Where did English come from? Urgent! Urgent! ! Keep it simple, about 40 words

English is the most popular language in the world, but most people have never really explored the origin of English.

Early Germanic tribes from the West (Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians) immigrated to England, and English was inherited from their language changes. According to the "Anglo Saxon Chronicle", around 449 AD, King Vortigern of the British Isles invited "Anglo relatives" to help him fight against the Picts, so he gave the Angles southeastern territory in return. He then sought further support, and the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes came one after another. "Chronicles" records that these "immigrants" eventually established seven kingdoms: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Wessex.

After the Germanic invasion, they dominated the local Celtic-speaking peoples. The local languages ??survived mainly in Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and Ireland. The language of these invaders gradually formed "Old English", which is very similar to modern Frisian. The three words English, England and East Anglia are respectively developed from the words describing the Anglo people: Englisc, Angelcynn, Englaland.

In the ninth century AD, Scandinavians invaded northern Britain on a large scale. By the end of the ninth century, invaders had taken over almost the entire eastern half of Britain. Scandinavians speak a North Germanic language. The difference between North Germanic and West Germanic is not that great. As a result of the Scandinavian invasion, a large number of Scandinavian words (represented by Old Norse) entered the Old English vocabulary. Old Norse and Old English have many synonyms. As a result, Old Norse words are often replaced by Old English words in English vocabulary.

For three hundred years after the Norman Conquest in 1066, the kings of England spoke only French. As a result, a large number of French words entered Old English, and Old English itself lost most of its twists and turns, forming Middle English. The great vowel shift around 1500 transformed Middle English into Modern English. The most famous literary work in Old English is "Beowulf" and in Middle English is "The Canterbury Tales".

Modern English began to flourish during Shakespeare's period. Some scholars divide it into early modern English and late modern English, with the dividing line being around 1800. As Britain occupied and colonized much of the world, local languages ??also greatly influenced the development of English.

According to the latest research in the British journal Nature, the origin of English is not in Britain, but can be traced back to Turkey 9,000 years ago.

The origin of English in the Indo-European language family has always been the focus of research by historical linguists. One theory is that the Kurgan nomads invaded Europe and the Near East from the Siberian steppes six thousand years ago.

Another theory is that for thousands of years, farmers in the Asian part of Anatolia, Asia Minor, and Turkey have been expanding their lands westward, and they spread English , but there has been no clear answer.

In the past five years, Associate Professor Russell Gray and doctoral student Quentin Atkinson of the University of Auckland in New Zealand have analyzed 87 existing species of Indo-European languages ??by constructing an evolutionary tree. and lost languages, search for words with the same meaning or related words from various languages ??and organize them into groups. Subsequently, rigorous computer programs were used for analysis, and the conclusion was drawn that between 7,800 and 9,800 years ago, farmers in Anatolia brought Indo-European languages ????in order to develop agriculture. .

Gray believes that the content revealed by this research result is not limited to the development of language. Because language, like genes, can provide important clues about the development of human history.