The origin of the English language is directly related to the development of England. When the Romans left the British Isles back in 410, only the indigenous inhabitants of the island - the Britons - remained in those lands. They used Celtic languages for communication .
Already in 449, the ancestors of the modern English, the Angles, Saxons and Utes, raided the islands. They all spoke different dialects of the Lower German language. The languages of the indigenous inhabitants and conquerors were mixed and the Anglo-Saxon dialect was formed.
One can only imagine how the history of the English language would develop if the descendants of these tribes did not survive frequent attacks, since the invasions of the Vikings and Normans, together with the missionary movement, significantly changed it. As a result of this, the English language acquired the largest vocabulary, and in grammar the leading role was played not by the end of words, but by the construction of the sentence itself.
In the 8th century AD, the Vikings encroached on the British Isles. They used the North Germanic language and came from Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Their way of communication differed from Anglo-Saxon as much as modern Spanish differs from Italian. Despite the differences in endings and pronunciation, both had common roots.
After a small battle, the Vikings began to coexist peacefully with the locals in England. Languages gradually mixed together, forming a new one, devoid of most endings. He acquired the name of Old English.
Already in 1066 the history of the English language was continued in the person of the Norman army. They spoke in one of the French dialects. Their invasion brought with them French as a state, but the Anglo-Saxons did not accept this innovation and continued to use the Old English language.
It was the Normans who played a crucial role in the education of the British, so the most diverse Germanic and Celtic tribes needed to find a way to communicate. From the merger of existing dialects and by simplifying grammar, English arose.
He was not limited to the development of writing, which is why it changed and simplified very quickly. Several endings were supplanted by the standard word order in a sentence, as well as by enhancing the meaning of functional words. At the same time, it included a lot of borrowings from the French language, which became more delicate and polite versions of Anglo-Saxon analogues.
In the Middle Ages, the widespread distribution of Latin was reflected in the formation of English. Many Latin words borrowed from Christian priests fell into colloquial speech. Often, scientists did not find suitable ways to express their ideas in English and used Latin words in their works. Thanks to this, the language in question has acquired a significant number of Greek and Latin words.
The history of the English language received a significant impetus with the invention of typography. The London dialect, with the help of which manuscripts and writing as a whole, were especially popular.
The first grammar was written in 1586 especially for foreigners and English-speaking students who were going to study Latin. However, they were not used for training native speakers themselves. The first attempts to this were made already in 1750.
Unfortunately, linguists of the 18th century were based on incorrect theories, considering the withering away of endings a sign of degradation. They could not return to their language long-lost endings, but succeeded in the field of preserving the existing ones. If not for their direct influence, modern speech would not have abounded with so many irregular verbs.
The history of the English language today has many different dialects and related languages, formed as a result of an attempt to learn the colonies. It is official in the UK, USA and Australia, as well as on nearby islands.
The history of the development of the English language made it possible to bring it to the second position in the number of speakers (after Chinese). It is the main for more than 400 million people, and about a billion people use it as a "second". Also, English has acquired the status of the most studied in Europe.