*Old English
When Britain was largely inhabited by Celtic peoples-the last Roman legions having left some 40 years earlier. The invaders, who probably came from Northern Germany and

Denmark, represented three main tribes of people known as Angles, Saxons and Jutes. These settlers were later referred to as Anglo-Saxons, and their language, although not documented substantially until about 300 years later, constitutes the roots of English.

→ The origin of English Anglo-Saxons language

*Middle English.

The period of Middle English extends roughly from 1100-1500. The influence of French (and Latin, often by way of French) upon the lexicon continued throughout this period, the loss of some inflections and the reduction of others accelerated, and many changes took place within the phonological and grammatical systems of the language

The new conquerors (1066) brought with them a kind of French

There was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the

upper classes spoke French

In the 14th century English became dominant again, but with many French words added.

This language is called Middle English.

*Modern English

Early Modern English extends roughly from (1500-1800)

Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation started,

with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter

-The invention of printing also brought standardization to English.

-Books became cheaper and more people learned to read.

-In 1604 the first English dictionary was published

+ Late Modern English (1800-Present)

- The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modem English

vocabulary.

Late Modem English has many more words

- English language adopted foreign words from many countries.