ABSTRACT
[Abstract: An understanding of the major episodes in the history of English is necessary in order to understand the influences that other languages have had on it, including its spelling. This chapter describes the language’s origins in the invasion of Anglo-Saxon tribes in the 5th century (Old English), through the French influence of the Norman Conquest (11th century), the linguistic upheaval of the Great Vowel Shift (14th to 17th centuries), and the standardization produced by the printing press (15th century) (all Middle English), to the Renaissance (16th to 17th centuries) and colonialization (16th century onwards) (Modern English).]
