When I was a teenager here in the US, it was common to divide English into Old English, Middle English, and Modern English.
The English of the King James Bible and of Shakespeare was early Modern English.
Old English was English before the Norman Conquest.
Middle English was between those two.
I haven't taught English since about 2006. Terminology may have changed.
People here in the US these days don't always seem to realize that the people called English, and their language called English, didn't exist until after the fall of the Roman empire. Also, the Scots were still in Scotia (Ireland) until the Romans left. So, no England, and no Scotland. The whole island was ruled by people speaking Brittonic Celtic languages.
The English language, I gather, began in the 400s as a pidgin of the languages of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. The British often call it Anglo-Saxon, instead of Old English.
I've only spent a total of about 4 and a half months in the UK. I've heard the English of the highland and lowland Scots, the English and Welsh of north Wales, the Scottish Gaelic of Skye, the English of London and Oxford, and the English of York, all spoken by native speakers.
During my years in Japan I met some Britons, including the mayor of Harrogate. He was impressed that his Japanese translator could manage to understand his Yorkshire English. We get a fair amount of British TV here in the US. We get a little Australian English, but not as much.
In the '70s, people here picked up a little British English from Monty Python (which was very popular here). Younger people here picked up a little from the Harry Potter novels. "Snogging" was not used here until Harry and his friends used it.
Khurram Wadee
in reply to Khurram Wadee • • •David
in reply to Khurram Wadee • • •Mmm. Common mistake.
When I was a teenager here in the US, it was common to divide English into Old English, Middle English, and Modern English.
The English of the King James Bible and of Shakespeare was early Modern English.
Old English was English before the Norman Conquest.
Middle English was between those two.
I haven't taught English since about 2006. Terminology may have changed.
People here in the US these days don't always seem to realize that the people called English, and their language called English, didn't exist until after the fall of the Roman empire. Also, the Scots were still in Scotia (Ireland) until the Romans left. So, no England, and no Scotland. The whole island was ruled by people speaking Brittonic Celtic languages.
The English language, I gather, began in the 400s as a pidgin of the languages of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. The British often call it Anglo-Saxon, instead of Old English.
I've only spent a total of about 4 and a half months in the UK. I've heard the English of the highland and lowland Scots, the English and Welsh of north Wales, the Scottish Gaelic of Skye, the English of London and Oxford, and the English of York, all spoken by native speakers.
During my years in Japan I met some Britons, including the mayor of Harrogate. He was impressed that his Japanese translator could manage to understand his Yorkshire English. We get a fair amount of British TV here in the US. We get a little Australian English, but not as much.
In the '70s, people here picked up a little British English from Monty Python (which was very popular here). Younger people here picked up a little from the Harry Potter novels. "Snogging" was not used here until Harry and his friends used it.
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