The abridged history of English

During this course we will be tracing the history of the English language from its Anglo-Saxon roots back in the 4th century AD through to its current status as a ‘glocal’ language with over 480 million speakers worldwide. Our approach will be chronological, tracing the language from its Old English roots, through Middle English and Early Modern English to present-day Modern English. This will be interspersed, however, with a more in-depth discussion of some of the key influences on English; for example, Shakespeare and the King James Bible – both of which gifted numerous words and expressions to the language that are still commonplace today, even if we are not aware of it. We will also be taking a brief tour of the more notable British dialects of English, including Geordie (Newcastle), Scouse (Liverpool), Brummie (Birmingham), and Glaswegian (Glasgow). And to wrap up, we will be exploring the sound and writing system of English, neither of which are at all intuitive.  

Of course, it’s a tall order to cover some 1600 years of history in 12.5 hours. The aim of the course is, however, to give an overview of the major stages in the history of the English language as well as an insight into the key influences in its development. Whilst grounded in history and underpinned with linguistic detail, the approach will (hopefully) be engaging and not without humour.