The modern speaker of English language would not have guessed even a single word if he had been in the age of old English. The transition is very obvious and very sharp. The original English or the old English was not even one percent like its descendent; the modern and the latest version of English language. It has reached this position after having gone through a lot of changes and variation phases. There has been a long trail since the advent of English language and an amazing fact about it is that there was not a specific dialect or a specific range of words being there in it. Rather, on the other hand it was called the language borrowing a lot from the other cultures and civilizations; from those coming to the lands of Britain, conquering it and settling over there.
English primarily is considered to be a member of Germanic family of languages (indo European languages.) the reason behind it is the fact that there was the influence of three Germanic tribes in Britain who used to reside here in the ancient times. These tribes were Saxons, angles and jutes and mostly they used to speak in Celtic dialect and vocabulary. There is not one influential origin of English language rather it tends to be originated from varied origins like Anglo Frisian dialects, Anglo Saxon kingdoms of Britain, the speakers of Scandinavian languages etc.
English language has been through different periods and after this long journey, it has assumed the shape in which it is known in the modern times. These different phases and periods were
- Old English
- Middle English
- Modern English
- Early modern English
- Late modern English.
Old English is said to be totally different from the modern English language. It was more like Celtic dialects and symbols having influences of Germanic and Scandinavian tribes. After that, came the turn of the Middle English. That period added some more variations to this language. Latin and French influences were got attached to this language and these influences are still to be seen in this language where there are different words having their origin either in Latin or French language. From this period onwards, English started to take that shape, it is known in this modern time. Early modern English phase was the time of classical renaissance. A lot of work can be seen in that time, being done in the realm of literature. Geoffrey Chaucer is said to be the first one who originated the legitimacy of English as a known language. In the renaissance age, Britain saw many writers who contributed to the nurturing and enrichment of English language like William Shakespeare.
In the early modern English and the late modern English, the difference is of vocabulary only. A lot more words and phrases got to be added in the early phase but in the late modern version, this attempt was made even more convincingly. The late modern English is the version that is being carried on to this modern time. This is the history of its journey from the Celtic and tribal origin to this latest version where most of the population living on this planet seems to acknowledge the worth of this language.
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