History of The English Language, Part Two

Old English Period

            As different groups of settlers in England had different tribes, their dialects differed noticeably between them, the problem became noticeable; there was no common tongue, nor there was a common written language. “When these tribes became established in Britain, and through Old English times, there

were four distinct speech divisions. These were the Northumbrian, extending from the Humber to the Forth; the Mercian, extending from the Thames northward; the

West Saxon, occupying the whole district south of the Thames, with the exception of Kent and perhaps Surrey; the Kentish in Kent and Surrey, the dialect of which is

like that of Kent.” (Emerson, 47.)

            The oldest remains of these dialects are very peculiar even though they roughly belong in literature there is one that was the first to actually produce literature and that was the Northumbrian, or Anglian as they are also called. In this tongue that contains a rich body of Old English poetry, produced in the last of the seventh century. In this region, Cædmon and Cynewulf and Bede belonged, and here, the Great Epic of Beowulf was composed. After many over-throws and supremacies of some dialects over the others, by the end of the Old English period there was no “real” established English language, it all depended whether you liven in the south, midland, or in the north.

Middle English Period (1100-1500)

            “The dialects of Middle English are natural developments of those existing in Old English times, though known to us under somewhat different names. Instead of

Northumbrian, Northern is used in the Middle English period; similarly Midland takes the place of Mercian; and Southern is used for the older West Saxon. Kentish retains its name, although it is sometimes included in the more general term Southern English. The texts for these dialects, especially for Southern and Midland, are numerous, since the literature of the Middle English period is so extensive.” (Sanderson, 76)

            England went through many hands during the 1000’s. William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy. Took the English language and throughout his reign many French words were used alongside their English dialect. However in 1204 AD, king John lost the province of Normandy to the king of France, after that, England became one of the biggest concerns among the nobility, which then led to them adopting the English language as their native tongue. 150 years later, the “Black Death” killed about one third of the population in England, as a result of all of the deaths, English became more popular along-side Anglo-Norman. Finally the fusion of these two languages became to be known as Middle English.