A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH

LANGUAGE 1
• Pre-historic period – Tribes in Britain speak Brythonic, a Celtic language.
No writing before Roman invasion.

• AD 43 – ca. AD 410 Roman period in Britain – Latin introduced as written

language and spoken language of ruling class.

• AD 450 – 550 Invasion of Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes) from

Holland, northern Germany and southern Denmark, bringing Germanic
language with various dialects.

• AD 450 – 1150 Old English period. Old English originally written with
runes, gradually replaced by adapted Latin alphabet.
 OLD ENGLISH
Þȳ ilcan gēare drehton þā hergas on Ēastenglum ond on Norðhymbrum
Westseaxna lond swīðe be þǣm sūðstæðe mid stælhergum, ealra swīþust mid
ðǣm æscum þe hīe fela gēara ǣr timbredon. Þā hēt Ælfred cyng timbran lang
scipu ongēn ðā æscas; þā wǣron fulnēah tū swā lange swā þā ōðru; sume hæfdon
LX āra, sume mā; þā wǣron ǣgðer ge swiftran ge unwealtran ge ēac hīerran
þonne þā ōðru; nǣron nāwðer ne on Frēsisc gescæpene ne on Denisc, būton swā
him selfum ðūhte þæt hīe nytwyrðoste bēon meahten. Þā æt sumum cirre þæs
ilcan gēares cōmon þǣr sex scipu tō Wiht, ond þǣr mycel yfel gedydon, ǣgðer ge
on Defenum ge wel hwǣr be ðǣm sǣriman.

In the same year the plunderers in East Anglia and Northumbria greatly harassed the land of the
West Saxons around the southern shore with marauding bands, most of all with ships which they
built many years before. Then King Alfred ordered (his men) to build long ships (to be used) against
the (Danish) ships; they were almost twice as long as the others; some had 60 oars, some more.
They were both swifter and steadier and also higher than the others; they were shaped neither on
the Frisian nor on the Danish (model), but as it seemed -- to he himself -- they might be most
useful. At a certain time of the same year there came six ships to (the Isle of) Wight, and did much
mischief there, both in Devonshire and almost everywhere near the seacoast.

Source: Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 10th century

 Features of Old English
• Phonology - most of the consonants found in English today,
including th (þ and ð); short vs. long vowels
stress on initial or root syllable

• Verbs – two categories: strong vs. weak verbs.

Strong verbs show ablaut (vowel change), weak verbs add –ede, -
ode, -de.
Only two inflected tenses (present and past), other tenses and
passive formed periphrastically.

• Nouns – three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter); four cases

(nominative, accusative, genitive and dative); singular and plural

• Adjectives –comparative/superlative in -er/-est.

 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE 2
• AD 312 Roman Emperor Constantine converts
to Christianity
• AD 380 Christianity (Catholicism) becomes
state religion of Roman Empire
• AD 597 – 686 Christianization of Anglo-Saxons
in Britain
• ca. AD 700 onwards
Translation of psalms, gospels and large parts
of the Bible into Old English
 Word Formation
• by addition of prefixes and suffixes:
e.g. mōd ‘ânimo, coragem’ > mōdig ‘animado,
corajoso’; mōdiglic ‘magnânimo’; mōdiglice
‘corajosamente, com ânimo’; mōdignes
‘magnanimidade’; mōdfull ‘altivo’; mōdlēas ‘sem
ânimo’

• by compounding:
e.g. mōdcræft ‘inteligência’; mōdlufu ‘afeto’.
 The Viking Legacy
AD 787 – 1042 Viking invasions and conquest

Vikings spoke a Germanic language (Scandinavian) very similar to

Old English.
Linguistic similarity meant that ‘form words’ (pronouns [e.g. they,
them, him], prepositions, adverbs, part of the verb ‘to be’ [e.g. are])
were also absorbed.

