Old English language
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The Old English language was a language used by the Anglo-Saxon people in what is now England and southern Scotland from roughly 500ce to the Norman Conquest. It's the earliest form of English language.
Its roots are in the West Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages, developing from the Anglo-Frisian language of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.
Old English was a collection of regional dialects:
- West Saxon was spoken in southern England and became the literary standard.
- Mercian was spoken in central England
- Northumbrian was spoken in northern England and southern Scotland
- Kentish was spoken in southeastern England
Originally, Old English was written with Runic script, but transitioned to the Latin alphabet.
The most famous work in Old English is Beowulf.