Old English 1500 years ago, in the 5 th century CE, a Germanic tribe, the Angles, traversed the North Sea to invade Britain. The earliest of these attacks was in 449 CE. Later, the Saxons and Jutes did the same. These tribes lived in what we now know as northern Germany and Denmark. The Germanic dialects of the Angles, Saxons and Jutes were the languages that gave birth to a new language in Britain, the English language. This language is called Old English or Anglo-Saxon. The erstwhile home of the Angles was called ‘ Englaland’. Their language was known as ‘Englisc’. The words ‘England’ and ‘English’ were formed from these old words. These invading tribes fought with the Celtic inhabitants of the country. Most of them were slaughtered or enslaved. Some were fortunate to have fled to the safety of Wales, Ireland and Scotland. In 2021, a speaker of English may find it almost impossible to comprehend Old English. Around 50% of the predominantly used words in contemporary English posses
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