Editing Old English (section)

== Etymology ==
{{lang|ang|Englisċ}}, from which the word ''English'' is derived, means 'pertaining to the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]]'.<ref>Fennell, Barbara 1998. ''A history of English. A sociolinguistic approach''. Oxford: Blackwell.</ref> The Angles were one of the [[Germanic tribe]]s who settled in many parts of Britain in the 5th century.<ref>Pyles, Thomas and John Algeo 1993. ''Origins and development of the English language''. 4th edition. (New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich).</ref> By the 9th century, all speakers of Old English, including those who claimed Saxon or Jutish ancestry, could be referred to as {{lang|ang|Englisċ}}.

This name probably either derives from [[Proto-Germanic]] {{wikt-lang|gem-x-proto|*anguz}}, which referred to narrowness, constriction or anxiety, perhaps referring to shallow waters near the coast,<ref>Barber, Charles, Joan C. Beal and Philip A. Shaw 2009. ''The English language. A historical introduction''. Second edition of Barber (1993). Cambridge University Press.</ref> or else it may derive from a related word {{wikt-lang|gem-x-proto|*angô}} which could refer to curve or hook shapes including fishing hooks.<ref>Mugglestone, Lynda (ed.) 2006. ''The Oxford History of English.'' Oxford University Press.</ref><ref>Hogg, Richard M. and David Denison (ed.) 2006. ''A history of the English language''. Cambridge University Press.</ref> Concerning the second option, it has been hypothesised that the Angles acquired their name either because they lived on a curved promontory of land shaped like a [[fishhook]], or else because they were fishermen (anglers).<ref>Baugh, Albert C. and Thomas Cable 1993 ''A history of the English language''. 4th edition. (Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall).</ref>