SOCIO-HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS ANALYSIS OF THE LORD’S PRAYER:

The English language has been actively evolving since its genesis in the 5th century England. Social, cultural, and political factors play a huge role in the evolution of the English language. The present study aims to reveal the evolution of the English language from Old English to Modern English from Biblical texts, particularly Matthew 6:9-13, also known as the Lord’s Prayer. The analysis was done in two layers, which are historical linguistics to dissect the evolution of the English language on a lexical, morphological, and syntactic level, and sociolinguistics analysis to point out the reason behind it. The research concluded that, influenced by the social and cultural changes of the time, the English language had experienced constant and gradual simplifications, such as the elimination of Germanic properties of Old English, a uniform pattern in Middle and Early Modern English, and differences of tone and delivery in Modern English variants.