The Influence of Major Historic Events on the English Language Today

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Terminology
• 3. Modern English characteristics
  • 3.1 Lexicon
    • 3.1.1 Suffixes: Stress shifting
    • 3.1.2 Allomorphy
    • 3.1.3 Bound roots
  • 3.2 Orthography
    • 3.2.1 Phonological changes: Long Vowels and Diphthongs
    • 3.2.2 Silent Graphemes
    • 3.2.3 Digraphs
• 4. Historical explanations
  • 4.1 Norman Conquest
    • 4.1.1 New diphthongs
    • 4.1.2 The fricative voice contrast
  • 4.2 Great Vowel Shift
  • 4.3 Loss of sounds
• 5. Conclusion

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This Bachelor Thesis aims to analyze the English language by investigating selected historical events that influenced the English language system and are therefore reasons for the contemporary state of Modern English (ModE). The central question explored in this paper is: "What major historic events influenced the English language and what impact did they have in a degree that is still visible in Modern English?”

• Diachronic analysis of Modern English features
• Impact of historical events on the English language system
• Analysis of Modern English lexicon and orthography
• Examination of historical explanations for ModE irregularities
• Tracing the influence of language contact on ModE

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The first chapter introduces the topic of inconsistencies in Modern English and provides background information on the development of the language. It discusses the significance of studying historical events that have shaped English.

Chapter two defines key terminology used throughout the thesis, including orthography, phonology, phoneme, grapheme, digraph, affix, stress, borrowing, and lexeme. These definitions establish a foundation for understanding the concepts presented in subsequent chapters.

Chapter three focuses on Modern English characteristics in terms of lexicon and orthography. It examines specific examples of language features such as suffixes, allomorphy, bound roots, phonological changes, silent graphemes, and digraphs, providing insights into the synchronic irregularities of ModE.

Chapter four delves into historical explanations for the features and irregularities observed in Modern English. It analyzes the impact of significant historical events such as the Norman Conquest and the Great Vowel Shift on the development of the language.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

The key concepts explored in this Bachelor Thesis include Modern English, diachronic analysis, synchronic features, lexicon, orthography, phonological changes, historical explanations, Norman Conquest, Great Vowel Shift, language contact, and language change.