the English

English is a West Germanic language that

developed in England and south-eastern Scotland

during the Anglo-Saxon era. As a result of the

military, economic, scientific, political, and cultural

influence of the United Kingdom from the 18th

century, and of the United States since the mid 20th

century, it has become the lingua

franca in many parts of the world, and the most

prominent language in international business and

science. It is used extensively as a second

language and as an official language in the

European Union and many Commonwealth countries,

as well as many international organisations.



Historically, English originated from several dialects,

now collectively termed Old English, which were

brought to the eastern coast of the island of Great

Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers beginning in the 5th

century. English was further influenced by the Old

Norse language of Viking invaders.




After the time of the Norman conquest, Old English

developed into Middle English, borrowing heavily

from the Norman, and later on the Anglo-Norman

and Anglo-French, vocabulary and spelling

conventions. The etymology of the word "English" is

a derivation from the 12th century Old English

englisc or Engle, plural form Angles.


Modern English developed with the Great Vowel

Shift that began in 15th-century England, and

continues to adopt foreign words from a variety of

languages, as well as coining new words. A

significant number of English words, especially

technical words, have been constructed based on

roots from Latin and Greek.