The English language is the result of the blending of several languages into one. These are the stages in the formation of the language:
- Old English: first appeared during the early Middle Ages (550-1066 AD). It was a Germanic dialect spoken by the Angle, Saxon and Jute invaders of the ancient Roman Britain. It became predominant and also adopted several words of Brittonic and Latin in its <em>lexicon</em>.
- Middle English: in 1066 the French Norman William the Conqueror invaded and subjugated England. Old French Norman would be the language of the Royal Court and the civil administration until the 16th century (1150-1500 AD). During this time a large influx of French and Latin words entered the English lexicon. Nowadays, 28 percent of English words come from French and 29 % come from Latin but the grammatical structure remains undoubtedly Germanic and the most commonly and most often used words are Germanic.
- Early Modern English: it gradually replaced French in the court and administrations between the years 1500 – 1750 AD. Three was a Great Vowel Shift during this period, when pronunciation of vowels completely changed but no one knows yet why or how it occurred.
- Late Modern English: 1750-1900 AD. The modern language was already formed with an influx of non-European words coming from the British Empire colonies.
- Contemporary English 1900 – now. Than language as we know it nowadays.
