English language

English is a Germanic language and the primary language spoken in the United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

Introduction
English is the main language of the world, spoken at least as a second language in virtually all developed nations. It gained this position by becoming the language of commerce in the 18th and 19th Centuries following the spread of the British Empire, the Industrial Revolution and the influence of the United States.

English is part of the Teutonic (Germanic) branch of the Indo-European (Japhetic) language family, but incorporates certain external influences from Greek, French and Old Norse.

The name English derives from the medieval tribe the Angles, who resided in modern-day South Denmark around 400AD. They migrated to Britain around 449AD in great numbers, along with their immediate Southern neighbors the Saxons from modern-day Lower Saxony and Schleswig Holstein, and northern neighbors the Jutes from Jutland. They quickly took possession of the main part of the island of Britain, giving that section its name, England, and their language became the language now known as English.

English has undergone substantial changes in the subsequent 1500 years, and is generally divided into three categories or eras.

Old English
Old English is the original language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons, as for example in the 7th Century epic poem Beowulf.

"Ac ic him Géata sceal

eafoð ond ellen       ungeára nú gúþe gebéodan·        gaéþ eft, sé þe mót tó medo módig       siþþan morgenléoht

ofer ylda bearn       óþres dógores

sunne sweglwered       súþan scíneð.

But I shall him the Geats'

might and courage,       before long now,

offer in war;       a man will be able to go back,

to mead bravely,       when the morning-light

over the sons of men       of another day,

the sun clad in radiance,       shines from the south."

Middle English
By the Middle Ages, English had undergone some changes due to invasions by the Old French-speaking Normans and the Old Norse-speaking Vikings. A good example of Middle English is Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales' of the late 1300s.

"The thridde day, this marchant up ariseth,

And on his nedes sadly hym avyseth,

And up into his countour-hous gooth he

To rekene with hymself, wel may be,

Of thilke yeer how that it with hym stood,

And how that he despended hadde his good,

And if that he encressed were or noon.

The third day, this merchant up arises,

And seriously considers his business,

And he goes up into his counting-house

To reckon with himself, as it well may be,

Of that same year how it stood with him,

And how he had spent his funds,

And if he had profited or not."

Modern English
Modern English begins with the works of William Shakespeare. These works extensively codified and expanded the English language, adding thousands of new words, especially technical words derived from ancient Greek and Latin, for example 'metamorphize' and 'negotiate'.

Although there have been some changes since then, notably the extinction in general use of the informal versions of 'you', 'your' and 'yours' ('thou', 'thy' and 'thine'), the English language remains largely the same.