the first printed book appeared. It was published by William Caxton. It was a period of transition of the ages of Chaucer to the age of Shakespeare. It was also a kind of great political and economical events. The progress of culture, education and literature favored linguistic unity. English became a language with stable linguistic standards. This period was also time of vocabulary growth, which was increased from internal and external sources.

The sixth period extends from the mid-17^th c. to the close of the 18^th c. is called Neoclassical English. It is the period of normalization and correctness. The norms were fixed as rules in the numerous dictionaries and grammar books. It is also a period when the English language extended its area to North America. It was a period if fixing of pronunciation. The great sound shifts were over and pronunciation was stabilized. The improvement of the grammar was perfected.

The seventh period of the 19^th till the present time is Late New English or Modern English. It is the period of expansion of the language; it became the official language of Canada, New Zealand. The vocabulary was highly and rich, because of the progress in technology and culture.