Listened to Episode 75: Mixed Languages and Scrambled Eggs

From Old English to early Middle English.

Northern England’s English had Nordic influences. Southern England and Normandy had French influences.

Old English had many dialects.

The  northern Old English dialect used the Old Norse word egges for eggs.  It became the standard word for eggs throughout England. The southern Old English dialect word was eyren. See Kentish dialect. See William Caxton.

“Caxton is credited with standardising the English language through printing—that is, homogenising regional dialects.” (Wikipedia entry on William Caxton)

See Caxton’s egg

The initial page of the Peterborough Chronicle via wikimedia

Peterborough Chronicle

Norman Conquest

Old English dialects: Mercian, Northumbrian, West Saxon, and Kentish.

See Old Norman, and Anglo-Norman.

. Rise of the London dialect. Early Modern English. Use of new printing technologies from China and its influence in the standardization of English.