origins
What is another name for Old English?
Anglo-Saxon.
What is another name for Old English?
Anglo-Saxon
Which Scandinavian language strongly influenced English through Viking contact?
Old Norse
Which period came after Old English?
Middle English
Which famous playwright is strongly associated with Early Modern English?
William Shakespeare
English belongs to which branch of the Indo-European family?
West Germanic
What is the name of the famous Old English epic poem?
Beowulf
Give one modern English word influenced by Old Norse.
Sky
Which famous English writer is associated with Middle English?
Geoffrey Chaucer
Which two classical languages contributed many words to English during the Renaissance?
Latin and Greek
Around which century did English begin developing in Britain?
The 5th century
What writing system appears in some of the earliest English inscriptions?
Runes
What important event happened in England in 1066?
The Norman Conquest
What happened to many grammatical endings during the Middle English period?
They gradually disappeared
What helped spread and standardise written English after the 15th century?
Printing
Which three Germanic groups are traditionally associated with the origins of English in Britain?
The Angles, Saxons and Jutes
Was Old English very similar to the English we speak today?
No, it was very different
Which language became especially influential among the Norman ruling class after 1066?
French
Who introduced printing to England in 1476?
William Caxton
Why does English have many different varieties around the world?
Because English spread to different regions and developed locally
The early Germanic settlers who brought the foundations of English came mainly from which regions?
Southern Scandinavia and parts of present-day Germany
What language was the main language of learning and writing in western Europe during much of the early medieval period?
Latin
Name one area of vocabulary strongly influenced by French after the Norman Conquest.
Law
What major sound change affected the pronunciation of English vowels in the Early Modern period?
The Great Vowel Shift
Why is English often described as a global language today?
It is widely used internationally in education, science, business and communication