Syntactic features:
• loss of relative pronoun in some relative clauses (e.g. the man I
saw) and placement of preposition at the end (e.g. Where do you
come from? the book I’m looking for)
• use of ‘shall’ and ‘will’ for future
• phrasal verbs
Britain AD 890
 Old Norse
Þá er þeir kómu at, vissu þeir eigi hvárt Gunnarr myndi heim vera, ok báðu at
einnhverr myndi fara heim fyrir ok vita hvers víss yrði, en þeir settusk niðr á vǫllinn.
Þorgrímr austmaðr gekk upp á skálann; Gunnarr sér at rauðan kyrtil bar við
glugginum, ok leggr út með atgeirinum á hann miðjan. Þorgrími skruppu fœtrnir ok
varð lauss skjǫldrinn, ok hrataði hann ofan af þekjunni. Gengr hann síðan at þeim
Gizuri, þar er þeir sátu á vellinum. Gizurr leit við honum ok mælti, "Hvárt er Gunnarr
heima?" Þorgrímr svarar, "Viti þér þat, en hitt vissa ek, at atgeirr hans var heima."
Síðan fell hann niðr dauðr.

When they arrived, they did not know whether Gunnar would be at home, and they
said that someone should go up to the house and find out for certain, while the others
set themselves down on the ground. Thorgrim, a Norwegian, went up to the hall;
Gunnar saw that a red tunic appear at the window, and shot out a spear at his
midsection. Thorgrim's feet slipped and his shield came loose, and he tumbled down off
the thatch. Then he went back to the rest, Gizur among them, where they sat on the
ground. Gizur looked at him and said, "Is Gunnar home?"
Thorgrim answered, "You find out; but I discovered this: his spear was home." Then he
fell down dead.

Source: Brennu-Njáls Saga, 13th century

 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE 3
• 1066-1200 Norman conquest – language of court and government,
upper class and church became Norman French; period of
bilingualism

• 1200-1500 Bilingualism to English only as England and France break

apart and English nationalism grows

• Middle English period (1150-1500)

huge influx of loanwords from French
inflection greatly simplified leading to fixing of word order and shift
of grammatical gender to natural gender
loss of native words
huge increase in number of regular verbs formed from nouns or
imported
 Middle English
`Thou hast yhad fyve housbondes,' quod he,
`And that ilke man that now hath thee
Is noght thyn housbonde,'
thus seyde he certeyn.
What that he mente therby, I kan nat seyn;
But that I axe, why that the fifthe man
Was noon housbonde to the Samaritan?
How manye myghte she have in mariage?
Yet herde I nevere tellen in myn age
Upon this nombre diffinicioun.
Men may devyne and glosen,
up and doun,
But wel I woot, expres, withoute lye,
God bad us for to wexe and multiplye;

Source: Geoffrey Chaucer, The Wife of Bath’s Prologue, 14th century

 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE 3
• 1500 – present Modern English period – changes in
pronunciation, fixing of spelling, input of loanwords
from more ‘exotic’ languages.
• From 16th century onwards, progressive verb forms
started to develop (he was on laughing > he was a-
laughing > he was laughing). Progressive began to be
used in all verb tenses, creating an aspectual system.
• British Empire and then American influence spread
English around the world: today, first language of 400
million, second language of 1.4 billion.
 Early Modern English

As for the antiquitie of our speche, whether it be measured by the

ancient Almane, whence it cummeth originallie, or euen but by the
latest terms which it borroweth daielie from foren tungs, either of
pure necessitie in new matters, or of mere brauerie, to garnish it
self withall, it cannot be young. Onelesse the Germane himself be
young, which claimeth a prerogatiue for the age of his speche, of an
infinit prescription: Onelesse the Latin and Greke be young, whose
words we enfranchise to our own vse, tho not allwaie immediatlie
from them selues, but mostwhat thorough the Italian, French, and
Spanish: Onelesse other tungs [ … ] will for companie sake be
content to be young, that ours maie not be old.

