Hi everybody,

Today´s class will be devoted to answering some questions about the historical and linguistic development of England/English from the Anglo-saxons to the Middle Ages (15th century).

You will work in groups and will try to answer the following questions based on the article by David Crystal:

The Anglo-Saxon Period 449 AD:

1. According to David Crystal, who are the barbarian invaders that reach the borders of England?

2. Which are three invaders that settled in Britain after the Roman Empire?

3. What happens to the Celtic language during the Anglo-Saxon period?

4. What was Latin used for, who introduced it again in 597 AD? What´s the relationship between Latin and literacy during that time?

5. Was there any standard spelling system?

6. What dialects emerge in England during the Anglo-Saxon period?


The Vikings 787 AD

1. How long do the Vikings raid Britain?

2. Where do they mostly rule during the 100 years until the Anglo-Saxons strike back in 878 AD?

3. What´s the Danelaw?

4. When does Canute rule England?

5. What was the influence of the Danish language on Old English? What words, names, etc, has the English language adopted from that time?


The Norman Conquest 1066

1. What changes does William of Normandy introduce when he invades England?

2. What language is established then?

3. Why does Crystal claim that England was then a trilingual country?

4. What developments does English suffer during the Norman Conquest?


The Resurgence of English 1200-1400

1. What languages, other than English, start being of interest in the 12th century? Why is this important?

2. What universities are established then?

3. What happens to French in this period? Who speaks it?

4. When does English become the language of power? What role does French and Latin have then?

5. How many French words entered the English language during the 14th century? Can you find examples?

In the next session, we will start analysing Tudor England (1485-1603). I will leave a photocopy in Agustinas.

See you later,
Claudia

Dear all,

I have uploaded an article to the virtual campus for you to read. It´s about the historical development of the English language. As we are working on building the historical and linguistic timeline of England/English, this will be very helpful to understand both processes. Pages 1 to 7 discuss the evolution of language until about 1500. I hope this helps to clarify some of the issues we are now discussing.

See you tomorrow,
Claudia

Dear students,

Tomorrow we will have a recuperation class at 15.00 in E-26 (section 1 students only). Also, both section 1 and section 2 students please post a comment on the Stonehenge video and the article to be found in the following links:


http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2008/09/22/uk_experts_say_stonehenge_was_place_of_healing/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7625625.stm


What do experts believe Stonehenge was? What evidence makes them believe so? What did people believe Stonehenge was according to the artible by C. Hibbert? What do you think?

Section 2 students, here is the link to the webpage about the ages of English, based on the book "The stories of English" by David Crystal.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/lang_gallery_01.shtml

On Friday, we will discuss the main events from the Anglo-Saxon period until about the 15th century. We will will also reflect on how those events influenced the evolution of the English language.

Daniela and Juan, you will get your marks tomorrow. Sorry about the delay.
See you tomorrow,
Claudia