history of English language

The present English is the result of a series of intermixtures of many different languages. English has both Germanic and Latin origins.

The German elements comes from the Anglo-Saxon invasions and conquest in the 5th century. The Germanic dialects of these different Anglo-Saxon tribes became Old English.

Some Latin elements come from the Roman occupation from 55 B.C.E. to 407-410 C.E. Then, the Normand conquest in the 11th century brought many French elements. Normands stopped Old English from being taught in schools for a few hundred years. The language changed greatly, because it was mostly being spoken instead of written. The mixture of Old English and Latin elements became Middle English that was spoken until the middle/late 1400s. Nearly 60% of the English vocabulary comes from Latin