Source: Richard Mulcaster, The First Part of the Elementarie, 1582

 Exercise 1
Find a Germanic word or phrasal verb to replace the underlined
words:

1. Remove the foil lid before placing the lasagna in the oven.
2. He had to have several of his teeth extracted.
3. I will now distribute some questionnaires for you to complete.
4. Please board now as the train is about to depart.
5. I need to deposit these cheques and withdraw some cash.
6. It is prohibited to consume alcoholic beverages on these premises.
7. You would have obtained a higher grade if you had not omitted the
second paragraph of the translation.
8. Did you acquire any French during your stay in Paris?
 English and Portuguese – Comparative
Timeline
Date England Portugal
B.C. Brythonic (Celtic) Lusitanian (Celtic?)
0 – 400 A.D. Speech: Celtic Speech: Vulgar Latin
Roman Empire Writing: Classical Latin Writing: Classical Latin
400 – 700 A.D. Speech: Old English Speech: Vulgar Latin
Germanic invasions Writing: Classical Latin/Old Writing: Classical Latin
Christianization English (650 onwards)

700 - 1000 Viking period Moorish period

Speech: Old English/Old Norse Speech: Galician-
Portuguese/Arabic

1000 - 1200 Norman period Kingdom of Portugal

Speech: Old/Middle English Speech: Galician-Portuguese
Old French
Writing: Old French/Latin

1258: First official documents 1296: Portuguese adopted for

appear in English official documents
Renaissance Many words borrowed from Latin Many words borrowed from Latin
 Exercise 2
1. De onde você veio hoje?
2. O homem com quem eu falava é o diretor da escola.
3. Este é o lugar a que temos que voltar.
4. Você tem uma sacola para eu colocar as minhas
coisas?
5. O que é que você está olhando?
6. Ele finalmente achou a casa que estava procurando.
7. Você vai no carro de quem?
8. É um assunto em que não quero entrar.
9. Você sabe do que são feitas aquelas esculturas?
10. O rio é muito largo para atravessarmos a nado.
 Difference between English and
Portuguese in motion expressions
• Consider the following sentences:

Let’s swim across.

Vamos atravessar a nado.

A tank rumbled past.

Um tanque de guerra passou com grande estrondo.

The thief crept in and stole the money.

O ladrão entrou de mansinho e roubou o dinheiro.
 Phrasal Verbs of Motion
• Phrasal verbs of motion consist of:
verb of motion + adverb of direction
e.g. go up, come out, walk around, run across

• Phrasal verbs of motion can also be transitive:

e.g. take sth up, bring sth out, carry sth
around, ferry sb across, push sth down
 Adverbs of Direction
across on
along off
around (round, about) out
apart over
away through
back under
by/past up
down
in
 Examples of Motion Phrasals
• Let’s swim across.
• I was cycling along when all of a sudden my chain broke.
• Move your legs further apart.
• The children were running around in the garden.
• He got in the car and drove away.
• I had no money left so I had to hitch back to where my parents live.
• A tank rumbled past.
• The cat was up in a tree and couldn’t get down.
• The thief crept in and stole the money.
• The elephant knelt down so I could climb on.
• Her sandals kept slipping off.
• When the bell went, the students flooded out into the schoolyard.
• There was a big puddle outside the door and we had to jump over.
• There was a very small opening but I managed to squeeze through.
• There was a gap below the fence and the dog had crawled under.
• The elevator wasn’t working so we had to walk up.
 Prepositions of Direction
across onto / on
along off
around (round, out of
about) over
by/past through
down to
from under
into / in up
 Examples using Prepositions of
Direction
• They ran across the road.
• He cycles around town.
• We drove past your house.
• They skied down the mountain.
• He dashed in/into the kitchen.
• The car shot out of a side road.
• They clambered over the wall.
• We had to crawl under the fence.
• He managed to scramble up the riverbank.
 Exercise 3
1. Fui pedalando até o centro da cidade.
2. Desci a escada de mansinho, para ninguém me
ouvir.
3. É perigoso atravessar a rua correndo.
4. Vou trabalhar de carro
5. Deram a volta na ilha a nado.
6. Ela saiu da sala igual a um furacão.
7. O jogador saiu mancando do campo.
8. Decidimos voltar para São Paulo de avião.
 Directionality in English
entrar to go in/to come in
sair to go out/to come out
subir to go up/to come up
descer to go down/to come down
voltar to go back/to come back
atravessar to go across/to come across
passar to go by/to come by
 Direction of motion relative to the
speaker
• The verbs go and come and transitive
equivalents take and bring show direction of
motion relative to the speaker:
• go/take - motion away from the speaker
• come/bring - motion towards the speaker
• Portuguese has the same distinction: ir/levar
vs. vir/trazer, but basic rules are broken in
some cases in English:
 Differences in usage of come/bring
and vir/trazer (1)
• In English, come/bring are also used when motion is
towards the place where the addressee is, will be or
was:
I’ll come and see you at your office tomorrow. (vou)
Do you mind if I bring someone to the party? (se eu
levar)
Look out! There’s a snake coming toward you! (indo )
When you’re living in China, I’ll come and visit you.
(vou)
Hollywood, here I come! (lá vou eu!)
 Differences in usage of come/bring
and vir/trazer (2)
• Come/bring are usually used when the speaker
talks about accompanying the addressee
somewhere, especially when the addressee is
about to leave, or when it is the speaker who is
going somewhere:
Do you want me to come with you? (que eu vá)
Oh, so you’re going to see a movie? Can I come
too? (ir)
I’ll come to the library with you and bring my
laptop. (vou ... levo ...)
I’m going to the mall. Do you want to come? (ir)
 Exercise 4
1. Você pode subir aqui um pouco?
2. Nós vamos sair. Quer sair conosco?
3. Você pode trazer a roupa suja para baixo?
4. Dá uma buzinada quando você chegar que eu desço.
5. Volto para a Inglaterra amanhã.
6. Você fica aqui que eu subo com as compras.
7. Vimos o ladrão entrando na casa da vizinha.
8. Ela entrou na sala e me cumprimentou.
9. Vai sair agora? Que horas você volta?
10. Vou aí almoçar com você. Quer que eu leve alguma
coisa?
 What is a phrasal verb?
• Semantic definition – any combination of a verb
and an adverb/preposition that has a distinct
meaning from the simple verb (includes verbs like
count on and account for).
• Syntactic/phonetic definition – combination of a
verb and a stressed particle (adverb/preposition).
Adverb particles can usually be placed before or
after a noun object e.g. put on your hat or put
your hat on (excludes verbs like count on and
account for).
 Phrasal Verbs in ELT Dictionaries
• Most ELT dictionaries use the semantic
definition because it facilitates look-up:
stand
stand around
stand by
stand down
stand for
stand in etc.
Verb + Preposition or True Phrasal?
• Apart from the difference in spoken stress, there are two tests
which determine whether a given combination is a prepositional
verb or a true phrasal:

• With prepositional verbs, you can only place the object after the
preposition (since it is actually a prepositional object). With most
phrasal verbs, the object can also be placed before the particle:
cf. we count on your support we count your support on
we put on our coats we put our coats on

