English Goes Underground
We see how England was ruled for three centuries after the Conquest by a French-speaking king and court which used Latin for their official business. English was the language of the peasants; a third-class tongue in its own country.
8 /10
The Battle for the Language of the Bible
English fought to be the language of the Christian Bible through the efforts of theologian John Wycliffe, who opposed the church's use of a Latin scripture because it prevented most of the population from reading the bible for themselves.
8.1 /10
This Earth, This Realm, This England
In Queen Elizabeth I's time, English began to expand to even greater depths. Overseas trade brought new words from France, as well as the now popular swearwords in the 16th century.
8.1 /10
English in America
English goes overseas to the New World. It displaces the native tongues and adopts new words from other European powers seeking to colonize the Americas.
8.1 /10
Speaking Proper

Wed, Dec 31, 1969
The 18th century Age of Enlightenment seeks to put a clamp on the ever changing nature of England, yet the language remains untamed.
8.8 /10
The Language of Empire
In India, scholar William Jones finds some English words already present in Sanskrit. Convicts land in Australia, blending London criminal slang and Aboriginal words into a new dialect. Jamaicans reclaim patois.
8.2 /10
Many Tongues Called English
As cultural influences affect the way people use English and new words come into everyday use, how does the Oxford English dictionary - the greatest repository of the language - keep up with developments.
8.8 /10

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