How Did The English Language Originate?

All the languages spoken around the work can be traced. The scholars reach back to the common source. This source is an ancestor language which has many descendants. The source language along with other languages which have developed from it, is called a “family” of languages.

English is rated as a member of Indo-European family of languages. There are other languages as well which belong to the same family. These are French, Italian, German, Greek and Norwegian.

There are various branches of this Indo-European family of languages. English is a member of the “West Teutonic” branch. English in actual dates back to the middle of fifth century. It was around the period when invaders from across the North-sea conquered the native cults and settled on the island now known as England.

The history of the English language, for the sake of convenience, divided into three great periods: the old English or Anglo-Saxon, about 400 to 1100; Middle English, from 100 to 1500; and Modern English, from 1500 onward to the day.

Celtic, was the original language spoken in English. The Anglo-Saxons (the Angles, the Jutes and the Saxons) conquered The island so thoroughly that the celtic words kept in the new language were very few. The Anglo-Saxons themselves spoken several dialects. Later the Norsemen invaded England and they introduced a Scandinavian element into the language. This influence which was a Germanic language, became a part of the language.

William the Conqueror, in the year 1066, brought over another influence over the language. He made Norman French the court language. The Norman language was spoken by only the upper class people. Gradually, influence of the language spread, which was quite different from the Anglo-Saxon language. This language became the chief source of modern English.