Standard English
(as spoken today)

 Old English
(as in Beowulf)		 Middle English
(as in Chaucer)
fire * *
five * *
if * *
ground * *
wonderfully * *
wood * *
way * *
night * *
did * *
daughter * *
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* * Changing Language
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* *Changing Times
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Word Building activities menu
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* Word Matching
page 2

 

Bullet Put the jumbled words into three columns, under the headings.

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When you have finished matching, look at the three columns. Are they so very different? Then notice how the words have changed over time:

Bullet What often happens to the 'y'?
Bullet What happens to the vowel 'u' ?
Bullet Which list of words has the most final 'e's?
Bullet What is the Old English suffix used at the end of adverbs?
Bullet When did the 'gh' spelling come into these words?

Even the word 'English' has been written in different ways across the centuries:

ENGLISC
* INGELIS
* INGLISCHE
* ENGLYSSHE
* ENGLISH

Do you think it will change again in the future?

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