“King Alfred’s English. A History of the Language We Speak,” by Laurie J. White.
This was a fun book to read. I love languages including my own mother tongue. It is a brief history of how English became English. It starts with the Romans conquering Gaul and Britannia.
Topics included are:
Old English
- Brief overview about the English Language
- The Church and Latin enter the scene
- The Vikings and Old Norse leave their marks upon the language
Middle English
- The Normans and Old French came calling
- The first English Bible
- Printing began, Gutenberg
- Changes to spellings
- The Great Vowel Shift
Middle to Modern English
- Greeks leave their mark
- Ancient knowledge comes alive again
- Martin Luther
The making of the English Bible which led to a lot of important events.
Shakespeare was responsible for many words and phrase we use today in English.
It was an enjoyable book.