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THE ROMAN CONQUEST.

In 55 B.C. the Romans under Julius Caesar 1st landed in Britain. The 1st appearance of the Romans had no further consequences (they went back to Gaul). In 54 B.C. Caesar landed in Britain for the 2nd time, he routed the Britons and advanced as far as the Thames.

Permanent conquest of Britain began in 43 A.D., under emperor Claudius. The Romans subdued the Britons, and colonized the country. About 80 A.D. under emperor Domitian, the Romans occupied the territory including the modern cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.

In this period Britain became a Roman province. This colonization had a profound effect on the country. The Latin L. superseded the Celtic dialects. In the 4th c., when Christianity was introduced in the Roman empire, it also spread among the Britons.

In 410 Roman were recalled from Britain to defend Italy from the advancing Goths. So the Britons had to rely on their own forces in the coming struggles with Germanic tribes.

7. THE ANGLO-SAXON CONQUEST.

It was about middle 5th c. that Britain was conquered by Germanic tribes. The Britons fought against the conquerors for about a century.

Since the settlement of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain the ties of their L. with the continent were broken, and in its further development it went its own way. It is the 5th c., that the history of the English language begins.

Its original territory was England except Cornwall, Wales.

The Scots language belonging to the Celtic group has survived in the Highlands up to our own days.

Ireland also remained Celtic: the 1st attempts at conquering it were made in 12th c.

8. PERIODS IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH.

The English scholar Henry Sweet the author of a number of works on the English L. proposed the following division of the history of English according to the state of unstressed endings:

-1st-Old English-the period of full endings;

-2nd-middle English-bulled endings;

-3rd-modern English- lost endings;

There are the chronological limits of each period:

-OE period-about 700A.D.-1100;

-ME period- 1100-1500;

-MnE period-1500-our own times.

All the dates are very close to important events in the social and political life of the country.

 


Date: 2015-01-12; view: 1585


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