Classification of the Germanic Languages

Main Periods in the History of the English Language

The historical events that took place on the British Isles have influenced the linguistic situation in the country greatly. The table below shows the interconnection between the history and the language situation:

 

Dates	Events	Population	Languages
Old English Period
7th c. B.C.	Celtic Invasion	Celts	Celtic Dialects
7th c. B.C. – 410 A.D.	Roman Invasion	Celts, Romans	Celtic Dialects, Latin
mid.5th c. – late 6th c.	Anglo-Saxon Invasion	Celts, Anglo-Saxons	Celtic Dialects, Old English Dialects!
	Introduction of Christianity	Celts, Anglo-Saxons	Celtic Dialects, Old English Dialects, Latin
after 8th c.	Scandinavian Invasion	Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians (Danes)	Celtic Dialects, Old English Dialects, Latin, Scandinavian Dialects
Middle English Period
	Norman Conquest	Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians, Normans	Celtic Dialects, Middle English Dialects, Latin, French
late 14th c.	English – official language of the country	the English	Middle English Dialects, London Dialect(standard)
New English Period
	Introduction of Printing (William Caxton)[A1]	The English	English(New English)
16th – 17th c.	Expansion of the British Empire	The English	English – national languagespreading overseas
Modern English Period
20th c.	English – a global language

 

Thus, the main periods in the language evolution are (rough dates are given):

1. Old English Period– prewritten (450-700)

– written (700-1100)

During this period 1 million[A2] people spoke Old English Dialects (see short survey of this period in § 74-77, p. 50-51 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies)).

2. Middle English Period – 1100-1500

During this period 4 million people spoke Middle English Dialects (see short survey of this period in § 78-81, p. 51-52 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies)).

3. New English Period– 1500-1800

(see short survey of this period in § 82-85, p. 52-53 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies)).

4. Modern English Period - ? (1945)-present time

Nowadays 300 million people speak English as a mother tongue (see short survey of this period in § 86-87, p. 53-54 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies)).

 

There are different classifications of the languages but as far as we deal with the history of the language we will consider genealogical classification. It is based on the conception that all the languages

can be classified according to their origin.

There are different points of view on the problem of language origin. Some scholars try to prove that there existed one universal language from which all the other languages stem.

 

The theory of William Allman(1990):

 

Proto-Germanic Language (one of the 12 groups of languages belonging to Indo-European family that stemmed from the common Indo-European Language)
Indo-European Language	8 000 years ago	Turkey
Nostratic Language	14 000 years ago	The Near East
Proto-World Language	200 000 years ago	Africa

 

Modern classification of the Germanic Languages: