Historically, English is a mixture of many different languages and cultures.
When the Romans conquered Britain in 43 C.E., the native people spoke Celtic, but over time Latin became the official language of government spoken by the upper class.
Old English: The Invasions of Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings
After the Romans left Britain in 409 C.E., a savage northern tribe, the Picts, began to invade Britain.
The Celts in Britain asked the Angles and Saxons for help.
The English language begins with the arrival of the Angles and Saxons in Britain in the middle of the 5th century.
The Angles and Saxons succeeded in pushing the Picts back into the north, and then drove the native Celts to the west and called them “Wealas” (foreigners), which became “Welsh.”
By the end of the 8th century, the Angles and Saxons had finally occupied the whole of England and established seven kingdoms.
Today, we call the language brought to Britain by these Germanic tribes Old English.
Viking invaders from Denmark attacked Britain and settled along the east coast during the 9th century.
As the King of Wessex, Alfred fought fiercely against the Danish Vikings and finally made peace with the Viking ruler.
While the Viking invaders living in the Danelaw gradually learned English, they also added a lot of Danish words to the language.
Middle English: The Influence of French
In 1066, the Normans in northern France invaded and conquered England.
The Norman invasion had a huge impact on the English language, bringing thousands of French words into everyday use.
These words were largely related to law and administration (government, parliament, minister, judge, mayor), but they also included words from such fields as science (logic, anatomy), art (music, painting, tragedy), food (beef, pork, mutton) and fashion (coat, dress, fashion).
After the Conquest, French became the official language of Britain for about 300 years, but English remained the language of the ordinary people.
It was not until the late 14th century that English began to be taught in schools.
The language used from about 1100 to 1500 is today known as Middle English.
Modern English: A Mixture of Various Languages
In 1476, the printing press was introduced into England and, as a result, a large number of books came to be printed in English afterwards.
Because there were no words in English to accurately describe the new concepts, techniques, and inventions that were coming from Europe, writers began to borrow words.
Consequently, besides French, Italian, and Spanish words, many Greek and Latin words entered English.
These words are often long and contrast with their shorter Anglo-Saxon words.