The history of the English language begins with the invasion of the British Isles by Germanic tribes in the 5th century of our era.

Prior to the Germanic invasion the British Isles must have been inhabited for at least fifty thousand years. The earliest inhabitants whose linguistic affiliation has been established are the Celts. The Celts came to Britain in three waves and preceded the Teutons.

Traces of Celtic civilisation are still found all over the Europe. Celtic languages were spoken over extensive parts of Europe before our era. The Gaelic branch has survived as Irish in Ireland, has expanded to Scotland as Scotch -Gaelic of the Highlands and is still spoken by a few hundred people on the Isle of Man 

(the Manx language).

The Brittonic branch is represented by Kymric or Welsh in modern Wales and by Breton or Armorican spoken by over a million people in modern France ( in the area called Bretagne or Brittany, where the Celts came as emigrants from Britain in the 5th c.); another Brittonic dialect in Great Britain, Cornish, was spoken in Cornwall until the end of the 18th century.

To be continued.