Classification of the Germanic Languages
Main Periods in the History of the English Language
The historical events that took place on the British Isles have influenced the linguistic situation in the country greatly. The table below shows the interconnection between the history and the language situation:
| Dates | Events | Population | Languages |
| Old English Period | |||
| 7th c. B.C. | Celtic Invasion | Celts | Celtic Dialects |
| 7th c. B.C. – 410 A.D. | Roman Invasion | Celts, Romans | Celtic Dialects, Latin |
| mid.5th c. – late 6th c. | Anglo-Saxon Invasion | Celts, Anglo-Saxons | Celtic Dialects, Old English Dialects! |
| Introduction of Christianity | Celts, Anglo-Saxons | Celtic Dialects, Old English Dialects, Latin | |
| after 8th c. | Scandinavian Invasion | Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians (Danes) | Celtic Dialects, Old English Dialects, Latin, Scandinavian Dialects |
| Middle English Period | |||
| Norman Conquest | Celts, Anglo-Saxons, Scandinavians, Normans | Celtic Dialects, Middle English Dialects, Latin, French | |
| late 14th c. | English – official language of the country | the English | Middle English Dialects, London Dialect(standard) |
| New English Period | |||
| Introduction of Printing (William Caxton)[A1] | The English | English(New English) | |
| 16th – 17th c. | Expansion of the British Empire | The English | English – national languagespreading overseas |
| Modern English Period | |||
| 20th c. | English – a global language |
Thus, the main periods in the language evolution are (rough dates are given):
1. Old English Period– prewritten (450-700)
– written (700-1100)
During this period 1 million[A2] people spoke Old English Dialects (see short survey of this period in § 74-77, p. 50-51 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies)).
2. Middle English Period – 1100-1500
During this period 4 million people spoke Middle English Dialects (see short survey of this period in § 78-81, p. 51-52 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies)).
3. New English Period– 1500-1800
(see short survey of this period in § 82-85, p. 52-53 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies)).
4. Modern English Period - ? (1945)-present time
Nowadays 300 million people speak English as a mother tongue (see short survey of this period in § 86-87, p. 53-54 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies)).
There are different classifications of the languages but as far as we deal with the history of the language we will consider genealogical classification. It is based on the conception that all the languages
can be classified according to their origin.
There are different points of view on the problem of language origin. Some scholars try to prove that there existed one universal language from which all the other languages stem.
The theory of William Allman(1990):
Proto-Germanic Language
 (one of the 12 groups of languages belonging to Indo-European family that stemmed from the common Indo-European Language)
| ||
 Indo-European Language
| 8 000 years ago | Turkey |
| Nostratic Language
| 14 000 years ago | The Near East |
| Proto-World Language | 200 000 years ago | Africa |
Modern classification of the Germanic Languages:
| North Germanic Languages | West Germanic Languages | East Germanic Languages |
| 1. Swedish (spoken in Sweden and Finland by 9 mill. people) | 1. English(spoken by 300 mill. people as a mother tongue + millions speak it as a second language | 1. Gothic (dead) |
| 2. Norwegian (spoken in Norway by 5 mill. people) | 2. German(spoken by 100 mill. people in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Lichtenstein) | |
| 3. Danish (spoken in Denmark by 5 mill. people) | 3. Dutch/Netherlandish (spoken by 20 mill. people in the Netherlands and some parts of Belgium) | |
| 4. Icelandic(spoken in Iceland by 250 thou. people) | 4. Frisian(spoken by 400 thou. people in some parts of the Netherlands and Germany and some islands in the North Sea) | |
| 5. Faroese(spoken in the Faroe Islands (north-east Atlantic) by 40 thou. people) | 5. Luxemburgish(spoken by 350 thou. people in Luxemburg and some parts of Germany and France) | |
| 6. Yiddish(spoken by Jews in different countries in Europe and America, is actually a mixture of the Southern Germanic Dialects, Hebrew and Slavonic elements) | ||
| 7. Afrikaans(spoken by 3 mill. people in the South African Republic, combines English, Dutch and African elements) |