NORTHERN CEBU COLLEGES, INC.

(Northern Cebu Colleges)

ncc_reg@yahoo.com

COLLEGE DEPARTMENT

Language, Culture
and Society
(EL 101)

Final Coverage

MISS MAREMEL T. MAKIPIG

Teacher

LANGUAGE AND HISTORY

“Learning another language is not learning different words for the same things but
learning another way to thing about things.”
-Flora Lewis
1|Page
 The history of language relied so much on the hands of the great linguists from
the time it started up to the 20 th century. Language literally and constantly evolves
with time and its development follows a timeline. In each stage that language
passes through are footprints of accomplishments of the great contributors from
Ancient philosophers to modern linguists. From the time language was first studied
and structured, the transformation of language artifacts just keep coming. The
changes applied to language miraculously suit to the generation of its users. With
the numerous language experts the world has, there are just a few noteworthy
linguists whose contributions are widely adopted and scrutinized by modern
linguists.

Linguists and Language Philosophers

 Noam Chomsky (1928- )
U.S. linguist and political critic. His theory of language structure, transformational
generative grammar, superseded the behaviourist view of Bloomfield.
 Ferdinand de Saussure (1857-1913):
Swiss linguist. The founder of structural linguistics, he declared that there is only an
arbitrary relationship between a linguistic sign and that which it signifies.
 Umberto Eco (1932-2016):
Italian semiologist and writer. His novels include The Name of the Rose (1981) and
Foucault's Pendulum (1988).
 Roman Jakobson (1896-1982)
U.S. linguist, born in Russia. His publications include Children's Speech (1941) and
Fundamentals of Language (1956).
 Robin Lakoff (1942- )
From A Dictionary of Sociolinguistics
Widely recognised as one of the first linguists to analyse gender as a
powerful, complex and nuanced influence on linguistic form and language as
a social practice. Her position as a feminist-sociolinguist pioneer rests against
a broader concern with power, discourse and linguistics.
 Charles Peirce (1839-1914):
American philosopher, mathematician, and scientist who cofounded pragmatism,
made many contributions to logic, and was one of the original developers of
semiotics.
 Edward Sapir (1884-1939)
From Britannica Concise Encyclopedia
Polish-born U.S. linguist and anthropologist. He was a founder of
ethnolinguistics, which considers the relationship of culture to
language, and a principal developer of the American (descriptive)
school of structural linguistics.
 Benjamin Whorf (1897-1941)
American linguist who developed what came to be known as the Sapir-Whorf
hypothesis in collaboration with his teacher Edward Sapir.

2|Page
  Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951)
1889-1951, British philosopher born in Austria; explored language and meaning;
influenced logical positivism.

Key Events in the History of the English Language

Timelines of Old English, Middle English, and Modern English
By Richard Nordquist
Updated on July 19, 2020

The story of English—from its start in a jumble of West Germanic dialects to its role
today as a global language—is both fascinating and complex. This timeline offers a
glimpse at some of the key events that helped to shape the English language over
the past 1,500 years. To learn more about the ways that English evolved in Britain
and then spread around the world, check out "The History of English in 10 Minutes,"
an amusing video produced by the Open University.

The Prehistory of English

The ultimate origins of English lie in Indo-European, a family of languages consisting
of most of the languages of Europe as well as those of Iran, the Indian subcontinent,
and other parts of Asia. Because little is known about ancient Indo-European (which
may have been spoken as long ago as 3,000 B.C.), we'll begin our survey in Britain
in the first century A.D.
 43—The Romans invade Britain, beginning 400 years of control over much of
the island.
 410—The Goths (speakers of a now extinct East Germanic language) sack
Rome. The first Germanic tribes arrive in Britain.
 Early 5th century—With the collapse of the empire, Romans withdraw from
Britain. Britons are attacked by the Picts and by Scots from Ireland. Angles,
Saxons, and other German settlers arrive in Britain to assist the Britons and
claim territory.
 5th-6th centuries—Germanic peoples (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisians)
speaking West Germanic dialects settle most of Britain. Celts retreat to distant
areas of Britain: Ireland, Scotland, Wales.

