Editing History of English (section)

==Proto-English==
{{Main|Celtic language decline in England|Saxon Shore}}

[[File:2022 11 13 - Map West Germanic – cc. 476 CE - final.png|thumb|300px|Proto-English (early Anglo-Saxon) and the [[West Germanic languages]] {{circa}} 476 AD.<ref>[[Wolfram Euler|Euler, Wolfram]] 2022. ''Das Westgermanische – von der Herausbildung im 3. Jahrhundert bis zur Aufgliederung im 7. Jahrhundert – Analyse und Rekonstruktion [West Germanic – from the Formation in the 3rd Century to the Breakup in the 7th Century – Analysis and Reconstruction]''. Berlin, Inspiration Unlimited, p. 1 (cover)</ref>]]
English has its roots in the languages of the [[Germanic peoples]] of northern Europe. During the [[Roman Empire]], most of the Germanic-inhabited area, [[Germania]], remained independent from Rome, although some southwestern parts were within the empire. Some Germanics served in the [[Roman military]], and troops from Germanic tribes such as the [[Tungri]], [[Batavi (Germanic tribe)|Batavi]], [[Menapii]] and [[Frisii]] served in Britain ([[Roman Britain|Britannia]]) under Roman command. Germanic settlement and power expanded during the [[Migration Period]], which saw the [[fall of the Western Roman Empire]]. A [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|Germanic settlement of Britain]] took place from the 5th to the 7th century, following the [[end of Roman rule in Britain|end of Roman rule]] on the island.<ref>Oppenheimer, Stephen, 2006. ''The Origins of the British'' London, Robinson, pp. 364–374.</ref> 

The ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' relates that around the year 449 [[Vortigern]], king of the [[Brython|Britons]], invited the "Angle kin", [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] allegedly led by the Germanic brothers [[Hengist and Horsa]], to help repel invading [[Picts]], in return for lands in the southeast of Britain. This led to waves of settlers who eventually established seven kingdoms, known as the [[heptarchy]]. The ''Chronicle'' was not a contemporaneous work, however, and cannot be regarded as an accurate record of such early events.<ref>Dark, Ken, 2000. ''Britain and the End of the Roman Empire''. Brimscombe, Gloucestershire, Tempus, pp. 43–47.</ref> [[Bede]], who wrote his ''[[Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum|Ecclesiastical History]]'' in AD 731, writes of invasion by [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]] and [[Jutes]], although the precise nature of the invasion and settlement and the contributions made by these particular groups are the subject of much dispute among historians.<ref>Oppenheimer, Stephen, 2006. ''The Origins of the British'' London, Robinson, pp. 364–374.</ref>

The languages spoken by the Germanic peoples who initially settled in Britain were part of the [[West Germanic]] branch of the [[Germanic language]] family. They consisted of dialects from the [[Ingvaeonic]] grouping, spoken mainly around the [[North Sea]] coast, in regions that lie within modern [[Denmark]], north-west [[Germany]] and the [[Netherlands]]. Due to specific similarities between early English and [[Old Frisian]], an [[Anglo-Frisian]] grouping is also identified, although it does not necessarily represent a node in the family tree.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stiles |first=Patrick |title=Remarks on the 'Anglo-Frisian' Thesis (1995) |url=https://www.academia.edu/37163852}}</ref>

These dialects had most of the typical West Germanic features, including a significant amount of grammatical [[inflection]]. Vocabulary came largely from the core Germanic stock, although due to the Germanic peoples' extensive contacts with the Roman world, the settlers' languages already included a number of [[loanword]]s from [[Latin]].<ref>Baugh, Albert and Cable, Thomas. 2002. ''The History of the English Language''. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. pp. 79–81.</ref> For instance, the predecessor of Modern English ''wine'' had been borrowed into early Germanic from the Latin ''vinum''.