The History of English Language

The language we speak is one perhaps 4000 or more throughout the

world. We cannot be sure of the precise number; estimates have
varied between 2000 and 4000 but it seems probable that even the
higher figure is an underestimate. Recent survey of the language of
Africa lists over 700 , yet this exclude from its list all the Bantu
language which form the largest single language group , including
almost all the language spoken in the southern half of that continent ;
and Africa is only a small part of the entire world. (Bolton. 1966. p 12)

I will talk about one of theses languages and the history of

development of the English language. English language has been
exposed to many changes and experienced multiple stages due to
several factors, one of these factors is the conquest from different
cultures such as Celtic, Romans, Anglo Saxon, Vikings, all of those
cultures influenced the English language.

It's never easy to pinpoint exactly when a specific language began,

but in the case of English we can at least say that there is little sense
in speaking of the English language as a separate entity before the
Anglo-Saxons came to Britain. Little is known of this period with any
certainty, but we do know that Germanic invaders came and settled
in Britain from the north-western coastline of continental Europe in
the fifth and sixth centuries. The invaders all spoke a language that
was Germanic (related to what emerged as Dutch, Frisian, German
and the Scandinavian languages, and to Gothic), but we'll probably
never know how different their speech was from that of their
continental neighbors. However it is fairly certain that many of the
settlers would have spoken in exactly the same way as some of their
north European neighbors, and that not all of the settlers would have
spoken in the same way.

The reason that we know so little about the linguistic situation in this
period is because we do not have much in the way of written records
from any of the Germanic languages of north-western Europe until
several centuries later. When Old English writings begin to appear in
the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries there is a good deal of
regional variation, but not substantially more than that found in later
periods. This was the language that Alfred the Great referred to as
‘English’ in the ninth century.
The Celts were already resident in Britain when the Anglo-Saxons
arrived, but there are few obvious traces of their language in English
today. Some scholars have suggested that the Celtic tongue might
have had an underlying influence on the grammatical development of
English, particularly in some parts of the country, but this is highly
speculative. The number of loanwords known for certain to have
entered Old English from this source is very small. Those that
survive in modern English include brock (badger), and coomb a type
of valley, alongside many place names.

The Scandinavian Settlements

The next invaders were the Norsemen. From the middle of the ninth
century large numbers of Norse invaders settled in Britain,
particularly in northern and eastern areas, and in the eleventh
century the whole of England had a Danish king, Canute. The
distinct North Germanic speech of the Norsemen had great influence
on English, most obviously seen in the words that English has
borrowed from this source. These include some very basic words
such as take and even grammatical words such as they. The common
Germanic base of the two languages meant that there were still many
similarities between Old English and the language of the invaders.
Some words, for example give perhaps show a kind of hybridization
with some spellings going back to Old English and others being Norse
in origin. However, the resemblances between the two languages are
so great that in many cases it is impossible to be sure of the exact
ancestry of a particular word or spelling. However, much of the
influence of Norse, including the vast majority of the loanwords, does
not appear in written English until after the next great historical and
cultural upheaval, the Norman Conquest. (Philip Durkin, Oxford English
Dictionary – English Language History.
Pages: 1-12.)

These changes addressed by language created many developments

and divided the English language into multiple stages: Old English,
Middle English, and Modern English.
A short history of the origins and development of English

The history of the English language really started with the arrival of
three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century
AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the
North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At
that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most
of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders—
mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles
came from Englaland and their language was called Englisc—from
which the words England and English are derived.

Germanic invaders entered Britain on the east and south coasts in

the 5th century.
Old English (450-1100 AD)
The invading Germanic
tribes spoke similar
languages, which in Britain
developed into what we
now call Old English. Old
English did not sound or
look like English today.
Native English speakers
now would have great Part of Beowulf, a poem written in
difficulty understanding Old English.
Old English. Nevertheless,
about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have
Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example,
derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.

Middle English (1100-1500)

In 1066 William the
Conqueror, the Duke of
Normandy (part of modern
France), invaded and
conquered England. The
new conquerors (called the
Normans) brought with
them a kind of French,
which became the language
of the Royal Court, and the
ruling and business classes.
For a period there was a
kind of linguistic class
division, where the lower An example of Middle English by
classes spoke English and Chaucer.
the upper classes spoke
French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain
again, but with many French words added. This language is called
Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer
(c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers
to understand today.
Modern English
Early Modern English
(1500-1800)
Towards the end of Middle
English, a sudden and
distinct change in
pronunciation (the Great
Vowel Shift) started, with
vowels being pronounced
shorter and shorter. From
the 16th century the British
had contact with many
peoples from around the
world. This, and the
Renaissance of Classical Hamlet's famous "To be, or not to
learning, meant that many be" lines, written in Early Modern
new words and phrases English by Shakespeare.
entered the language. The
invention of printing also meant that there was now a common
language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to
read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and
grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most
publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first
English dictionary was published.

Late Modern English (1800-Present)

The main difference between Early Modern English and Late

Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more
words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial
Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly,
the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's
surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many
countries. (. Meyers, "The English Settlements", Oxford University Press,
1986) .
Finally I have a brief of chronology of English, the table below
illustrates history of English language from BC 55 (Local inhabitants
speak Celtic) to 1928 (Late Modern English)

A brief chronology of English

BC 55 Roman invasion of Britain by Julius Caesar.
Roman invasion and occupation. Beginning of
BC 43 Local inhabitants
Roman rule of Britain.
speak Celtish
436 Roman withdrawal from Britain complete.
449 Settlement of Britain by Germanic invaders begins
450-480 Earliest known Old English inscriptions.
William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invades Old English
1066
and conquers England.
c1150 Earliest surviving manuscripts in Middle English.
English replaces Latin as the language of instruction
1348
in most schools.
English replaces French as the language of law. Middle English
1362
English is used in Parliament for the first time.
c1388 Chaucer starts writing The Canterbury Tales.
c1400 The Great Vowel Shift begins.
William Caxton establishes the first English printing
1476
press.
1564 Shakespeare is born.
Table Alphabeticall, the first English dictionary, is
1604
published.
The first permanent English settlement in the New
1607
World (Jamestown) is established.
Early Modern
1616 Shakespeare dies.
English
1623 Shakespeare's First Folio is published
The first daily English-language newspaper, The
1702
Daily Courant, is published in London.
1755 Samuel Johnson publishes his English dictionary.
Thomas Jefferson writes the American Declaration
1776
of Independence.
1782 Britain abandons its American colonies.
1828 Webster publishes his American English dictionary.
Late Modern
1922 The British Broadcasting Corporation is founded.
English
1928 The Oxford English Dictionary is published.