Development of English

This page forms part of an etymology course that gives an outline of the development of English. It is written in a sequence that you may want to follow. The best place to start, if you want to follow the whole course, is Etymology course, or, if you are only interested in English, Development of English. You may also arrive at any of these articles from other links. For more information about the history of English, you should of course read a good history of the language, such as Baugh (1993), Strang (1970), or Crystal (2005)

The origins of the English language are very misty. Like all natural languages, it evolved as a spoken language, and the earliest written records are sparse. Though there is great scholarly dispute over many details, its development can be summarised in the following one-page schema, which may serve as a framework for any further knowledge that users of AWE may seek, or stumble across.