Before English, there was Indo-European. Before England, there were Celts and Romans. Discover the fascinating story of how a Germanic dialect spoken by invaders became a global language.
Here is the entire chapter on one page. How English evolved from a prehistoric language family to the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons in Britain.
English is not native to Britain. It came from the Indo-European language family, specifically the Germanic branch. The Romans brought Latin but not English. In 449 AD, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded Britain and brought their Germanic dialects, which merged to form Old English (Englisc). The name "England" comes from the Angles ("Angle-land").
Indo-European is a massive family of languages that includes most of the languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the Indian subcontinent. It is the largest language family in the world by number of speakers.
The Mother Language: Thousands of years ago, there was a single prehistoric language (now called Proto-Indo-European) spoken by a group of people. As these people migrated and settled in different areas, their language split into different dialects, which eventually became distinct languages.
The Indo-European family is traditionally divided into several major branches. English belongs to the Germanic branch.
| Branch | Examples of Modern Languages |
|---|---|
| Indic (Indo-Aryan) | Hindi, Bengali, Sanskrit, Punjabi, Urdu |
| Iranian | Persian (Farsi), Pashto, Kurdish |
| Armenian | Armenian |
| Hellenic | Greek |
| Albanian | Albanian |
| Italic | Latin, and its descendants: French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian |
| Celtic | Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic |
| Balto-Slavic | Russian, Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Latvian |
| Germanic | English, German, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish |
Indo-European is the mother language family of English. It has many branches, including Indic, Iranian, Italic, Celtic, and Germanic. English belongs to the Germanic branch. The similarities between words in different branches prove their common ancestry.
The Germanic branch itself is divided into three groups:
English specifically developed from the dialects spoken by three powerful Germanic tribes who lived in what is now northern Germany and Denmark:
They spoke closely related West Germanic dialects. When they invaded Britain, their languages merged over time into what we call Old English or Anglo-Saxon.
Do not confuse the Angles (a Germanic tribe) with the Anglesey (an island in Wales) or Anglo-Saxons (the combined culture of Angles and Saxons). Also, remember that English is not derived from Latin, French, or Celtic. It is a Germanic language.
The Germanic branch has three groups: East (Gothic, extinct), North (Scandinavian), and West (English, German, Dutch). English descends from the West Germanic dialects of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.
Before the English arrived, Britain was inhabited by a people known as the Celts. They spoke various Celtic languages and were divided into different tribes (e.g., the Britons in England, the Gaels in Ireland and Scotland).
Did Celtic influence English? Very little. The Celtic languages were pushed to the western edges of Britain (Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Cornwall) by the invading Anglo-Saxons. Only a handful of Celtic words survive in modern English (e.g., cradle, bin, cross), and most of those are borrowed from Old Irish through Latin.
The Celts were the early inhabitants of Britain. Their language had very little impact on English. Most surviving Celtic words in English are related to place names (rivers) or are borrowed through other languages. The Celts were pushed to the western fringes by the Anglo-Saxons.
Julius Caesar invaded Britain in 55 BC, but it was the Emperor Claudius who began the actual conquest in AD 43. The Romans occupied most of Britain for nearly 400 years.
Did the Romans bring English? No. The Romans spoke Latin, not English. The common people of Britain continued speaking Celtic. However, Latin did influence English indirectly, and many Latin words entered the language later (e.g., wine, wall, mile).
By the early 5th century (around AD 410), the Roman Empire was collapsing. The Romans had to withdraw their legions from Britain to defend Rome against barbarian attacks in Europe. They left Britain unprotected.
The Result: The Celts were left to defend themselves. When the Anglo-Saxons arrived shortly after, there was no Roman army to stop them.
Students often mistakenly think that English came from Latin because the Romans were in Britain. This is false. English is a Germanic language, not a Romance (Latin-based) language. Latin influenced English much later through the Church and the Norman Conquest (1066).
The Romans invaded Britain in AD 43 and stayed for almost 400 years. They spoke Latin, not English. By AD 410, the Roman Empire was collapsing, so they left Britain. They left behind roads and a few words, but not the English language.
According to tradition, the British king Vortigern invited two Jutish brothers, Hengist and Horsa, to help fight against the Picts and Scots (who were attacking from the north). In return for their help, the brothers were given land.
However, more and more Angles, Saxons, and Jutes arrived. They soon turned against the Britons, conquered the land, and settled there. This event is traditionally dated to AD 449.
The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes brought their Germanic dialects with them. Over time, these dialects merged and evolved into Old English (also called Anglo-Saxon).
Old English (Englisc): This is the earliest recorded form of the English language. It is very different from modern English. It had complex grammar (cases, genders, strong and weak verbs), and looked more like modern German or Old Norse than modern English.
For example, the first lines of Beowulf in Old English:
Hwæt! wē Gārdena in geārdagum,
þēodcyninga, þrym gefrūnon...
This is almost impossible to understand without translation.
In AD 449, the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes invaded Britain. They brought their West Germanic dialects. These dialects merged to form Old English (Englisc). The Jutes settled in Kent, the Saxons in the south, and the Angles in the north and east. Their words form the core of modern English.
The name England comes from the Old English word Englaland, which means "land of the Angles". The Angles were the largest and most dominant of the invading tribes, so the land they settled was eventually named after them.
Angle-land → Engla-land → England
Similarly, the word English comes from Englisc, the language of the Angles.
The Saxons were also a powerful tribe, which is why the combined culture is called Anglo-Saxon. However, the name of the country and the language comes from the Angles, not the Saxons. So it is "England" (land of Angles), not "Saxonland".
England = "land of the Angles". The Angles were one of the three Germanic tribes (with Saxons and Jutes) that invaded Britain. The language was called Englisc, which became English.
Important questions from the "Story of English" textbook.
Answer: The Indo-European family is the world's largest language family, consisting of languages spoken in Europe, Iran, and the Indian subcontinent. All these languages descended from a single prehistoric mother language. English belongs to the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family.
Answer: The Celts were the early inhabitants of Britain before the Roman and Anglo-Saxon invasions. They spoke Celtic languages. Their contribution to English is very small. Only a handful of words survive (mostly place names of rivers like the Thames and Avon, and a few everyday words like 'cradle' and 'bin'). The Anglo-Saxons pushed the Celts to the western parts of Britain.
Answer: The Romans came to Britain to expand their empire (Emperor Claudius began the conquest in AD 43). They stayed for almost 400 years. However, their impact on the English language was minimal. They spoke Latin, not English. The common people continued to speak Celtic. Latin only influenced English indirectly, with a few words (like 'wall', 'mile', 'wine') borrowed into Old English. The Romans left Britain around AD 410 due to the collapse of their empire.
Answer: The Angles, Saxons, and Jutes were three Germanic tribes from northern Germany and Denmark. According to tradition, they were invited by the British king Vortigern to help defend against the Picts and Scots. They arrived in Britain in AD 449. They eventually turned against the Britons, conquered the land, and settled there. Their dialects merged to form Old English.
Answer: England gets its name from the Angles, one of the three Germanic tribes that invaded Britain. The Old English word Englaland means "land of the Angles". Similarly, the word "English" comes from Englisc, the language of the Angles. The Angles were the largest and most dominant of the invading tribes.