A Concise History of the English Language

The first language is believed to have been developed approximately 150,000 years ago in eastern Africa.

There are approximately 6,000 languages spoken on the earth today.

The English language derived from a family of languages called Indo-European. Indo-European languages include several hundred languages and dialects, which include most of the major languages of Europe, South, Southwest, and Central Asia. It is spoken by approximately three billion people.

English is known as a West Germanic language. It differs from many other European languages like the romantic languages, which are based more on Latin.

The first form of English is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon. Its origin is England and Scotland and was spoken between the mid-5^th century and the mid-12^th century. It is closely related to Old Norse, the ancient language of North Germanic, which includes what we know now as Scandinavian languages.

Old English developed into Middle English then Early Modern English, which in turn developed into Modern English spoken today.

There are numerous extant examples of Old English. The tale of Beowulf is the most famous example of Old English (unknown authorship, 8^th-11^th century; 1010 A.D. only surviving manuscript of period).

Hwat! wç Gâr-Dena in geâr-dagum, [What! We [of] Gar-Danes(lit. spear-danes) in yore-days,]

Timeline of English

450-1100 Old English (Anglo-Saxon) - The language of Beowulf.

1100-1500 Middle English - The language of Chaucer.

1500-1650 Early Modern English (or Renaissance English) - The language of Shakespeare.

1650-present Modern English (or Present-Day English) - The language as spoken today. [Wikipedia]

Key influences of the modern language

The two most influential moments in the history of the language happened in 787 and 1066 A.D.

Viking invasions of the English coasts in 787 brought a heavy influence of the Old Norse language into the island. Examples of Old Norse that we still use today are the words both, same, again, get, give, are, skirt, sky, and skin.

The celebrated Norman invasion of William the Conqueror in 1066 brought a new influence: French that had been heavily influenced by Old Norse. The French coastline of Normandy had been the victim of numerous Viking assaults as well. This was the beginning of a significant history of French influence on the English language.

Additional notes on the English language

Ninety-nine percent of English words derive from other languages. Yet, 62% of the most used words in the English language come from Old English (and, but, father, love, fight, to, will, should, not, from).

Oxford English Dictionary 2006 lists 600,000 words with 25,000 words added each year.

There were 375 million English speakers as of 2006.

The most celebrated writer of the English language was the poet and playwright from the middle of England, William Shakespeare, who became a thespian and eventually an outstanding playwright and poet in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries in London. Though it appears that Shakespeare's education came from little more than the basic grammar school education he received in Stratford-on-Avon, he possessed a large vocabulary, having used an astounding 29,066 different words in his works and 884,647 words altogether. He invented over 1,700 words. A modern person uses 3-5,000 words in a lifetime. Shakespeare wrote 38 plays and 154 sonnets. His plays were written in both a patterned meter (iambic pentameter) and blank verse and have been revered for over 400 years.

Sources:

McWhorter, John. Power of Babel, A Natural History of Language, W.H. Freeman, NY, 2001.

McCrum, Robert; Cran, William; MacNeil, Robert. The Story of English, Viking Press, NY, 1986.

Wikipedia. wikipedia.org.