English language

The English language (the formation)

1,old English (400A.D-1066A.D)

English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken

in Anglo-Saxon England in the early Middle Ages. It is now the most

widely used language in the English language developed

with the formation of the English nation.

In 55 BC , the Roman conquered the Great Britain and had ruled

there for more than 500 years , creating an opportunity for Latin to

find its way into Britain and gradually take the place of Celtic as the

official language until 410A.D.

Celts were driven to Wales,Scotland and Ireland.

These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the

North Sea from what today is northern Germany.

Then ,they invaded Britain in hosts around 450A.D. They speak

Germanic language.

Latin also remained in these areas as the language of the Celtic

Church and of higher education for the nobility.

What is now called Old English emerged over time out of the many

dialects and languages of the colonizing tribes.

In the 10th and 11th centuries, Old English was strongly influenced by

the

North Germanic

language

Old Norse

, spoken by the

Norsemen

who invaded

and settled mainly in the

North East of England

北欧人入侵

许多斯堪的纳维亚各国词汇融入英语

The introduction of

Christianity

from around 600 encouraged the addition

of

over

400

Latin

loan

words

into

Old

English,

such

as

priest

,

paper

,

and

school

,

and fewer

Greek

loan words.

罗马牧师奥古斯丁

基督教传入英国

拉丁

希腊语融入英语

The most famous surviving work from the Old English period is

the epic poem Beowulf, composed by an unknown poet.

古英语时期共有四种主要方言

：

（

1

）诺森伯里亚方言

--

洪伯河（

the Humber

）以北的方言。

（

2

）梅尔西亚方言

--

界乎洪伯河与

泰晤士河

之间的英国中部地区的方言。

（

3

）