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Period: 450 to Jan 1, 1066
Old English
English has been spoken in England since around 450 (449 is the date given by the Venerable Bede in his history written in the early eighth century). To be more precise a set of varieties of West Germanic have been spoken. The three main groups were Angles, Saxons and Jutes. By and large, the Angles settled in the middle and north of England, the Saxon in the south and the Jutes in the area of present-day Kent. -
Period: 1066 to 1500
Middle English
After the invasion of England by the Normans in 1066, the West Saxon ‘standard’, which was waning anyway due to natural language change, was dealt a death blow. Norman French became the language of the English court and clergy. English sank to the level of a patois (an unwritten dialect). With the loss of England for the French in 1204 English gradually emerged as a literary language again. -
Period: 1500 to
Early Modern English
The present-day orthography of English is essentially that of the late Middle English period. After the Middle English period several changes occur which account for the particular form of English spelling today. This period is of interest from the point of view of orthography: And also during this time the vocabulary of English took on the profile which it exhibits today: French loans were consolidated and a whole series of new classical loan-wordswere adopted into the language. -
Period: to
Late Modern English
This period was particularly concerned with ‘ascertaining’ and ‘fixing’ the English language to prevent it from future change. Many grammars of English were written – by men and women. The most famous of these is that by Bishop Robert Lowth (1710-1787) which he published in 1762. Many of the recommendations of Lowth later became strictures, even though he may not intended this. -
United States
The US does not have an official or national language at the federal level. However, English is considered the official language in 32 states in what has been referred to as “English-only movement.” 30 of the 50 states use English as the official language while Hawaii established both English and Hawaiian as the official language. Alaska recognizes 20 indigenous languages alongside English as official languages. -
Australia
Though Australia has no official language, English is regarded as the de facto national language of Australia and is spoken by all. Even so, Australia is a linguistically and culturally diverse country with influences from more than 160 spoken languages. Australian English has a unique accent and vocabulary. Early European settlement in Australia almost eradicated the indigenous languages, and few of these aboriginal languages have survived today. -
Canada
Canada is a bilingual country with "co-official" languages. English and French enjoy equal status as the official languages of all federal government institutions in Canada. This means that the public has the right to communicate with and receive services from, federal government institutions in either English or French. Federal government employees have the right to work in the official language of their choice in designated bilingual regions. -
New Zealand
New Zealand has three ‘official’ languages: English; Māori and New Zealand Sign Language. English is the most widely spoken language in New Zealand. It is the language commonly used in the courts, parliament, in the education system and by the public sector. -
South Africa
South Africa’s Constitution recognises 11 official languages: Sepedi (also known as Sesotho sa Leboa), Sesotho, Setswana, siSwati, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, Afrikaans, English, isiNdebele, isiXhosa and isiZulu.
For centuries South Africa’s official languages were European – Dutch, English, Afrikaans. African languages, spoken by at least 80% of the people, were ignored. In 1996 South Africa’s new Constitution gave official protection to all major languages. -
United Kingdom
It is the official language of the United Kingdom, spoken by about 60 million residents over the age of 3, which is about 98% of the population. It is estimated that 700,000 people in the UK speak Welsh, which is an official language in Wales. There are also around 1.5 million people in the country who speak Scots, but there is a debate about whether this is a different language or a variety of English. -
Republic of Ireland
The two principal languages of Ireland are English and Irish. Irish is considered the official and national language of the Republic of Ireland; Northern Ireland has no official language. However, English has been the dominant spoken language in both political areas since the end of the 19th century. -
Pakistan
Urdu and English are Pakistan's official languages. All government documents, many street signs, many shop signs, business contracts and other activities use English. The language of the courts is also English.
English is taught to all school-level Pakistani students, and in many cases the medium of instruction is also in English. -
Nigeria
There are perhaps 500 languages spoken in Nigeria.The official language of Nigeria is English, the former language of colonial British Nigeria. As reported in 2003, Nigerian English and Nigerian Pidgin were spoken as a second language by 60 million people in Nigeria. Communication in the English language is much more popular in the country's urban communities than it is in the rural areas, due to colonisation -
India
The Constitution of India designates the official language of the Government of India as Hindi written in the Devanagari script, as well as English. There is no national language as declared by the Constitution of India. Hindi and English are used for official purposes such as parliamentary proceedings, judiciary, communications between the Central Government and a State Government.
