History of the English Language

 The English language comes from a West Germanic line of heritage originated from Anglo-Frisian dialect brought to Britain during the mid 5^th to 7^th centuries AD by the Anglo-Saxon migrants, which is now a part of northwest Germany, Netherlands, and southern Denmark. The language of the Anglo-Saxons is now termed ‘Old English.’  English is considered to be originated in England and is also now one of the most dominant languages all across the world. The English language is the first choice of language in most countries, and its status has given its position as a global lingua franca.

Modern English is relatively uninflected in comparison to the Proto-Indo European tongue of the most modern European languages like French, Greek, Russian, German, etc., which are synthetic or somewhat inflected. Over the last few thousand years, the language of English has been simplified from variable forms of Greek, Sanskrit, Russian, Latin, etc., toward forms that cannot be varied as those in Vietnamese and Chinese. English Speaking Classes in Pune. The language's vocabulary mainly comes from the core Germanic stock, despite the extensive contact of the German settlers with the Roman colonists; the language already was inclusive of a number of words from Latin.

History of the English Language

This pristine language has gone through several transitions before becoming what it is today. The Angles came from ‘Englaland’ and there language was known as ‘Englisc’ - from which the words ‘English’ and ‘England’ were later derived.

·         Old English (450-1100 AD): The Germanic tribes that invaded Britain spoke similar languages. There were developed into English in Britain and are today termed ‘Old English.’ This form of English does not sound anything like today's modern English. Today's native English speakers would certainly have great difficulty in comprehending old English. Despite all of this, today's modern-day English certainly consists of the old English roots.

·         Middle English (1100-1500 AD): The Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror (1066), invaded and then conquered England. These new settlers were known as the ‘Normans.’ The Normans brought a certain form of French, which was also the language of the Royal Court. During this time, the lower classes spoke English while the nobles spoke French forming a lingual bias. In the 14^th century, English was dominant and French words were added to it. This was known as ‘Middle English.’

·         Modern English:

Ø  Early Modern English (1500-1800 AD): There was a sudden distinct change in the pronunciation of Middle English called the Great Vowel Shift. The vowels were pronounced shorter and shorter. With increased contact and the Renaissance of Classical Learning, new phrases and words were added to the English Language. Grammar and spelling became fixed, and the first dictionary was printed in 1604 as an attempt to standardize the language. Language Classes in Pune.

Ø  Modern Late English (1800-Present): The major distinction between the two modern forms of English is the vocabulary used. This form of modern English has many words and phrases arising from two principal factors, including the industrial revolution and the extent of the British Empire. Soon modern English incorporated words from a large variety of foreign languages.