The English languages (also called the Anglic languages or Insular Germanic languages) are a group of linguistic varieties including Old English and the languages descended from it. These include Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English; Early Scots, Middle Scots, and Modern Scots; and the now extinct Yola and Fingalian in Ireland.
English-based creole languages are not generally included, as only their lexicon, not their linguistic structure, comes from English.
| Old English (Northumbrian, Mercian, Kentish, West Saxon) | |||||
Famous quotes containing the words english and/or languages:
“We can trace almost all the disasters of English history to the influence of Wales.”
—Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966)
“Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute.”
—J.G. (James Graham)