Late Modern English (1750-Present)

Late Modern English (or Current Standard English) developed from the second half of the 18th century and brought new changes in grammar and vocabulary. The British Empire covering a quarter of the earth’s surface spread English around the world and furtherly enriched it with many foreign words from different countries. The First Industrial Revolution in the 18th century and those that followed in the 19th and 20th centuries created a need for new lexis that turned English into the language of technology and innovation

Pride and Prejudice (1813) by Jane Austen, written in Late Modern English, is one pf the most famous English novels of all times.

Varieties of English

From around 1600, the English colonization of North America resulted in the creation of a distinct American variety of English. Some expressions called ‘Americanisms’ are original British expressions, for example ‘trash’ for ‘rubbish’, ‘loan’ as a verb instead of ‘lend’, and ‘fall’ for ‘autumn’. Spanish and Indian words entered English through the settlement of the American West. French words (through Louisiana) and West African words (through the slave trade) also influenced American English. Today, American English is particularly influential in the field of cinema, television, popular music, trade and technology (including the Internet).

1 Read the texts and fill in the table with the missing information.

Old English (450-1100)

Middle English (1100-1450)

Early Modern English (1450-1750)

The origin of English words

Latin (including words used only in scientific/medical/legal contexts)

French (includes Anglo-French)

Germanic (Old/Middle English/ Old Norse/Dutch)

Greek Unknown

Other Languages/Proper Names

Late Modern English (1750 onwards)

It was rooted in (1)__________, the language of the settling invaders.

It was a mixture of Anglo-Saxon, Norman (2)__________ and (3)__________

It was characterized by a series of phenomena: the Great Vowel Shift, the (4)__________ of the written language, the invention of (5)__________ and British (6)__________

The spread of the British (7)__________ and the Industrial (8)__________ both greatly contributed to the introduction of new terms.

2 Are the sentences true (T) or false (F)? Correct the false ones.

1. English is a member of the Germanic family of languages.

2. Old English developed from a Celtic language.

3. After 1066 Old English became the language of the aristocracy.

4. Middle English was full of words from Latin and French.

5. The invention of printing contributed to the standardization of English.

6. With the Great Vowel Shift new words were introduced into the English language.

7. The main difference between Early and Late Modern English resides in vocabulary.

8. New technical words have been added in the course of time thanks to the digital revolution.

3 THINK CRITICAL Why did printing have a positive impact on education?

4 MEDIATION Write a summary about the development of the English language, and get ready to report it back orally.