Editing Old English (section)

{{short description|Earliest historical form of English language}}
{{About|the early medieval language of the Anglo-Saxons}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2024}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Old English
| image            = Beowulf.Kenning.jpg
| imagecaption     = A detail of the first page of the ''[[Beowulf]]'' manuscript, showing the words {{lang|ang|ofer hron rade}}, translated as "over the whale's road (sea)". It is an example of an Old English stylistic device, the [[kenning]].
| nativename       = {{hlist|{{lang|ang|Englisċ}}|{{lang|ang|Ænglisċ}}}}
| pronunciation    = {{IPA|ang|ˈeŋɡliʃ|}}
| ethnicity        = [[Anglo-Saxons]]
| region           = [[England]] (except Cornwall and the extreme north-west), southern and eastern [[Scotland]], and some localities in the eastern fringes of modern [[Wales]]
| era              = Mostly developed into [[Middle English]] and [[Early Scots]] by the 12th century
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Germanic languages|Germanic]]
|fam3=[[West Germanic]]
|fam4=[[North Sea Germanic]]
|fam5=[[Anglo-Frisian]]
|fam6=[[Anglic languages|Anglic]]
|ancestor=[[Proto-Indo-European]]
|ancestor2=[[Proto-Germanic]]
| script           = [[Anglo-Saxon runes|Runic]], later [[Latin script|Latin]] ([[Old English Latin alphabet]])
| iso2             = ang
| iso3             = ang
| iso6             = ango
| glotto           = olde1238
| glottorefname    = Old English (ca. 450–1100)
| dia1             = [[Kentish Old English|Kentish]]
| dia2             = [[Mercian dialect|Mercian]]
| dia3             = [[Northumbrian Old English|Northumbrian]]
| dia4             = [[West Saxon dialect|West Saxon]]
| notice           = IPA
}}
{{Old English topics}}

'''Old English''' ({{lang|ang|Englisc}} or {{lang|ang|Ænglisc}}, {{IPA|ang|ˈeŋɡliʃ|pron}} or {{IPA|ang|ˈæŋɡliʃ|}}), or '''Anglo-Saxon''',<ref name=Name /> is the earliest recorded form of the [[English language]], spoken in [[England]] and southern and eastern [[Scotland]] in the [[Early Middle Ages]]. It developed from the languages brought to [[Great Britain]] by [[Anglo-Saxon settlers]] in the mid-5th century, and the first [[Old English literature]] dates from the mid-7th century. After the [[Norman Conquest]] of 1066, English was replaced for several centuries by [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman]] (a [[langues d'oïl|type of French]]) as the language of the upper classes. This is regarded as marking the end of the Old English era, since during the subsequent period the English language was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman, developing into what is now known as [[Middle English]] in England and [[Early Scots]] in Scotland.

Old English developed from a set of [[Anglo-Frisian]] or [[Ingvaeonic]] dialects originally spoken by [[Germanic tribes]] traditionally known as the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]] and [[Jutes]]. As the Germanic settlers became dominant in England, their language [[Celtic language decline in England|replaced]] the languages of [[Roman Britain]]: [[Common Brittonic]], a [[Celtic language]]; and [[Latin]], brought to Britain by the [[Roman conquest of Britain|Roman conquest]]. Old English had four main dialects, associated with particular [[heptarchy|Anglo-Saxon kingdoms]]: [[Kentish Old English|Kentish]], [[Mercian dialect|Mercian]], [[Northumbrian Old English|Northumbrian]], and [[West Saxon dialect|West Saxon]]. It was West Saxon that formed the basis for the literary standard of the later Old English period,<ref name="Baugh1951" /> although the dominant forms of Middle and [[Modern English]] would develop mainly from Mercian,{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} and Scots from Northumbrian. The speech of eastern and northern parts of England was subject to strong [[Old Norse]] influence due to [[Danelaw|Scandinavian rule]] and settlement beginning in the 9th century.

Old English is one of the [[West Germanic languages]], with its closest relatives being [[Old Frisian]] and [[Old Saxon]]. Like other old Germanic languages, it is very different from Modern English and Modern Scots, and largely incomprehensible for Modern English or Modern Scots speakers without study.<ref>{{Cite web |first=Arika |last=Okrent |title=Why is the English spelling system so weird and inconsistent? |url=https://aeon.co/essays/why-is-the-english-spelling-system-so-weird-and-inconsistent |access-date=11 August 2021 |website=Aeon}}</ref> Within [[Old English grammar]], the nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs have many [[inflection]]al endings and forms, and [[word order]] is much freer.<ref name="Baugh1951" /> The oldest Old English inscriptions were written using a [[Anglo-Saxon runes|runic system]], but from about the 8th century this was replaced by a [[Old English Latin alphabet|version of the Latin alphabet]].