Evolution of English

The evolution of English, from its roots in Proto-Germanic all the way to Modern English! Late Modern got left out as that's largely a dialect or even mere accent, for as you can tell even Shakespeare is arguably Modern English, and I also didn't give the outside influences of Old Angevin and Old/Middle French since they were more minor than Norman and it would make the video quite a bit longer.

You can get an AB merch t-shirt right here! I've bought two myself, can't wait to receive them!

Thank you to Colonial for his art! Again, here are the other links mentioned:

Instagram - @abalphabeta

Sources:
Hogg, Richard M. (1992). "Chapter 3: Phonology and Morphology". In Hogg, Richard M. (ed.). The Cambridge History of the English
Ringe, Donald A. (2006). From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic. Linguistic history of English, v. 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-955229-0.
Kroonen, Guus (2013) Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 11), Leiden, Boston: Brill

#Language #English #History #Linguistics #Languages #Evolution #EvolutionLanguage #LanguageEvolution

[Spicy_]

1600: Thou art thy reason
2000: you are the reason
2050: you is the because

[mikazukiaugus]

"To be or not to be"


*Is you or is you ain't*

[FriedRice]

fun fact: one of the oldest words that still remain around today since ancient English is the word "town"

[GiaLogous]

Middle english be like:
In the mid of the table,

[yasashii]

It's interesting how the word "and" has never changed.

[modernmichelangelo]

It’s crazy how English went from sounding completely german to how it is today! It’s so mind blowing to hear old english!

[rekoxx]

"And" will never change. Glory to the "And"!!!

[kalanaherath]

*Standard English in the future:*

_"She sittin' right there under dat Dank ass table lookin' like a queen all hot and white like, finna go ask her out"_

Our language is going to sound Shakespearean to them

[chrisshirley]

For those who want to listen in reverse:
10:30 Modern English
9:17 Early Modern English
7:55 Late Middle English
6:38 Middle English
6:00 Outside Influence: Old Norman
4:38 Old English
3:58 Outside Influence: British Latin
3:20 Outside Influence: British Celtic
1:50 Anglo-Frisian
0:16 Proto-Germanic --> West Germanic

[duwang]

You guys don't know how good this timing is. I have a presentation in a month in English class and it's about the evolution of English. I will 100% use this video in the presentation, of course with crediting ABAlphaBeta for all his help!


*WE DID IT BOIS! I finally did my English presentation about the history of the English language, I got an A!*

[tearsintheraincantfeelthep]

"Yong she was and yet nat so"
Roasted...

[laamonftiboren]

I feel like this video, great though it is, has neglected the transition from old to middle English. It jumps from c.10th century English to c. late 14th century, and the two forms are dramatically different.

So… I decided to bridge the gap! Here are two intermediate stages of the language, which can be described as Transition English (or Semi-Saxon) and Early Middle English, respectively.



c.1150:

In þe bordes middle, wiþ wefen riften uppon þe walle, wæs an setl under selde, and þǽr sat an lafediȝ faȝer tó beséon, and alse wæs sce in maȝdenhád swá þe kynge þæt Edmund wénde þe sce wæs of his néhste kynne. Ȝung sce wæs ac ne swilc. Þá iwunden lokkes hire dunne hǽres nǽren irínen bí nán froste, hire hwíte armes and briht nebb wemmlǽse wǽren and sméþe, and steorrelém wæs in hire lihte égen, al swá græȝ swá wolkenlǽs nihte. Ac cuénlic me þuhte sce, and iþoht wæs in hire isihþ and andȝet, al swilc als án þe cnéow maniȝ þing þá þá ȝǽr bringen.

Bufen hire brúwe wráh án cappe hire hǽfed of seolfren ibroȝden seoleke mid smale ȝimmen on nette isett, hwíte glysniende; þǽh hire softe græȝ kyrtel næfde ná maþem búten ánne gyrdel of seolfrene lǽfes iwroht. Swilc winsumnesse in cuike wihte næfde Edmund nǽfre ǽr ne isegen nowþer næfde hé swá ifúnden on his móde; and him wæs eȝþer ȝe wundor ȝe scame þá fúnde hé þe hé hæfde setl æt þe kynges borde onmáng al þis folke swá héh and faȝer.



c.1250:

I þe bordes middle, aȝenes weven riftes upon þe walle, was a setel under a selde, and þer sat a levdí fair tó besén, and swo ilíche was sche in wimmanlíhede tó þe king þat Edmund wénde þat sche was of his néxstfolde. Ȝung sche was and ȝét nouȝt swo. Þe iwunden lockes of hire dunne here neren irínen bí no frost, hire whíte armes and briȝt semblant wemlese weren and sméþe, and sterrelém was in hire liȝte éȝen, al se grai swo skiles niȝt. Ak quénlí me þuȝte sche, and iþouȝt was in hir isiȝþ and andȝet, al swich as on þe havþ iknowen maní þing þat þe ȝeres bringen.

Buve hire brú a cappe wroȝ hire heved of selvere ibroiden selek mid smale ȝimmes a nette iset, whíte glisnende; þouȝ hire soft grai kirtel nadde no ornement búte onne girdel of selvrene leves iwrouȝt. Swich lufsumlék i quike wiȝte nadde Edmund nevere er isén nowþer nadde hé swo ifúnden a his móde; and him was eiþer ȝe wnder ȝe angoise þanne fúnde hé þat hé hadde setel at þe kinges borde among al þis folke swo héȝ and fair.



I’d like to emphasise I still really enjoyed the video – this is a fascinating demonstration of how English has evolved, and the pronunciation is, for the most part, very good. Also, great choice of sample text!

[FreeBird-wsye]

Id like to hear them argue about coconuts.

[nicolataino]

Me: hey what's the wi-fi password
Friend: oh it's on the back of the router
Back of the router: 0:17

[LuisMoreno-sdld]

I'm a native Spanish speaker and when I heard the British Latin I got amazed because I was able to understand almost everything.

[VictorbrineSC]

Basically if you travel back in time beyond the 15th century, you will be utterly lost

[michaelreinke]

As someone who speaks English and Spanish, it was fascinating to see few similarities I recognized in the evolution of the language.

[JotaV]

4:00 I speak Portuguese and I managed to understand literally everything that is written there, this is amazing, I speak british latin and didn't know

[NyrVindr]

4:03 Wtf I'm a Spanish speaker and I can literally understand A LOT of things there, I think almost the whole text lmao, it's so similar to Latin.

[LeonidasArg]

We all agree that English is the most messed up language of Europe, neither German nor Italian (among others) suffered so many changes as English.