500-1100: The Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) Period

The conquest of the Celtic population in Britain by speakers of West Germanic
dialects (primarily Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) eventually determined many of the
essential characteristics of the English language. (The Celtic influence on English
survives for the most part only in place names—London, Dover, Avon, York.) Over
time the dialects of the various invaders merged, giving rise to what we now call
"Old English."

3|Page
 Late 6th century—Ethelbert, the King of Kent, is baptized. He is the first English
king to convert to Christianity.
 7th century—Rise of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex; the Saxon kingdoms of
Essex and Middlesex; the Angle kingdoms of Mercia, East Anglia, and
Northumbria. St. Augustine and Irish missionaries convert Anglo-Saxons to
Christianity, introducing new religious words borrowed from Latin and Greek.
Latin speakers begin referring to the country as Anglia and later as Englaland.
 673—Birth of the Venerable Bede, the monk who composed (in Latin) The
Ecclesiastical History of the English People (c. 731), a key source of information
about Anglo Saxon settlement.
 700—Approximate date of the earliest manuscript records of Old English.
 Late 8th century—Scandinavians begin to settle in Britain and Ireland; Danes
settle in parts of Ireland.
 Early 9th century—Egbert of Wessex incorporates Cornwall into his kingdom
and is recognized as overlord of the seven kingdoms of the Angles and Saxons
(the Heptarchy): England begins to emerge.
 Mid 9th century—Danes raid England, occupy Northumbria, and establish a
kingdom at York. Danish begins to influence English.
 Late 9th century—King Alfred of Wessex (Alfred the Great) leads the Anglo-
Saxons to victory over the Vikings, translates Latin works into English and
establishes the writing of prose in English. He uses the English language to
foster a sense of national identity. England is divided into a kingdom ruled by the
Anglo-Saxons (under Alfred) and another ruled by the Scandinavians.
 10th century—English and Danes mix fairly peacefully, and many Scandinavian
(or Old Norse) loanwords enter the language, including such common words
as sister, wish, skin, and die.
 1000—Approximate date of the only surviving manuscript of the Old English epic
poem Beowulf, composed by an anonymous poet between the 8th century and
the early 11th century.
 Early 11th century—Danes attack England, and the English king (Ethelred the
Unready) escapes to Normandy. The Battle of Maldon becomes the subject of
one of the few surviving poems in Old English. The Danish king (Canute) rules
over England and encourages the growth of Anglo-Saxon culture and literature.
 Mid 11th century—Edward the Confessor, King of England who was raised in
Normandy, names William, Duke of Normandy, as his heir.
 1066—The Norman Invasion: King Harold is killed at the Battle of Hastings, and
William of Normandy is crowned King of England. Over succeeding decades,
Norman French becomes the language of the courts and of the upper classes;
English remains the language of the majority. Latin is used in churches and
schools. For the next century, English, for all practical purposes, is no longer a
written language.

