World Languages-- Today there are approximately 6,000 languages spoken around the world. While we do not know for certain if all of these derive originally from one common ancestor or parent language, we do know that many languages are related to each other. We call these groups of languages that have a common ancestor Language Families.

English belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. Although we don't have any evidence of the original parent language (the culture that spoke it did not possess writing), we call the original language Proto-Indo-European. An Englishman, Sir William Jones (1786) was the first to notice that some languages in this family were related to each other by comparing words in Sanskrit (a very ancient I-E language) with words in Greek, Latin and English.

1. Comparative Linguistics-- the study of the relationship between different languages, often with the goal of reconstructing or identifying the parent language.

2. Diachronic Analysis (over / time)-- the study of the historical development of a language, examining how the language changes over time and identifying what causes it to change.

3. Synchronic Analysis (at one / time)-- the study of a language at one particular moment in time, examining different aspects of its structure (sound, vocabulary, grammar, etc.).

English belongs to the Germanic Branch of the I-E family of languages. That means that English emerged from various dialects of Old German spoken along the coast of Germany prior to 400 A.D. While modern German is our closest direct relative, English also has been changed by its contact with other I-E languages such as Latin, French and Norwegian and Celtic. These other languages have affected the words, sounds and grammar of our language.

Four major periods or stages of development:

1. Old English (449 -1066 AD)
2. Middle English (1066 - 1500)
3. Early Modern English (1500 -1700)
4. Modern English (1700- Present)

Old English-- In 449 AD, various Germanic tribes begin invading and later settling into Celtic Britain. Celtic tribes are either driven out or subjugated. Different Germanic tribes settle in different parts of Britain, establishing dialect differences that continue to this day:

1. Jutes-- earliest tribe to arrive; settle in Kent (South).

2. Angles-- the largest tribe and the next to arrive; settle along the eastern coast and interior; the name "English" derives from their name.

3. Saxons-- the most powerful and influential tribe; settle throughout the southwestern part of England; most of the earliest Old English written texts are in the Saxon dialect, making it the unofficial standard.

Vikings (Norsemen) begin a wave of invasions in the ninth century; while many settle in England (especially the North), the language remains English. But their presence changes the language, especially in terms of vocabulary and some basic pronouns (their, they, them).

Latin-- Brought to the Germanic tribes by the Celts, Roman traders, and Christian missionaries, Latin words also begin to appear in English during this time.

An example of Old English.  The most famous Old English literary work is Beowulf.

Middle English-- Begins in 1066 AD with the invasion of England by French-speaking Normans (from Normandy in Northern France).  For several centuries, French-speaking nobility lived in England and ruled over the English-speaking peasants and the emerging merchant class. Hundreds of French (and Latin) words enter the language during this time. The sounds and grammar of the language also change. However, English does not disappear under French influence.

Chaucer, near the end of the Middle English era, becomes one of the first major writers to use English instead of French or Latin. His Canterbury Tales is one of the finest written representations of Middle English.

Early Modern English -- Begins roughly around 1500.  During this time, radical changes occur in the vowel sounds of English, creating most of the vowel sounds we still use today.  During this era, English completes the transformation from a synthetic language like German (one that uses inflections) to an analytic language (one that uses a very precise word order to convey meaning).

The best examples of Early Modern English are found in the plays of Shakespeare and the King James Bible. Both of these works reveal the enormous intellectual and creative potential of English as a language.

Speakers of Early Modern English were among the first Europeans to settle in the New World, especially in North America. The language they spoke--as well as the differences in their dialects--will have a profound affect on different American English dialects.

Modern English -- Roughly from 1700 to the present. This can be best described as the era in which English (in association with British and American colonialism) begins to emerge as a world language, shaping and affecting cultures around the world. At the moment, English is the closest thing we have to a common global language. Although the sounds and words of English may differ from culture to culture, it is spoken throughout the world.