The History of Early English by Keith Johnson
A Summary by Demi Kraakman
Chapter 1: History, and Historical Change
The importance of knowing (the) history (of language) is that history sheds light on why things aren't
the way they are in present day. Also, learning about the history of English will tell you something
about the culture.
Language is constantly changing. Throughout history many people have tried to stop this change, but
none have succeeded because the change of language (change in general) is inevitable. Even the way
we write things has changed throughout history.
There is a period called 'Early English' which ranges from language's beginning until the end of the
17th century, and consists of the following stages:
The first stage is called Old English (OE) which covers the beginning of English as a language, which has
roots as a Germanic tongue.
The second stage starts around 1066 when England was invaded by William the Conqueror and the
Norman French, causing the French language to become predominant. Over the centuries English
became the dominant language once more, but it held traces of French now. This stage of language is
called Middle English (ME); from 1066-1505 (when Henry VIII became king).
The third stage was caused by the Renaissance. English as a language gained more foreign influences,
especially from the Latin language. This stage is called Early Modern English (EModE) and lasted till
around 1660.
These three stages cover the Early English period. After these three follow the Late Modern English
(LModE) and Present Day English (PDE). (Note that the dates mentioned above are a rough estimate,
people didn't switch from OE to ME on the 1st of January 1066; language changes more gradually.)
Chapter 2: Languages and Their Daughters
Languages that have the same roots will remain similar to each other in certain ways. The closer two
languages are spoken next to each other, the more familiar they'll become. The longer and further
apart these languages are, the more the similarities will lessen. But still there will be similarities, they
have the same origin after all.
In 1786, William Jones wrote a paper that claims that Sanskrit, Latin and Greek were daughter
languages of the same parent. Jones came to this conclusion after comparing the three and noting the
similarities. His work stimulated other search for links between languages. Therefore, he is sometimes
regarded as the initiator of ‘comparative linguistics’.
Nineteenth century linguists were preoccupied with uncovering the underlying laws that determined
why languages change from one part of the family to another. A law that described the characteristics
that Germanic languages share, and Indo-European ones don’t, was formulated by Jacob Grimm and
was called Grimm’s Law. It was concerned with the consonants and it’s sometimes called the first
, Germanic consonant shift. Grimm realised that in some IE languages the consonants differed from the
consonants in Germanic languages, but they differed in regular patterns.
Grimm’s Law wasn’t absolute though, because in language there are always exceptions. There are
almost as many exceptions as there are rules in language.
Chapter 3: Old English: A First Look
1st event: 55 BC, Romans invaded under Julius Caesar’s commands. He was stopped, however, and
never conquered Britain. Emperor Claudius, on the other hand, did in AD 43, despite Queen Boudica’s
resistance, which made it harder for them. Romans builds roads, towns and infrastructures for the
English and England remained part of the Roman Empire for a long time (AD 45- AD 409). The Romans
needed that troops elsewhere and they retreated from England in 410.
2nd event: After the Romans left the Picts and Scots attacked the Celts. The Venerable Bede, a
Northumbrian monk, wrote ‘Ecclesiastical History of the English People’, earning him the title of
‘Father of English History’. This book describes how in 449 the Angles, on invite, drove off the enemy
in Britain. Angles were part German, part Danish, and they consisted of Jutes, Saxons and Angles. They
were very unorganised and spread out all over the place. Gradually, they became more organised and
by the year 700 they occupied most of England. They set up seven kingdoms called the Heptarchy:
Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex. ‘Angle’ became a common term to
describe the inhabitants of this kingdom, and soon it all became known as Englaland: Land of Angles.
The Celts were driven to the borders: Scotland, Cornwell and Wales. The Angles called the Celts
‘wealas’ (foreigners) à Wales. The language of the new arrivals formed the basis of English known as
Anglo-Saxon a.k.a. OE.
3rd event: Pope Gregory the Great came across Angle slaves on a Roman marketplace. At hearing the
name, he found it fitting. In 597, he sent his friend Augustine to spread Christianity to the British
island. But Christianity had already been spread by the Irish Saint Columba in 563. Augustine added
the Catholic version of religion to the Celtic one. Augustine’s task of converting the English was easier
because of Jutish King Æthelbert, who was married to a Christian named Bertha. The king agreed to be
baptised and Christianity began to spread. By the 7th century, English had become an important part of
Christendom. Pope Gregory called the baptised Æthelbert ‘Rex Angloram’ (King of English). England
had become a recognised country with a recognised king.
4th event: In 787, when Breotric was king, Danes (who actually came from Horthaland) invaded
Britain. In 793, the Vikings attacked and invaded from the North-East. They reached London and
Canterbury in 851. In 871, the Vikings turn to Wessex but its king, Alfred the Great, fought strongly
against them and won. Britain was split into two regions Danelaw and Wessex, who co-existed
peacefully. Alfred died in 899 after spending a lifetime improving the English language. After his death,
Wessex invaded Danelaw. In the 10th century the ‘Second Viking Conquest’ took place led by
Norwegian King Olaf. From 1013-1042, England was Danish. England was again invaded in 1066 by
Normandy.
(Side-note: OE makes more and more sense the longer you look at it and note how it’s suffix-rich.)
