Question | Answer |
449 | Invasion by the Angles, Saxons and Jutes brought Germanic language to Britain |
597 | St Augustine's mission arrives in Kent bringing Christianity and Latin to Britain |
680 | Estimated date for the composition of Beowulf, earliest piece of Old English literatue |
787 | Viking raids begin - the Nordic languages arrive |
886 | Danelaw boundaries created - this generated accent differences |
1066 | Norman Conquest - influence of French in government and the law, for example |
1250-1300 | Edward I's campaigns against the Scots and the Welsh leads to English spreading across the British Isles |
1362 | English first used at the State Opening of Parliament, this establishes English as the official language of the British Isles |
1375-1400 | Chaucer's major works written - important because they are the first literary representations of English dialectal varieties |
1384 | Wyclif's translation of The Bible - the first time The Bible had been written in English |
1300-1600 | The Great Vowel Shift |
1476 | Introduction of printing - William Caxton establishes his printing press in Westminster |
1712 | Jonathan Swift proposes an English academy to regulate and promote the 'proper' use of the English Language |
1755 | Publication of Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language - according to Johnson's contemporaries his publication 'conferred stability' in the use of English words |
1762 | Publication of Robert Lowth's 'Short Introduction to English Grammar' - important because it prescribed the use of 'correct' grammar |
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