1100-1500: The Middle English Period

4|Page
The Middle English period saw the breakdown of the inflectional system of Old
English and the expansion of vocabulary with many borrowings from French and
Latin.
 1150—Approximate date of the earliest surviving texts in Middle English.
 1171—Henry II declares himself overlord of Ireland, introducing Norman
French and English to the country. About this time the University of Oxford is
founded.
 1204—King John loses control of the Duchy of Normandy and other French
lands; England is now the only home of the Norman French/English.
 1209—The University of Cambridge is formed by scholars from Oxford.
 1215—King John signs the Magna Carta ("Great Charter"), a critical document
in the long historical process leading to the rule of constitutional law in the
English-speaking world.
 1258—King Henry III is forced to accept the Provisions of Oxford, which
establish a Privy Council to oversee the administration of the government.
These documents, though annulled a few years later, are generally regarded
as England's first written constitution.
 Late 13th century—Under Edward I, royal authority is consolidated in
England and Wales. English becomes the dominant language of all classes.
 Mid to late 14th century—The Hundred Years War between England and
France leads to the loss of almost all of England's French possessions. The
Black Death kills roughly one-third of England's population. Geoffrey Chaucer
composes The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. English becomes the
official language of the law courts and replaces Latin as the medium of
instruction at most schools. John Wycliffe's English translation of the Latin
Bible is published. The Great Vowel Shift begins, marking the loss of the so-
called "pure" vowel sounds (which are still found in many continental
languages) and the loss of the phonetic pairings of most long and short vowel
sounds.
 1362—The Statute of Pleading makes English the official language in
England. Parliament is opened with its first speech delivered in English.
 1399 At his coronation, King Henry IV becomes the first English monarch to
deliver a speech in English.
 Late 15th century—William Caxton brings to Westminster (from the
Rhineland) the first printing press and publishes Chaucer's The Canterbury
Tales. Literacy rates increase significantly, and printers begin to standardize
English spelling. The monk Galfridus Grammaticus (also known as Geoffrey
the Grammarian) publishes Thesaurus Linguae Romanae et Britannicae, the
first English-to-Latin wordbook.

1500 to the Present: The Modern English Period

Distinctions are commonly drawn between the Early Modern Period (1500-1800)
and Late Modern English (1800 to the present).

5|Page
During the period of Modern English, British exploration, colonization, and overseas
trade hastened the acquisition of loanwords from countless other languages and
fostered the development of new varieties of English (World English), each with its
own nuances of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Since the middle of the
20th century, the expansion of North American business and media around the
world has led to the emergence of Global English as a lingua franca.
 Early 16th century—The first English settlements are made in North America.
William Tyndale's English translation of the Bible is published. Many Greek
and Latin borrowings enter English.
 1542—In his Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge, Andrew Boorde
illustrates regional dialects.
 1549—The first version of the Book of Common Prayer of the Church of
England is published.
 1553—Thomas Wilson publishes The Art of Rhetorique, one of the first works
on logic and rhetoric in English.
 1577—Henry Peacham publishes The Garden of Eloquence, a treatise on
rhetoric.
 1586—The first grammar of English—William Bullokar's Pamphlet for
Grammar—is published.
 1588—Elizabeth I begins her 45-year reign as queen of England. The British
defeat the Spanish Armada, boosting national pride and enhancing the legend
of Queen Elizabeth.
 1589—The Art of English Poesie (attributed to George Puttenham) is
published.
 1590-1611—William Shakespeare writes his Sonnets and the majority of his
plays.
 1600—The East India Company is chartered to promote trade with Asia,
eventually leading to the establishment of the British Raj in India.
 1603—Queen Elizabeth dies and James I (James VI of Scotland) accedes to
the throne.
 1604—Robert Cawdrey's Table Alphabeticall, the first English dictionary, is
published.
 1607—The first permanent English settlement in America is established at
Jamestown, Virginia.
 1611—The Authorized Version of the English Bible (the "King James" Bible) is
published, greatly influencing the development of the written language.
 1619—The first enslaved Africans in North America arrive in Virginia.
 1622—Weekly News, the first English newspaper, is published in London.
 1623—The First Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays is published.
 1642—Civil War breaks out in England after King Charles I attempts to arrest
his parliamentary critics. The war leads to the execution of Charles I, the
dissolution of parliament, and the replacement of the English monarchy with a
Protectorate (1653–59) under Oliver Cromwell's rule.

