ABSTRACT
If, as the old axiom proclaims, history is written by the winners, so too is linguistic history affected by the conquests, migrations, and other cultural shifts among various cultures. In this light, it is critical to realize that, despite substantial overlap, a linguistic history of the English language differs from a linguistic history of England, for numerous languages have been spoken in the land known as Brittania to the Romans, and then as England after the Anglo-Saxon migrations, as Great Britain in recognition of the unions of England with Wales and Scotland, and also as the United Kingdom due to the union with Northern Ireland. The English language was born in England but not without various linguistic skirmishes and struggles along the way, with many tongues contributing to its present structure and content.
