Editing English language (section)

=== Proto-Germanic to Old English ===
{{Main|Old English}}

[[File:Beowulf Cotton MS Vitellius A XV f. 132r.jpg|thumb|The opening to the Old English epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]'', [[manuscript|handwritten]] in [[Half-uncial|half-uncial script]]:<br/>{{lang|ang|Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon...}}<br/>"Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."]]

The earliest form of English is called [[Old English]] or [[Anglo-Saxon]] (c. year 550–1066). Old English developed from a set of [[West Germanic]] dialects, often grouped as [[Anglo-Frisian]] or [[North Sea Germanic]], and originally spoken along the coasts of [[Frisia]], [[Lower Saxony]] and southern [[Jutland]] by Germanic peoples known to the historical record as the [[Angles]], [[Saxons]], and [[Jutes]].<ref>Baugh, Albert (1951). A History of the English Language. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 60–83, 110–130</ref><ref name=OriginOfAngloSaxon>{{Citation | first = Thomas William | last = Shore | author-link = Thomas William Shore | title = [[commons:File:Shore T. W. - Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race.pdf|Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race – A Study of the Settlement of England and the Tribal Origin of the Old English People]] | place = London | edition = 1st | year = 1906 | pages = 3, 393}}</ref> From the 5th century, the Anglo-Saxons [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|settled Britain]] as [[End of Roman rule in Britain|the Roman economy and administration collapsed]]. By the 7th century, the Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons [[Celtic language-death in England|became dominant in Britain]], replacing the languages of [[Roman Britain]] (43–409): [[Common Brittonic]], a [[Celtic languages|Celtic language]], and [[Latin]], brought to Britain by the [[Roman occupation of Britain|Roman occupation]].{{sfn|Collingwood|Myres|1936}}{{sfn|Graddol|Leith|Swann et al.|2007}}{{sfn|Blench|Spriggs|1999}} ''England'' and ''English'' (originally {{lang|ang|Ænglaland}} and {{lang|ang|Ænglisc}}) are named after the Angles.{{sfn|Bosworth|Toller|1921}}

Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects ([[Mercian dialect|Mercian]] and [[Northumbrian dialect|Northumbrian]]) and the Saxon dialects, [[Kentish dialect (Old English)|Kentish]] and [[West Saxon dialect|West Saxon]].{{sfn|Campbell|1959|p=4}} Through the educational reforms of [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred]] in the 9th century and the influence of the kingdom of [[Wessex]], the West Saxon dialect became the [[standard language|standard written variety]].{{sfn|Toon|1992|loc=Chapter: Old English Dialects}} The [[epic poetry|epic poem]] ''[[Beowulf]]'' is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, ''[[Cædmon's Hymn]]'', is written in Northumbrian.{{sfn|Donoghue|2008}} Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the [[Scots language]] developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from the early period of Old English were written using a [[Anglo-Saxon runes|runic script]].{{sfn|Gneuss |2013|p=23}} By the 6th century, a [[Old English Latin alphabet|Latin alphabet]] was adopted, written with [[half-uncial]] [[letterform]]s. It included the runic letters ''[[wynn]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|ƿ}}}} and ''[[Thorn (letter)|thorn]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|þ}}}}, and the modified Latin letters ''[[eth]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|ð}}}}, and ''[[Æ|ash]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|æ}}}}.{{sfn|Gneuss |2013|p=23}}{{sfn|Denison|Hogg|2006|pp=30–31}}

Old English is essentially a distinct language from Modern English and is virtually impossible for 21st-century unstudied English-speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern [[German language|German]], and its closest relative is [[Old Frisian]]. [[Old English grammar|Nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs]] had many more [[Inflectional morphology|inflectional endings and forms]], and word order was [[Pragmatic word order|much freer]] than in Modern English. Modern English has [[grammatical case|case forms]] in pronouns (''he'', ''him'', ''his'') and has a few verb inflections (''speak'', ''speaks'', ''speaking'', ''spoke'', ''spoken''), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more [[grammatical person|person]] and [[grammatical number|number]] endings.{{sfn|Hogg|1992|loc=Chapter 3. Phonology and Morphology}}{{sfn|Smith|2009}}{{sfn|Trask|Trask|2010}}

The translation of [[Gospel of Matthew|Matthew]] 8:20 from 1000 shows examples of case endings ([[nominative case|nominative]] plural, [[accusative case|accusative]] plural, [[genitive case|genitive]] singular) and a verb ending ([[present tense|present]] plural):
* {{lang|ang|Foxas habbað holu and heofonan fuglas nest}}
* Fox-as habb-að hol-u and heofon-an fugl-as nest-∅
* fox-{{sc|NOM.PL}} have-{{sc|PRS.PL}} hole-{{sc|ACC.PL}} and heaven-{{sc|GEN.SG}} bird-{{sc|NOM.PL}} nest-{{sc|ACC.PL}}
* "Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests"{{sfn|Lass|2006|pp=46–47}}