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English is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, whose speakers, called Anglophones, originated in early medieval England. [4] [5] [6] The namesake of the language is the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the island of Great Britain.
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Mar 5, 2024 · English language, a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family that is closely related to the Frisian, German, and Dutch languages. It originated in England and is the dominant language of the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand. It has become the world’s lingua franca.
- What is the English language?The English language is an Indo-European language in the West Germanic language group. Modern English is widely considered to be the lingua franca...
- How many people speak English?As of 2020 there are 1.27 billion English speakers around the world. This makes it the most spoken language, ahead of Mandarin Chinese (1.12 billio...
- Is African American Vernacular English a dialect of English?There has been much public and academic debate on whether African American Vernacular English (AAVE) is a dialect of English or its own separate la...
- Where did English come from?Having emerged from the dialects and vocabulary of Germanic peoples—Angles, Saxons, and Jutes—who settled in Britain in the 5th century CE, English...
- Is English the official language of the United States of America?English is not the official language of the United States of America. The country does not have an official language on the federal level. Many sta...
English language, Language belonging to the Germanic languages branch of the Indo-European language family, widely spoken on six continents. The primary language of the U.S., Britain, Canada, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and various Caribbean and Pacific island nations, it is also an official language of India, the Philippines, and many sub-Saharan African countries.
- Spoken Worldwide. A third of the world's population speaks English as a first or secondary language, over 2 billion people. Tony Reilly noted an earlier estimate in "English Changes Lives" in Britain's The Sunday Times, "There are now estimated to be 1.5 billion English speakers globally: 375 million who speak English as their first language, 375 million as a second language and 750 million who speak English as a foreign language."
- When English Was First Spoken. English derived from a Proto-Indo-European language spoken by nomads wandering Europe about 5,000 years ago. German also came from this language.
- Evolution of the English Language. In the Norman conquest in 1066, the Norman French dialect (which was French with a Germanic influence) arrived in Britain.
- Usage of Modern English. Many scholars consider the early Modern English period to have begun about 1500. During the Renaissance, English incorporated many words from Latin via French, from classical Latin (not just church Latin), and Greek.
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English is a language that started in Anglo-Saxon England. It is originally from Anglo-Frisian and Old Saxon dialects. English is now used as a global language. There are about 375 million native speakers (people who use it as their first language) in the world. [3]
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