6|Page
  1660—The monarchy is restored; Charles II is proclaimed king.
 1662—The Royal Society of London appoints a committee to consider ways of
"improving" English as a language of science.
 1666—The Great Fire of London destroys most of the City of London inside
the old Roman City Wall.
 1667—John Milton publishes his epic poem Paradise Lost.
 1670—The Hudson's Bay Company is chartered for promoting trade and
settlement in Canada.
 1688—Aphra Behn, the first woman novelist in England, publishes Oroonoko,
or the History of the Royal Slave.
 1697—In his Essay Upon Projects, Daniel Defoe calls for the creation of an
Academy of 36 "gentlemen" to dictate English usage.
 1702—The Daily Courant, the first regular daily newspaper in English, is
published in London.
 1707—The Act of Union unites the Parliaments of England and Scotland,
creating the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
 1709—The first Copyright Act is enacted in England.
 1712—Anglo-Irish satirist and cleric Jonathan Swift proposes the creation of
an English Academy to regulate English usage and "ascertain" the language.
 1719—Daniel Defoe publishes Robinson Crusoe, considered by some to be
the first modern English novel.
 1721—Nathaniel Bailey publishes his Universal Etymological Dictionary of the
English Language, a pioneer study in English lexicography: the first to feature
current usage, etymology, syllabification, clarifying quotations, illustrations,
and indications of pronunciation.
 1715—Elisabeth Elstob publishes the first grammar of Old English.
 1755—Samuel Johnson publishes his two-volume Dictionary of the English
Language.
 1760-1795—This period marks the rise of the English grammarians (Joseph
Priestly, Robert Lowth, James Buchanan, John Ash, Thomas Sheridan,
George Campbell, William Ward, and Lindley Murray), whose rule books,
primarily based on prescriptive notions of grammar, become increasingly
popular.
 1762—Robert Lowth publishes his Short Introduction to English Grammar.
 1776—The Declaration of Independence is signed, and the American War of
Independence begins, leading to the creation of the United States of America,
the first country outside the British Isles with English as its principal language.
 1776—George Campbell publishes The Philosophy of Rhetoric.
 1783—Noah Webster publishes his American Spelling Book.
 1785—The Daily Universal Register (renamed The Times in 1788) begins
publication in London.
 1788—The English first settle in Australia, near present-day Sydney.

7|Page
  1789—Noah Webster publishes Dissertations on the English Language, which
advocates an American standard of usage.
 1791—The Observer, the oldest national Sunday newspaper in Britain, begins
publication.
 Early 19th century—Grimm's Law (discovered by Friedrich von Schlegel and
Rasmus Rask, later elaborated by Jacob Grimm) identifies relationships
between certain consonants in Germanic languages (including English) and
their originals in Indo-European. The formulation of Grimm's Law marks a
major advance in the development of linguistics as a scholarly field of study.
 1803—The Act of Union incorporates Ireland into Britain, creating the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
 1806—The British occupy Cape Colony in South Africa.
 1810—William Hazlitt publishes A New and Improved Grammar of the English
Language.
 1816—John Pickering compiles the first dictionary of Americanisms.
 1828—Noah Webster publishes his American Dictionary of the English
Language. Richard Whateley publishes Elements of Rhetoric.
 1840—The native Maori in New Zealand cede sovereignty to the British.
 1842—The London Philological Society is founded.
 1844—The telegraph is invented by Samuel Morse, inaugurating the
development of rapid communication, a major influence on the growth and
spread of English.
 Mid 19th century—A standard variety of American English develops. English
is established in Australia, South Africa, India, and other British colonial
outposts.
 1852—The first edition of Roget's Thesaurus is published.
 1866—James Russell Lowell champions the use of American regionalisms,
helping to end deference to the Received British Standard. Alexander Bain
publishes English Composition and Rhetoric. The transatlantic telegraph cable
is completed.
 1876—Alexander Graham Bell invents the telephone, thus modernizing private
communication.
 1879—James A.H. Murray begins editing the Philological Society's New
English Dictionary on Historical Principles (later renamed the Oxford English
Dictionary).
 1884/1885—Mark Twain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry
Finn introduces a colloquial prose style that significantly influences the writing
of fiction in the U.S.
 1901—The Commonwealth of Australia is established as a dominion of the
British Empire.
 1906—Henry and Francis Fowler publish the first edition of The King's
English.
 1907—New Zealand is established as a dominion of the British Empire.

