HISTORY OF ENGLISH

THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

The history of the English language is divided into three periods :
1.Old English : From about the year 800 to the time the Normans from France conquered England in 1066,
2.Middle English : From 1066 to about 1500, and
3.Modern English : From 1500 to present time.

Old English is different from modern English. Indeed it is more like modern germany, which has the same origin. Unlike Modern English both Germany and Old English have a great many noun and adjective endings. Therefore, for the speaker of Modern English, studying Old English is like studying a foreign language.
In Middle English, grammar, word order, and the structure of words become more important than word endings. In this period the stress in many word moved to the first syllable. Many French words were added during the Middle English period.
Modern English is what native speakers have been using for the last 500 years. More and more word endings have become lost, and now there are only a few left. They are the –s in plural nouns and the third person singular of verbs : book – books, jump – jumps; the –ed in the past these of the regular verbs. Jump – jumped; the –ing in the verb forms, such as the word singing in He is singing or This singing is loud; and the -er and –est of adjective; louder – loudest.
Modern English has its origins in the dialects that had developed around London by the end of the fifteenth century; it is now spoken by the people of the British island, New Zealand, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, and the other areas. It is spoken not only on this earth. In July 1969 it is spoken for the first time on the moon when two American astronauts, Neil Amstrong and Edwin Aldin, landed during the Apollo 11 mission.