by Achae

Today we will delve deeper into Old English, the branch from the West Germanic language. Old English had its roots in England, although England did not start with English. Some believe England to have been inhabited by humans for 250,000 years, but more moderate estimates place it at 50,000. This is known as Paleolithic times. Humans at this point were short, long-armed and short-legged, with low foreheads and poorly developed chins. Remains show these humans to have possessed a high degree of artistic skill. Unfortunately, their language disappeared with their race. 5,000 B.C. was the Neolithic times. The people of this time were of a Mediterranean race, darker and taller than their Paleolithic counterparts. They were more culturally and technologically advanced. They did pottery and weaving as art but were not as artistic as the Paleolithic people. They are noted for burying their dead. Unfortunately, their language and race are presumed to be dead; however, there is a group of people called the Basques that are speculated to represent this culture. Their language shows no connection to any other language known.

The Celts are the first people we have definite knowledge of being in England. The Romans then invaded, pushing back the Celts from the shores, and consequently bringing in their Latin language. Inscriptions have survived that show the military and upper class were accustomed with Latin. Shortly after the fall of Rome, Germanic invasions began in England. Because the Latin language was confined to mainly the upper class, it did not survive through the Germanic conquests. These Germanic peoples were the Jutes, Angles, Saxons, and Frisians. Unlike the Romans, when the Germans came in they came to displace the Celts, not rule over them. The Celts were continually pushed farther north and west as more invasions came in. Unfortunately, Celtic influence did not stick around in the language that remained in England; however, it is most predominant in the names of places such as Kent, London, Cornwall, and the Thames River.

The language the invaders spoke was called Englisc, which is derived from the name of the Angles who invaded. Similarly, England adopted its name from the people called Angelcynn (Angle kin), and around 1000 the name shifted to Englaland (land of the Angles).