nglish is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries[7] and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwards. It is used extensively as a second language and as an official language in Commonwealth countries and is the preferred language of many international organizations.
Historically, English originated from several dialects (now called Old English) which were brought to Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers beginning in the 5th century. The language was heavily influenced by the Old Norse language of Viking invaders. After the Norman conquest, Old English developed into Middle English, borrowing heavily from the Norman (Anglo-French) vocabulary and spelling conventions. Modern English developed from there and continues to adopt foreign words, especially from Latin and Greek.
English is a West Germanic language that originated from the Anglo-Frisian and Lower Saxon dialects brought to Britain by Germanic settlers and Roman auxiliary troops from various parts of what is now northwest Germany and the Northern Netherlands[citation needed] in the 5th century. One of these German tribes were the Angles,[14] who may have come from Angeln, and Bede wrote that their whole nation came to Britain,[15] leaving their former land empty. The names 'England' (or 'Aenglaland') and English are derived from the name of this tribe.
The Anglo Saxons began invading around 449 AD from the regions of Denmark and Jutland,[16][17] Before the Anglo-Saxons arrived in England the native population spoke Brythonic, a Celtic language.[18] Although the most significant changes in dialect occurred after the Norman invasion of 1066, the language retained its name and the pre-Norman invasion dialect is now known as Old English.[19]
Initially, Old English was...