ABSTRACT
Sometimes when linguists talk about language they discuss it as if it is an actual substance – something that you can put under a microscope and examine, dissect in a laboratory, or take to pieces in a workshop. The earliest form of English is Old English (OE). OE was derived from the Germanic languages of the Anglo-Saxons who settled in Britain, and most linguists agree that OE emerged in the fifth century, around 449 ce. The language in this form was used for over 600 years, but during those 600 years, of course, it was constantly changing. By 1100, it looked and sounded very different to the language it had been in its earliest stages. The English language emerged in the mid-fifth century ce on the island of Great Britain, the largest of the group of islands now known as the British Isles.