• With prepositional verbs, you can put an adverb between the verb
and the prepositional phrase. With phrasal verbs, you cannot:
cf. we count heavily on your support
we put quickly on our coats
 But aren’t phrasal verbs informal?
• You may have heard that phrasal verbs are informal
and should be avoided in formal writing.
• This is FALSE. Corpus evidence shows that phrasal
verbs are frequently used even in the most formal
written contexts.
• Most phrasal verbs are neutral in register, but there are
formal, informal, slang, technical etc. phrasal verbs just
as with other lexical items
• It is true that phrasal verbs are extremely common in
everyday spoken English, so learning to use them
correctly and with confidence is one of the keys to
sounding like a native speaker!
 The meaning of a phrasal verb
• The meaning of a phrasal verb is a combination of two
elements:
– the meaning of the verb
– the meaning of the particle
• The exact meaning of the particle is determined by the
meaning of the verb:
e.g. around
– with verbs denoting linear motion = in various directions
walk around, run around, dance around, look around
– with verbs denoting circular motion = in circles
turn around, spin around, whirl around
 Moving beyond motion verbs
• Phrasal verbs have developed new meanings
because:
– the basic verbs have developed figurative
meanings
and/or
– the particles have developed figurative meanings
 Figurative meanings of around (1)
Literal meaning Figurative meaning Examples
in various directions, to to different people ask around, phone around
different places
in various directions, to distribution, circulation go around, hand sth
different places around, pass sth around,
spread sth around

in various directions, to aimlessly, without purpose fool around, hang around,

different places lie around, lounge around,
mess around, mope
around, play around, sit
around, stand around, wait
around
in various directions, to making a person go in boss sb around, order sb
different places various directions around, push sb around
 Figurative meanings of around (2)
Literal meaning Figurative meaning Examples
turning changing your/sb’s mind bring sb around, come
around, talk sb around,
win sb around
turning from unconsciousness bring sb around, come
around
surrounding crowd around, gather
around
going around an obstacle avoiding or finding an get around sth, go around
alternative way sth, skirt around sth, work
around sth
 The progression from literal to
figurative meaning
• go around
I went around collecting signatures. literal
There’s a rumor/virus going around.
You can’t go around threatening people.
I hope there’s enough food to go around. figurative

• come around
Call the waiter when you see him coming around. literal
A note came around saying there would be no school on Friday.
Why don’t you come around tonight?
My birthday’s coming around again soon.
The patient’s starting to come around from the anesthetic.
I’m glad he’s finally come around to our way of thinking. figurative
 Different figurative senses
• Some particles have a wide range of figurative sentences (e.g. out,
up) so can combine with the same polysemous verb to produce
quite diverse meanings, e.g. bring up:
Literal sense: Will you bring the suitcases up?
Figurative sense 1: Bringing up children is not easy.
(cf. grow up)
Figurative sense 2: Why did you have to bring the subject up?
(cf. come up. dig up, rake up)
Figurative sense 3: I brought up my dinner.
(cf. cough up, throw up)
Figurative sense 4: The salesman brought the prices up on the
screen for me to look at.
(cf. come up, hang up, put up)
 Exercise 5
• Read the following sentences. Identify five different
figurative meanings of off and put the sentences into pairs:
I’m not sure I’ll be able to get that day off.
We’ll get the contract off to you today.
Get off – you’re hurting me!
He got off with a $200 fine.
I’m getting off at the next stop.
I have to get the kids off by 8.00 a.m.
Her father’s hired a top lawyer to get her off.
What time do you get off on Fridays?
Would you please get your feet off the table?
The cabin crew helped to get the passengers off safely.
 The grammar of phrasal verbs
• In terms of grammar, we can distinguish four
main types of phrasal verb:
1. verb + adverb (classic phrasal)
2. verb + preposition (prepositional phrasal)
3. verb + adverb + preposition (three-word
phrasal)
4. verb + object + adverb + preposition (two-
object phrasal)
 Classic phrasals
• This category includes the vast majority of
phrasals:

– all intransitive phrasals (e.g. go out, laze around,

come over etc.)

– most transitive phrasals (e.g. take out, put on, tear

down etc.)
 Intransitive phrasals
• Verb and particle cannot be separated:

He sat slowly down.

He sat down slowly.

Did you go last night out?

