The Story of English is the title of an Emmy Award-winning nine-part television series, and a companion book, both produced

in 1986, detailing the development o f the English language. The book and the television series were written by Robert MacNeil, Robert McCrum , and William Cran.[1] The book has been revised twice, once in 1993, and again in 2002.[2] The documentary series was directed by William Cran,[3] and originally broadcast on BBC and PBS. It was co-produced by MacNeil-Lehrer Productions and the BBC, a nd was principally funded through a grant from General Foods. The third episode, "A Muse of Fire", won the 1987 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement - Informational Programming - Writing.[4] The series was released as a 5 tape box set in 2001, running 495 minutes. The book and series have been used in University courses.[5][6] Episode list[edit source | editbeta] An English Speaking World The Mother Tongue A Muse of Fire The Guid Scots Tongue Black on White ( Includes Interviews With Philadelphia Hip Hop Legends The Scann er Boys, Parry P and Grand Tone) Pioneers, O Pioneers! Muvver Tongue The Loaded Weapon Next Year's Words References[edit source | editbeta] ^ McCrum, Robert; Robert MacNeil, William Cran (1986). The Story of English. New York: Viking. ISBN 0-670-80467-3. ^ ISBN 0-14-015405-1 and ISBN 0-14-200231-3 ^ The Story of English at the Internet Movie Database ^ "Primetime Emmy Award Database - The Story of English". Emmys.com. Retrieved 2 013-04-20. ^ The Story of English Video Series - contents listing, including timecode descr iptions at the Wayback Machine a Northern Arizona University course using The S ^ ENG 121: The Story of English tory of English as its base. The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Ger manic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the An gles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic la nguage. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invade rs - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from " Englaland" [sic] and their language was called "Englisc" - from which the words "England" and "English" are derived. Old English (450-1100 AD) Example of Old English Part of Beowulf, a poem written in Old English. The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like Engli sh today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, der ive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100. Middle English (1100-1500) Example of Middle English An example of Middle English by Chaucer. In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy (part of modern France), inv

aded and conquered England. The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ru ling and business classes. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class div ision, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many Fre nch words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today. Modern English Early Modern English (1500-1800) Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and short er. From the 16th century the British had contact with many peoples from around the world. Example of Early Modern English Hamlet's famous "To be, or not to be" lines, written in Early Modern English by Shakespeare. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and p hrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar be came fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published. Late Modern English (1800-Present) The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is voca bulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal fact ors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new wo rds; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth 's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries. Varieties of English From around 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the crea tion of a distinct American variety of English. Some English pronunciations and words "froze" when they reached America. In some ways, American English is more like the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some expressions that the British call "Americanisms" are in fact original British expressions t hat were preserved in the colonies while lost for a time in Britain (for example trash for rubbish, loan as a verb instead of lend, and fall for autumn; another example, frame-up, was re-imported into Britain through Hollywood gangster movi es). Spanish also had an influence on American English (and subsequently British English), with words like canyon, ranch, stampede and vigilante being examples of Spanish words that entered English through the settlement of the American Wes t. French words (through Louisiana) and West African words (through the slave tr ade) also influenced American English (and so, to an extent, British English). Today, American English is particularly influential, due to the USA's dominance of cinema, television, popular music, trade and technology (including the Intern et). But there are many other varieties of English around the world, including f or example Australian English, New Zealand English, Canadian English, South Afri can English, Indian English and Caribbean English. The Germanic Family of Languages Chart of the Germanic family of languages English is a member of the Germanic family of languages.

Germanic is a branch of the Indo-European language family. A brief chronology of English 55 BC Roman invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar. Local inhabitants speak Celtish AD 43 Roman invasion and occupation. Beginning of Roman rule of Britain. 436 Roman withdrawal from Britain complete. 449 Settlement of Britain by Germanic invaders begins 450-480 Earliest known Old English inscriptions. Old English 1066 William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invades and conquers England. c1150 Earliest surviving manuscripts in Middle English. Middle English 1348 English replaces Latin as the language of instruction in most schools. 1362 English replaces French as the language of law. English is used in Parli ament for the first time. c1388 Chaucer starts writing The Canterbury Tales. c1400 The Great Vowel Shift begins. 1476 William Caxton establishes the first English printing press. Early Mo dern English 1564 Shakespeare is born. 1604 Table Alphabeticall, the first English dictionary, is published. 1607 The first permanent English settlement in the New World (Jamestown) is e stablished. 1616 Shakespeare dies. 1623 Shakespeare's First Folio is published 1702 The first daily English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, is publis hed in London. 1755 Samuel Johnson publishes his English dictionary. 1776 Thomas Jefferson writes the American Declaration of Independence. 1782 Britain abandons its colonies in what is later to become the USA. 1828 Webster publishes his American English dictionary. Late Modern Engl ish 1922 The British Broadcasting Corporation is founded. 1928 The Oxford English Dictionary is published.