1.

0 INTRODUCTION

English Language has became the language for the entire world. The English language is spoken
by 750 million people in the world as either the official language of a nation, a second language,
or in a mixture with other languages (such as pidgins and creoles.) English is the (or an) official
language in England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. However, the United States has no
official language. According to the philosopher of our nation, Professor Syed Hussain Al Attas,
those who only know the mother tongue and does not know English Language in this century,
will live in a world of lack of knowledge. That is proven that English Language is important in
our daily life. It is not that we will die if we do not know the language, but it is just we will be
lost in the world today.

Nowadays, English is the language most often studied as a foreign language in the European
Union (by 89% of schoolchildren), followed by French (32%), German (18%), Spanish (8%),
and Russian; while the perception of the usefulness of foreign languages amongst Europeans is
68% English, 25% French, 22% German, and 16% Spanish. Among non-English speaking EU
countries, a large percentage of the population claimed to have been able to converse in English
in the Netherlands (87%), Sweden (85%), Denmark (83%), Luxembourg (66%), Finland (60%),
Slovenia (56%), Austria (53%), Belgium (52%), and Germany (51%).Norway and Iceland also
have a large majority of competent English-speakers.

Books, magazines, and newspapers written in English are available in many countries around the
world. English is also the most commonly used language in the sciences. In 1997, the Science
Citation Index reported that 95% of its articles were written in English, even though only half of
them came from authors in English-speaking countries.

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Once, English Language is the language for the people in the higher class only. But the language
has change time to time. It is because of the influences such as the war and the colonization. For
example, 40% of the English Language words today were borrowed from French such as
‘father’, ‘brooch’, ‘déjà vu’ and ‘ala carte’. How did French could made affect to this language?
Why? That is our task to find out the answer.

2.0 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT

There are three stages of English language. It is divided into Old English, Middle English
and Modern English.

What is the connection between three of these above with Germanic Invasion?

Well, the Old English which is the earliest form of English is actually derived from

Germanic Language. It started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded
Britain during the 5th century A.D.. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes,

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crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. The Saxons came
from north-West Germany, the Angles from the Danish mainland and islands and the
Jutes from northern Denmark. Collectively, these groups are known as Anglo-Saxons.

At that time, the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic
speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales,
Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from Englaland and their language was called
Englisc - from which the words England and English are derived.

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 Germanic invaders entered Britain on the east and south coasts in the 5th century.

2.1 Old English (450-1100 A.D.)

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The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into
what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today.
Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English.
Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old
English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old
English was spoken until around 1100.

Part of Beowulf, a poem written in Old English.

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3.0 EFFECTS OF GERMANIC INVASION

A language move by people. When people start to accept the language, it remains. For
example, we still using ‘sing, sang, sung’ which is derived from Germanic Language.

The first vowel also change occurred during the invasion of Anglo-Saxons such as ;
Goose Geese

Old Elder

Mouse Mice

Man Men

Tooth Teeth

Most of Christianity songs in England also use Old English. This proven that Old English which
is actually derived from Germanic Language is still used until now. Indeed, we necessary learn
the history of a language so that we will know the language well. As a conclusion, the English
Language of today is the language that has resulted from the history of the dialects spoken by the
Germanic tribes who came to England.

English is a member of the Germanic family of

languages. Germanic is a branch of the Indo-
European language family.
2.0 REFERENCES

Book :

 Mclyntre, D. (2009). History of English : A resource book for students. Great Britain :
Routledge.

 Albert C. Baugh and Thomas Cable(2002). History of English Language. Routledge.

Internet :

 http://www.englishclub.com/english-language-history.htm

 http://www.danshort.com/ie/timeline.htm

 http://www.ielanguages.com/index.php