8|Page
  1919—H.L. Mencken publishes the first edition of The American Language, a
pioneer study in the history of a major national version of English.
 1920—The first American commercial radio station begins operating in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 1921—Ireland achieves Home Rule, and Gaelic is made an official language
in addition to English.
 1922—The British Broadcasting Company (later renamed the British
Broadcasting Corporation, or BBC) is established.
 1925—The New Yorker magazine is founded by Harold Ross and Jane Grant.
 1925—George P. Krapp publishes his two-volume The English Language in
America, the first comprehensive and scholarly treatment of the subject.
 1926—Henry Fowler publishes the first edition of his Dictionary of Modern
English Usage.
 1927—The first "speaking motion picture," The Jazz Singer, is released.
 1928—The Oxford English Dictionary is published.
 1930—British linguist C.K. Ogden introduces Basic English.
 1936—The first television service is established by the BBC.
 1939—World War II begins.
 1945—World War II ends. The Allied victory contributes to the growth of
English as a lingua franca.
 1946—The Philippines gains its independence from the U.S.
 1947—India is freed from British control and divided into Pakistan and India.
The constitution provides that English remain the official language for 15
years. New Zealand gains its independence from the U.K. and joins the
Commonwealth.
 1949—Hans Kurath publishes A Word Geography of the Eastern United
States, a landmark in the scientific study of American regionalisms.
 1950—Kenneth Burke publishes A Rhetoric of Motives.
 1950s—The number of speakers using English as a second
language exceeds the number of native speakers.
 1957—Noam Chomsky publishes Syntactic Structures, a key document in the
study of generative and transformational grammar.
 1961—Webster's Third New International Dictionary is published.
 1967—The Welsh Language Act gives the Welsh language equal validity
with English in Wales, and Wales is no longer considered a part of England.
Henry Kucera and Nelson Francis publish Computational Analysis of Present-
Day American English, a landmark in modern corpus linguistics.
 1969—Canada officially becomes bilingual (French and English). The first
major English dictionary to use corpus linguistics—The American Heritage
Dictionary of the English Language—is published.
 1972—A Grammar of Contemporary English (by Randolph Quirk, Sidney
Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik) is published. The first call on a
personal cell phone is made. The first email is sent.

9|Page
  1978—The Linguistic Atlas of England is published.
 1981—The first issue of the journal World Englishes is published.
 1985—A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language is published by
Longman. The first edition of M.A.K. Halliday's An Introduction to Functional
Grammar is published.
 1988—The Internet (under development for more than 20 years) is opened to
commercial interests.
 1989—The second edition of The Oxford English Dictionary is published.
 1993—Mosaic, the web browser credited with popularizing the World Wide
Web, is released. (Netscape Navigator becomes available in 1994, Yahoo! in
1995, and Google in 1998.)
 1994—Text messaging is introduced, and the first modern blogs go online.
 1995—David Crystal publishes The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English
Language.
 1997—The first social networking site (SixDegrees.com) is launched.
(Friendster is introduced in 2002, and both MySpace and Facebook begin
operating in 2004.)
 2000—The Oxford English Dictionary Online (OED Online) is made available
to subscribers.
 2002—Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum publish The Cambridge
Grammar of the English Language. Tom McArthur publishes The Oxford
Guide to World English.
 2006—Twitter, a social networking and microblogging service, is created by
Jack Dorsey.
 2009—The two-volume Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English
Dictionary is published by Oxford University Press.
 2012—The fifth volume (SI-Z) of the Dictionary of American Regional
English (DARE ) is published by Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

QUESTION:
Do you agree with the theory that each person has a Language Acquisition
Device (LAD) in his or her brain? Yes/ No. Why?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________

10 | P a g e