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-This is the link to my podcast https://soundcloud.app.go55o.

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What are the origins of the English language?


The history of English is conventionally divided, though perhaps too clearly, into three periods that are
often referred to as Old English (or Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, and Modern English. The earliest
period begins with the migration of certain Germanic tribes from the mainland to Great Britain in the
5th century AD, though no records of their language survive before the 7th century, and continues until
the late 11th century or a little later. By then, Latin, Old Norse (the language of the Viking invaders), and
especially the Anglo-Norman French of the ruling class after the Norman conquest in 1066 had begun to
have a substantial impact on the lexicon and the system that was well developed typifies that Old
English grammar had begun to fail.

-The Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) period


The conquest of the Celtic population in Great Britain by speakers of West Germanic dialects (mainly
Anglos, Saxons, and Jute) ultimately determined many of the essential characteristics of the English
language. (The Celtic influence on English survives for the most part only in place names: London, Dover,
Avon, York.) Over time, the dialects of the various invaders coalesced, giving rise to what we now call
"English old".

-End of the 6th century: Ethelbert, the King of Kent, is baptized. He is the first English king to convert to
Christianity.

-10th century: English and Danish mix quite peacefully, and many Scandinavian (or Old Norse)
loanwords enter the language, including common words like sister, wish, skin, and death.

-The Middle English period


The Middle English period saw the collapse of the Old English inflection system and the expansion of the
vocabulary with many borrowings from French and Latin.

-1150: approximate date of the first surviving texts in Middle English.

-1171: Henry II declares himself Lord of Ireland, introducing Norman French and English into the
country. Around this time the University of Oxford was founded.

-The modern English period


Distinctions are often made between Early Modern English (1500-1800) and Late Modern English (1800
to the present).

During the Modern English period, British exploration, colonization, and foreign trade accelerated the
borrowing of countless languages and fostered the development of new varieties of English (World
English), each with its own nuances of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. . Since the mid-20th
century, the expansion of North American media and businesses around the world has led to the rise of
global English as a lingua franca.

-Early 16th century: the first English settlements were made in North America. William Tyndale's English
translation of the Bible is published. Many Greek and Latin loans come in English.

-1542 - In his Fyrst Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge, Andrew Boorde illustrates regional dialects.

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