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North Sea Germanic peoples including Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians settle in Britain, bringing with them the dialects that become Old English. A few loans are borrowed from the native Romano-Britons but any further influence from the Celtic languages or British Latin is disputed. -
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"Caedmon's Hymn" is the oldest known English poem and it was composed around this time. -
Vikings invade the eastern and northern parts of England. They bring a large number of words to the English language. -
Middle English: As a result of the Norman conquest, French words begin to enter English, including those regarding royalty, the law and food items.
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Early Modern English is the language used by William Shakespeare and it incorporated many Renaissance-era loans from Latin and Ancient Greek, as well as other European languages. -
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The Great Vowel Shift occurs, affecting all dialects of English.
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Large-scale migration from England to North America leads to a new strain of English evolving there. -
English continues to spread through media such as Hollywood films, popular music and the Internet.