Did you go out last night?
 Transitive phrasals
• A noun object can be placed either before or
after the particle:
bring up a subject or bring a subject up
take off your shoes or take your shoes off
• A personal pronoun object only between the
verb and the particle:
bring up it bring it up
 take off them take them off
 Prepositional phrasals
• This category includes all phrasals where the
second element is a preposition which cannot
function as an adverb, e.g. after, into, onto

look after the children > look after them

look the children after > look them after

look into the matter > look into it

look the matter into > look it into
 Three-word phrasals
• These consist of a verb, an adverb and a
preposition (e.g. look forward to, make up for,
put up with, stand up for).

• The object can only be placed after the final

preposition:
I’m looking forward to it.
 I’m looking it forward to
 I’m looking forward it to
 Two-object phrasals
• These consist of a verb + object + adverb +
preposition + object, e.g.:

Don’t take your anger out on me!

They put the accident down to human error.

 Exercise 6
1. Vou descer na próxima estação.
2. Ele limpou os óculos e colocou-os.
3. O dentista tirou o dente podre.
4. Ela não via a hora de tirar o sapato.
5. Quando eu virei, tinha um policial atrás de mim.
6. Ele ficou de retornar a minha ligação depois do almoço.
7. Vou embora para Nova York amanhã. Estou ansioso.
8. A gasolina subiu de novo.
9. Nós nos damos superbem.
10. A história não é verdadeira. Eu a inventei.
11. Não descarregue em cima de mim!
12. Não sei como você aguenta aquele barulho!
 Difficulties with phrasal verbs
• The same verb + particle combination can have very
different meanings:
bring up a child bring up your lunch
• The same verb + particle combination can have
different grammar and different meanings:
get across the river get the message across
• There are many idioms and fixed collocations involving
phrasal verbs. In these, the order of elements is usually
fixed:
put up a fight put a fight up
get a move on get on a move
 Tips on learning and teaching phrasal
verbs (1)
• Concentrate first on the most frequent
phrasals – those that are introduced in
coursebooks and simple motion phrasals
(come in, go out etc.)
• Don’t try to learn lists of phrasals – you will
just get confused. Dictionaries of phrasal verbs
list every one imaginable, so are bewildering
unless there is some indication of frequency.
Better to pick up phrasals as you go along.
 Tips on learning and teaching phrasal
verbs (2)
• With transitive phrasals, try to memorize (and teach)
them together with a typical object, e.g. turn the light
off, put your shoes on etc. Note that some transitive
phrasals are used with a very restricted range of
objects, e.g. run up a debt/bill.
• As you read English, start to take note of what
meanings phrasal verb particles have in combination
with certain kinds of verbs, e.g. with verbs of giving,
out often has the idea of distribution to a number of
people, as in deal out, give out, hand out, send out,
share out. This will help you to guess and learn the
meaning of new phrasals.
 Tips on learning and teaching phrasal
verbs (3)
• Opposites can be helpful when learning and teaching phrasals.
e.g. on vs. off
– literal meaning (Start the skateboard moving and then jump on/If you
can’t stop the skateboard, just jump off)
– means of transport to get on vs. to get off
– with clothes put on vs. take off
– with machines turn on vs. turn off
• Also transitive vs. intransitive equivalences:
e.g. bring vs. come
bring up levantar (assunto) come up surgir (assunto)
bring out publicar; ressaltar come out sair; sobressair
put vs. go etc.
 Phrasal nouns and phrasal adjectives
• There are many phrasal nouns derived from
phrasal verbs. Verb and particle are joined with a
hyphen or written together:
set-up, check-in, breakup, crackdown
• There are also phrasal adjectives spelled with
hyphens:
sought-after, made-up, watered-down
• For those ending in -ing, the particle comes first:
off-putting, ongoing, upcoming, outstanding
 New phrasals
• Native speakers create and understand new phrasal
verbs all the time by analogy with existing ones, e.g.
She vacuumed up the crumbs.
Can you copy me in on that e-mail?
I bluetoothed the photos across to my laptop.
I’m carnivaled out.
Let’s watch that moment back and see exactly what
happened.
Tony Blair denied that he had asked anyone to sex up
the report.
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