What language family does English belong to?

English belongs to the West Germanic branch of Indo-European language family in Sino-Tibetan language family.

Indo-European language family is the largest language family in the world, including more than ten languages, mainly distributed in Europe, America and Asia. Indo-European speakers account for about one seventh of the world's population. Of all languages, English is closest to German, Dutch and Scandinavian Germanic. English originated in western Europe. Around 499 AD, three Germanic tribes living in northwest Europe-the Angles, Saxons and Jutes-invaded Britain. After the conquest of the British Isles, a unified English nation gradually formed, and its dialects gradually merged into a new language-Anglo-Saxon, that is, Old English (450- 1 150). During this period, only a few million people spoke English, and the use of English was limited to the British Island. Since then, English has experienced a long historical evolution, from Middle English (1 150 to 1500) to modern English (1500 to the present). English, as the most open language in the world, has absorbed more or less the vocabulary of almost any language in the world during its development of 1500 years. Nowadays, English has become the language with the largest vocabulary and the widest application range in the world. It is also the language closest to human language. According to the number of English speakers, English may be the third or fourth largest language in the world (according to 2 1 May of the century 1996, the number of English speakers in the world is 370 million), but it is the most extensive second language in the world, with the number of people second only to Chinese. As early as 19 19 Versailles Peace Conference, English has become the most important language in the diplomatic field. Many international organizations, from the International Olympic Committee to the United Nations, use English as their main working language. Many heads of government are proficient in English. For example, former German Chancellor Kohl can talk with former US President Bill Clinton in fluent English. The leading position of Britain and America in the fields of diplomacy, culture, economy, military affairs, politics and science in the past two centuries has made English an international language. English is one of the five working languages of the United Nations. The closest thing to English is undoubtedly Frisian, which is still spoken by about 500,000 people in Frisian province in the north of the Netherlands. Some people think Scottish Gaelic is an independent language close to English, while others think it is a dialect of English. Scottish has traditionally been regarded as an independent language (some people even think that Ebnik is an independent language, but this is controversial). Besides Frisian, the closest thing to English is the low Saxon language in eastern Netherlands and northern Germany. Other related languages include Dutch, Afrikaans and German. 1 1 century Norman conquest of England brought a large number of French words, which greatly enriched English.

Germanic tribes (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 Vilti of the British Isles invited his "Anglo relatives" to help him fight against the Picts, so he returned the territory of Southeast Angles. Then he sought further support, and Saxons, Angles and Jutes came one after another. Chronicles record that these "immigrants" eventually established seven kingdoms: Northumbria, Mercia, East Anglia, Kent, Essex, Sussex and Wessex.

After the Germanic invasion, they ruled the local Celts, and the local languages mainly survived in Scotland, Wales, Kangwa and Irish Island. The language of these invaders gradually formed "Old English", which is very similar to modern Frisian. English, England and East Anglia are three words developed from the vocabulary describing the Angles: English, Angelcynn and English Alan.

In the 9th century, Scandinavians invaded northern England on a large scale. At the end of the ninth century, the invaders occupied almost the whole eastern half of Britain. Scandinavians speak North Germanic. There is not much difference between North Germanic and West Germanic. Due to the invasion of Scandinavians, a large number of Scandinavian words (represented by Old Scandinavian) entered the vocabulary of Old English. There are many synonyms between ancient Norse and old English. Therefore, ancient Norse vocabulary often replaces old English vocabulary in English vocabulary.

1066 for 300 years after the Norman conquest, the king of England only spoke French. So a large number of French words entered Old English, and Old English itself lost most of its twists and turns, forming Middle English. The vowel movement around 1500 transforms Middle English into modern English. The most famous literary work in Old English is Beowulf, while the most famous literary work in Middle English is Canterbury Tales.

Modern English began to flourish in Shakespeare's time. Some scholars divided it into early modern English and late modern English, and the dividing line was about 1800. With the British occupation and colonization of most parts of the world, the local language has greatly influenced the development of English.