8. Chronological List

6^th – 3d B.C. – The Celts invade Britain and overcome the Iberians.

55 B.C. Julius Caesar lands in Britain.

54 B.C. The second invasion of the Romans.

43 A.D. The Romans begin to conquer the South of Britain.e

1^st – 5^th centuries A.D. - Britain is the Roman province.

407 A.D. The end of Roman rule in Britain.

5^th cent. A.D.- The Anglo-Saxons begin to con­quer Britain

(except Scotland, Wales and Cornwall).

597 A.D. Christianity is being introduced by the Roman monks.

825 A.D. - Wessex becomes the leading kingdom of Britain..

871..A.D. - The Danes begin to conquer north-eastern part of Britain

1016 A.D. - The Danish king Canute proclaimed as a ruler of

England, which becomes part of his short lived empire.

1066 A.D. - The Norman conquest of England un­der William I.

Seminar1

1. Origin of English.

2. The periods of the English language history.

3. The Iberians and the Celts as the earliest inhabitants of the British Isles.

4. Traces of the Roman rule in Britain.

5. Anglo-Saxon period. Vocabulary of the Anglo-Saxon period.

6. Scandinavian conquerors. The Scandinavian traces in the British vo­cabulary.

7. The Norman Conquest. The nature of the French influence on English.

Lecture 2

MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD (XII-XV).

EARLY NEW ENGLISH PERIOD (XVI-XVII) .

NEW ENGLISH PERIOD (XVIII- …).

Contents

1. Middle English Dialects. Existence of three languages in England

2. Vocabulary of Middle English Period.

3. Raising of London dialect.

4. Bookprinting.

5. Spreading of English outside England.

6. Forming of national language (15-17 c.)

1. Middle English Dialects

Existence of three languages in England.

During the 11-12 centuries, the period of the Normans Conquering, there were three languages. The aboriginal population that lived in towns and villages spoke English or dialects of old English. The main old English dialects (Nothumbrian, Mercian, Kentish, West Saxon) continued being the main dialects in middle English period. But because of the fact that kingdoms of the Old English period did not already exist in the 11-th century, the old English dialects changed their names. The dialects were named according to their geographical position: Nothumbrian dialect was named as Northern dialect; Mercian dialect was named as Midland dialect. Later Midland dialect was divided into East Midland and West Midland. West-Saxon dialect was named as Southern and South-Western dialects. Only the Kentish dialect remained its name, because the Kingdom Kent still existed. But the leading dialect of Middle English period became East Midland dialect. All Midland English dialects were the dialect of so called Anglo-Saxon language or English. But English (or Anglo-Saxon) was not the only language spoken in England after the Normans Conquering. The Normans Conquerors spoke French, but to be more correct it was not French but the Northern dialect of French. So the Northern dialect of French dialect was a second dialect used in the Middle English Period. This dialect existed till the end of the 15 century. But during the 12 -13 centuries the Northern dialect of French was the state language of England because it was the language of the ruling class. Teaching, legal proceeding and clerky copying were done in Northern dialect of French. The third language of that period was Latin. Latin was used in religious, scientific fields of life.