Historical Background of Modern English aka Present day English.

2. MODERN ENGLISH

3. • Started in 18th century
• Continues till now
• Also known as Late Modern
English

4. INTRODUCTION
• The main difference between Early
Modern English and Late Modern
English is
Vocabulary

5. Two Main Factors
• The rise of technology – Industrial
Revolution
• Growth of the British Empire
Due to these principal factors, the Modern
English language is very rich and flexible.

6. BRITISH EMPIRE
• Britain was an Empire for 200 years between 18th to
20th centuries.
• English language continued to change as the British
Empire moved across the world.
• To USA, Australia, New Zealand, India, Asia and Africa.
• The expansion of British Empire 19th century and
growing superpower status of the US in 20th century.

7. • They sent people to settle and live in their
conquered places as settlers interacted with
natives, new words were added to English
Vocabulary.
• For example: ‘kangaroo’ and ‘boomerang’ are
native Australian Aborigine words,
‘juggernaut’ and ‘turban’ came from India.

8. INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
• Before the industrial revolution everything
was hand made.
• England began the IR in the 18th century and
this had an affect on the development of the
language as new words had to be invented.
• Existing words were added to the vocabulary
as inventors designed various products and
machinery.
• Trains, engine, pulleys, combustion, electricity,
telephone, camera, etc
• were named after the inventor.

9. MOVIE TIME 
• http://www.history.com/topics/industrial-
revolution/videos

10. • The IR influenced the English language as
new ideas and contraptions were being
invented, along with a range of new fields of
people could work in.
• English started to become an International
Language at this point.
• New varieties such as American English and
Indian English began to form.
• Cultural issues at this time included women’s
and children’s rights.

11. WHAT HAPPENED ?
18TH CENTURY

12. KEY DATES
YEAR WHAT HAPPENED?
1820/’40 INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
1800 EXPANSION OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE
BRINGS OTHER WORDS INTO OUR
LANGUAGE AS WELL AS TAKING ENGLISH
WORDS INTO THE OTHERS.
1828 WEBSTER PUBLISHES BOOKS ON
GRAMMAR, CREATING STANDARDS FOR
GRAMMAR AS WELL AS SPELLING.

13. KEY FEATURES OF MODERN
ENGLISH
• Spelling became much more consistent and
standardised.
• Regional differences in language lessened.
• Quality of education, literacy, and communication
meant English become more standardised as a whole.
• Newly coined words were used more heavily and
quickly.
• Use of auxiliary verbs became more mandatory in
interrogative sentence.
• Archaic possessive pronouns were still in use in
earlier.

14. 19TH CENTURY

15. KEY DATES
DATES WHAT HAPPENED ??
1914-1918 WORLD WAR 1
1922 BBC FOUNDED
1928 OXFORD ENGLISH DICTONARY
1939-1945 WORLD WAR 2
1961 WEBSTER’s THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL
DICTIONARY IS PUBLISHED
1988 THE INTERNET IS RELEASED TO THE
PUBLIC
1994 TEXT MESSAGING IS INTRODUCED AND
THE FIRST MODERN BLOGS GO ONLINE
2006 TWITTER IS FORMED

16. LATE MODERN ENGLISH
• Text speak such as ‘lol’ and ‘omg’ has filtered through everyday
usage, including spoken language.
• The internet, texting, new gadgets, tablets and smart phones
come with entirely new lexical sets as well as jargon and
specialised language.
• Books become more cheaper and more people learned to read.
• The importance of belief and religion has lessened.
• Attitudes towards females and sexuality slowly shifting.
• World wars, terrorism and environmental threats also impact
values and attitudes in society.
• We have standard spelling and grammar systems.
• Acronyms have become a normal part of language.
• Grammar rules can be flouted more easily.
• ENGLISH is now very much a global language, with many
influences and new words being created constantly.

17. MAJOR INFLUENCES
• The media
• Technology
• Social media and communication
• Traveling and migration
• Texting
• Jargon and slang
• Education

18. BORROWED WORDS
• Latin gave English words like –
o Street, kitchen, kettle, cup, cheese, wine, etc..
• The Vikings added many Norse words-
o Sky, egg, cake, skin, leg, window, wind, eye
• Celtic words were also survived mainly in
place and river names-
o Devon, Doven, Kent, Trent, Severn, Avon, Thames…

19. • Many pairs of English and Norse words
coexisted giving us two words with the same
meaning or slightly differing meaning.
NORSE ENGLISH
ANGER WRATH
NAY NO
FRO FROM
ILL SICK
SKIRT SHIRT

20. • French became the language of the Norman
Aristocracy and added more vocabulary to
English.
FRENCH ENGLISH
CLOSE SHUT
ODOUR SMELL
ANNUALY YEARLY
CHAMBER ROOM

21. • Spanish also had an influence
on American English and
subsequently British English,
with words like canyon,
ranch, stampede, and
vigilante being example of
spanning words that entered
English through the
settlement of the American
West.
• French words through
Louisiana and West African

22. VARITIES OF ENGLISH
• Today, American English is particularly
influential, due to the USA’s dominance of
cinema, television, popular music, trade and
technology and also including internet.
• But there are other type of English around the
world, for example Australian English, New
Zealand English, Canadian English, South
African English, Indian English and
Caribbean English.

23. Lastly….
• English continues
to change and
develop, with
hundreds of new
words arriving
every year.
• But even with all
the borrowing
from many other
languages the
heart of the
English language
remains the
Anglo-Saxon of

24. THANK YOU EVERYONE 
By:
BAKIYAGANESAN