A brief History of the English language
English belongs to the Indo-European family of languages. This family includes most part of the European languages spoken today. The influence of the original Indo-European language, called proto-Indo-European, can be seen today, even though no written records. The word for father, for example, is vater in German, pater in Latin, and pitr in Sanskrit. These words are all cognates, similar words in different languages sharing the same root.English originated from the language spoken by the Germanic tribes (Angles, Frisians, Jutes and Saxons) that migrated to the land that is currently England. According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, by the year 449, Vortigern, King of the British Isles, sent an invitation to the "Angle kin" to help him against the Picts. In exchange, the Angles were granted lands in the southeast. Further aid was sought, and in response "came men of Ald Seaxum of Anglum of Iotum" (Saxons, Angles, and Jutes). The Chronicle documents the subsequent affluence of "settlers" that established seven kingdoms: Northumbria, East Anglia, Mercia, Kent, Sussex, Essex, and Wessex.
The Germanic invaders dominated the original Celtic-speaking inhabitants, the languages of whom still survive in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and Ireland. The dialects spoken by those invaders formed what would be called Old English, which was a very similar language to modern Frisian, which was also strongly influenced by yet another Germanic dialect, the "Old Norse", spoken by Viking invaders who settled mainly in the North-East. English, England, and East Anglia are derived from words referring to the Angles like Englisc, Angelcynn, and Englaland.
300 years later, following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Kings of England started speaking French only. A large number of French words were assimilated into Old English, which also lost most of its inflections, resulting in the "Middle English". By the year 1500, the Great Vowel Shift transformed Middle English into "Modern English".
The most famous surviving works from Old and Middle English are Beowulf and Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales".
Modern English began its climbing by the time of William Shakespeare. Some scholars divide early Modern English and late Modern English at around 1800, due to the British conquest of much of the rest of the world, because the influence of native languages affected English enormously.
From the 16th Century, due to the contact that the British had with many people from other parts of the world and the Renaissance of Classical learning, many words have entered the language both directly and indirectly. New words were created at an increasing rate. Only Shakespeare created over 1600 words. This process grew exponentially in the modern era.
Borrowed words from other languages include clothing (pyjama, turban, shawl), food (spinach, chocolate, orange), names of animals (giraffe, tiger, zebra), scientific and mathematical terms (algebra, geography, species), drinks (tea, coffee, cider), religious terms (Jesus, Islam, nirvana), vehicles (chariot, car, coach), music and art (piano, theatre, easel), sports (checkmate, golf, billiards), political and military terms (commando, admiral, parliament), weapons (pistol, trigger, rifle), and astronomical names (Saturn, Leo, Uranus).
Languages that lent words to English include Latin, French, Greek, German, Italian, Arabic, Hindi (from India), Dutch, Malay, Farsi (from Iran and Afghanistan), Nahuatl (the Aztec language), Portuguese, Sanskrit (from ancient India), Spanish, Tupi (from South America) and Ewe (from Africa).