AI ChatGPT...Who Invented English? No single person invented English — it evolved over thousands of years from several earlier languages.
Here’s the simple version:
1. Started with the Anglo-Saxons (5th–7th century)
English began when three Germanic tribes invaded Britain:
Angles
Saxons
Jutes
They brought their languages, which blended into Old English.
2. Shaped by Vikings (8th–11th century)
Norse-speaking Vikings settled in Britain and mixed their language with Old English.
This added words like sky, knife, egg, window.
3. Transformed by the Normans (from 1066)
The Normans spoke a type of French.
After they conquered England, French heavily influenced English — especially words about law, government, and culture.
4. Evolved into Middle → Modern English
Over time, the language kept changing naturally.
Writers like Chaucer and later Shakespeare used forms of English that eventually became what we recognise today.
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So who “invented” English?
No one.
It’s the result of:
Germanic tribes
Norse influence
Norman French
Centuries of gradual evolution
Think of English as a big soup made from many languages over 1,600+ years.