Development of the English Language

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Communication arose from diminutive beginnings to immense advancements. Without communication throughout the world, we would all be devoided of the achievements we have reached thus far. English as we know it today has undergone many changes, hence we notice it has and will adapt simultaneously as society and technology alters. There can be distinguished between different periods in the history of the English language. McArhur (1998:87) has proposed a model for this theory: Pre-Old English (before AD 500) Old English (from about 500 to 1150) Middle English (from about 1150 to 1450) Early Modern English (from about 1450 to 1945) Modern English (from about 1700 to 1945) World English (es) (from about 1945 to the present) Prelude to the rise of a great language. The English language stems from a once insignificant island still today known as Britain or the British Isles. The Celtic family, today almost extinct, was known for their mother tongue in their original language Breton, “which differs from the English language we know in this age”. During the old English period, the Celt’s language was heavily influenced by Latin words during the invasion of the Romans in Britain, however did not overtake the language as a whole when the Roman Empire weakened and many of them decided to abort the country. After the Romans left, an uprising of other invaders took up residency in England, known as the Saxtons and Angles. “They introduced a new language to the population of Britain known as Anglo-Saxon (Old English) and seen as the beginning of the English language”. As time passed Britain fell victim to more invaders that spoke a different language and had different cultural backrounds, all of these factors consequently contributed to the altering and changing of original English language. An important era arose for the English language during 1066 (Middle

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