This book tells the story of how the English language has developed over the last 15 centuries. Illustrating the compelling history of how the relatively obscure dialects spoken by tribes from what are now Denmark, the Low Countries, and northern Germany became the most widely spoken language in the world, this history also explores how that language evolved during the last two millennia. Chronologically ordered and divided into six main sections covering pre-Roman and Latin influences, the ascent of Old English, and the succession of Middle English, Early Modern, and then Late Modern English to today's global language, this book also explores such factors as the history of the printing press, the works of Chaucer, the evolution of the American Dictionary of the English Language, commonly known as Webster's, and the Oxford English Dictionary, to the use of slang in today's speech and the coming of electronic messaging: language for a postmodern world.

Joseph Piercy

London: Michael O'Mara Books Limited

Trafalgar Square

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

London, 2016

inherent obscured text on back cover

192 pages : 20 cm
Illustrating the compelling history of how the relatively obscure dialects spoken by tribes from what are now Denmark, the Low Countries, and northern Germany became the most widely spoken language in the world, this book also explores how that language evolved during the last two millennia. Chronologically ordered and divided into six sections covering pre-Roman and Latin influences, the ascent of Old English, and the succession of Middle English, Early Modern, and then Late Modern English to today's global language, this fascinating book also explores such factors as the history of the printing press, the works of Chaucer, the evolution of The American Dictionary of the English Language -- commonly known as Webster's -- and the magisterial Oxford English Dictionary, to the use of slang in today's speech and the coming of electronic messaging: language for a postmodern world. This is the perfect gift for any lover not just of English, but of the history and development of language
Originally published: 2012
Includes bibliographical references (pages 185-186) and index
The Celts and the Romans (40 BC to AD 450) -- The rise of Old English (AD 450 to 1066) -- Middle English: Geoffrey Chaucer and all that (1066 to 1475) -- Early modern English: a leviathan of language (1475 to 1670) -- Late modern English: towards a global language (1670 to 1900) -- Post-modern English

2023-06-28