Page:The Sources of Standard English.djvu/350

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
The New English.
321


Thirteenth Century Loss of thousands of Old English words, which are slowly re­placedby French words.
Fourteenth Century The New English, or Dano-Anglian, which had long been forming, gains possession of Lon­don and Oxford, and is spoken at Court.
Fifteenth Century The Printing-press fixes the lan­guage, which had lost nearly all its inflections.
Sixteenth Century The Reformation brings Standard English home to all men, and imports many Latin words.
Seventeenth Century The Golden age of English Litera­ture. It began, indeed, ten years before this Century.
Eighteenth Century A Latinized style prevails.
Nineteenth Century Reaction from Latinism to Teuton­ism, at least in our good writers. Long may it last!