Duane Robbins
Mr. Roberts
AP English Literature
9/15/11

As time passes everything in the world changes, the way we eat, drive, and act change with the continuing development of the society that surrounds us. This is also true for the languages that every individual speaks. English is no exception to this fact, and is a prime example of how drastically a language can change over the course of time. From the very formal speaking Shakespeare, to the slang driven hip-hop stars of today’s society, the English language has been through massive changes from its birth to recent years.

The Birth of the English language can be debated over, because words that are used in todays diction were taken from civilizations that thrived thousands of years ago, but the foundation of the English language wasn’t developed until later on. Many powerful civilizations left a mark on the language by blending in words that they spoke in their language into the language we speak today. These civilizations included the Celtics around 500 B.C and even the great Roman Empire 43- 450 A.D. Words such as wine, belt, and even city names such as London were taken from these different languages and intertwined into English.
English, as we know it, was born sometime around the fifth century A.D. Old English was developed when the Germans pushed the Celtics into the areas such as Scotland and Ireland. Their language became considered “Englist”, the term that eventually led to the words “England” and “English”. It developed slowly over the next six hundred years until 1066 when a prince of Normandy named William defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the Battle of Hastings. (BCC) William became the King of England, but he was still under the French thrones power, so once he had won, he declared that the French language would become the official language of England, which is stayed for the next 300 years. The “History Guy” (history guy.com) commented on this situation, William was the new King of England, but he was also still the Duke of Normandy in France, which put him and his successors in the awkward position”. This is why he decided to rule England, but would change the language to French that way he could have it both ways. (Wheaton)

This led to a blending of the two languages. The addition of French significantly transformed the grammar of the Germanic-based of the English language. At the same time, Christian missionaries were deployed into these areas to try and convert the locals. These missionaries spoke Latin, which is why many Latin words are included into the English language. (BBC)

Due to the fact that William had made the relationship between England and France bitter, due to the forcefulness of French society onto English society, French rain as the main language was short lived. (Pandora) So these relations turned into the Hundred Years War from 1337- 1450. This really took French influence out of England, but the influence that it had on English language would remain in tact.

Also there were two universities, Oxford and Cambridge that were founded creating a great increase in education. This created literacy for the citizens and increased the use of the English language. Next there was the invention of the printing press, which made the production of reading material much easier. This invention really spread the use of language, which in turn helped the English language grow.

One of the things that helped the English language develop into what is spoken today as modern English was the development of America as a nation built on the ideals of freedom and allowing individuals to bring there lifestyles with them. The mixture of the cultures and different languages really helped transform the “formal” English language that is more commonly known as old English into the “less formal” newly more modern way of speak the English language that we speak in our lives today.

With the newly invention of the printing press a need for a solid dictionary that would contain all the words of the English language. This is where Noah Webster came into the history of the English language. American Noah Webster believed that in order to strengthen the American cultural, a dictionary that would contain the words of the new nation was necessary. Therefore, after twenty-two years of hard work a standardized American dictionary was published in 1828. Webster’s dictionary was considered to be an even more remarkable work than Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language. Even in the modern age, this dictionary is considered the “go to dictionary” for the American and is re-published every few years to add new words to the ever-growing American language.

The English language has grown greatly since the language of the Anglo-Saxon tribes of the early fifth century A.D. The number of words has been increased by tens of thousands while the grammar has had a hill affect over the passing years. With the ever-changing development of society, the English language changes as well. The meaning of words and phrases are transformed, when society is rich in culture, the language is very formal, and as society loses focus on culture, the language becomes based on slang and makes most individuals seem to be illiterate.