Late-Modern English (1800-Present)
The principal distinction between early- and late-modern English is vocabulary. Pronunciation, grammar, and spelling are largely the same, but Late-Modern English has many more words. These words are the result of two historical factors. The first is the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the technological society. This necessitated new words for things and ideas that had not previously existed. The second was the British Empire. At its height, Britain ruled one quarter of the earth's surface, and English adopted many foreign words and made them its own.
The industrial and scientific revolutions created a need for neologisms to describe the new creations and discoveries. For this, English relied heavily on Latin and Greek. Words like oxygen, protein, nuclear, and vaccine did not exist in the classical languages, but they were created from Latin and Greek roots. Such neologisms were not exclusively created from classical roots though, English roots were used for such terms as horsepower, airplane, and typewriter.
This burst of neologisms continues today, perhaps most visible in the field of electronics and computers. Byte, cyber-, bios, hard-drive, and microchip are good examples.
Also, the rise of the British Empire and the growth of global trade served not only to introduce English to the world, but to introduce words into English. Hindi, and the other languages of the Indian subcontinent, provided many words, such as pundit, shampoo, pajamas, and juggernaut. Virtually every language on Earth has contributed to the development of English, from Finnish (sauna) and Japanese (tycoon) to the vast contributions of French and Latin.
The British Empire was a maritime empire, and the influence of nautical terms on the English language has been great. Words and phrases like three sheets to the wind and scuttlebutt have their origins onboard ships.
Finally, the 20th century saw two world wars, and the military influence on the language during the latter half of this century has been great. Before the Great War, military service for English-speaking persons was rare; both Britain and the United States maintained small, volunteer militaries. Military slang existed, but with the exception of nautical terms, rarely influenced standard English. During the mid-20th century, however, virtually all British and American men served in the military. Military slang entered the language like never before. Blockbuster, nose dive, camouflage, radar, roadblock, spearhead, and landing strip are all military terms that made their way into standard English.
American English
Also significant beginning around 1600 AD was the English colonization of North America and the subsequent creation of a distinct American dialect. Some pronunciations and usages "froze" when they reached the American shore. In certain respects, American English is closer to the English of Shakespeare than modern British English is. Some "Americanisms" that the British decry are actually originally British expressions that were preserved in the colonies while lost at home (e.g., fall as a synonym for autumn, trash for rubbish, frame-up which was reintroduced to Britain through Hollywood gangster movies, and loan as a verb instead of lend).
The American dialect also served as the route of introduction for many native American words into the English language. Most often, these were place names like Mississippi, Roanoke, and Iowa. Indian-sounding names like Idaho were sometimes created that had no native-American roots. But, names for other things besides places were also common. Raccoon, tomato, canoe, barbecue, savanna, and hickory have native American roots, although in many cases the original Indian words were mangled almost beyond recognition.
Spanish has also been great influence on American English. Armadillo, mustang, canyon, ranch, stampede, and vigilante are all examples of Spanish words that made their way into English through the settlement of the American West.
To a lesser extent French, mainly via Louisiana, and West African, through the importation of slaves, words have influenced American English. Armoire, bayou, and jambalaya came into the language via New Orleans. Goober, gumbo, and tote are West African borrowings first used in America by slaves.
A Chronology of the English Language
55 BCE
Roman invasion of Britain under Julius Caesar
43 CE
Roman invasion and occupation under Emperor Claudius. Beginning of Roman rule of Britain
436
Roman withdrawal from Britain complete
449
Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain begins
450-480
Earliest Old English inscriptions date from this period
597
St. Augustine arrives in Britain. Beginning of Christian conversion of the Anglo-Saxons
731
The Venerable Bede publishes The Ecclesiastical History of the English People in Latin
792
Viking raids and settlements begin
865
The Danes occupy Northumbria
871
Alfred becomes king of Wessex. He has Latin works translated into English and begins practice of English prose. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is begun
911
Charles II of France grants Normandy to the Viking chief Hrolf the Ganger. The beginning of Norman French
c.1000
The oldest surviving manuscript of Beowulf dates from this period
1066
The Norman conquest
c.1150
The oldest surviving manuscripts in Middle English date from this period
1171
Henry II conquers Ireland
1204
King John loses the province of Normandy to France
1348
English replaces Latin as the medium of instruction in schools, other than Oxford and Cambridge which retain Latin
1349-50
The Black Death kills one third of the British population
1362
The Statute of Pleading replaces French with English as the language of law. Records continue to be kept in Latin. English is used in Parliament for the first time
1384
Wyclif publishes his English translation of the Bible
c.1388
Chaucer begins The Canterbury Tales
c.1400
The Great Vowel Shift begins
1476
William Caxton establishes the first English printing press
1485
Caxton publishes Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur
1492
Columbus discovers the New World
1525
William Tyndale translates the New Testament
1536
The first Act of Union unites England and Wales
1549
First version of The Book of Common Prayer
1564
Shakespeare born
1603
Union of the English and Scottish crowns under James the I (VI of Scotland)
1604
Robert Cawdrey publishes the first English dictionary, Table Alphabeticall
1607
Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the New World, established
1611
The Authorized, or King James Version, of the Bible is published
1616
Death of Shakespeare
1623
Shakespeare's First Folio is published
1666
The Great Fire of London. End of The Great Plague
1702
Publication of the first daily, English-language newspaper, The Daily Courant, in London
1755
Samuel Johnson publishes his dictionary
1770
Cook discovers Australia
1776
Thomas Jefferson writes the Declaration of Independence
1782
Washington defeats Cornwallis at Yorktown. Britain abandons the American colonies
1788
British penal colony established in Australia
1803
Act of Union unites Britain and Ireland
1828
Noah Webster publishes his dictionary
1851
Herman Melville publishes Moby Dick
1922
British Broadcasting Company founded
1928
The Oxford English Dictionary is published
