12. What languages were spoken in the British Isles before the Germanic invasion? Which of their descendants have survived today?

Before the Germanic settlers arrived in Britain and became the first

speakers of "English," other peoples had claimed the island as their home. The first

inhabitants for whom we have linguistic knowledge were the Celts, who arrived

around the time of the Bronze Age (2000–500 B.C.). They were almost certainly

the first speakers of an Indo-European language to arrive.

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common

Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family.

Modern Celtic languages (Welsh, Irish, Breton, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish,

Manx) are mostly spoken on the north-western edge of Europe, notably in Ireland,

Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall, and the Isle of Man, and can be found spoken

on Cape Breton Island.

13. When did the Germanic invasion in the British Isles begin? What Germanic tribes came to live there?

The history of the English language begins with the invasion of the British

Isles by Germanic tribes in the 5th c. of our era. The first Germanic detachment

arrived in Britain in the mid-fifth century to serve as mercenary troops at the

invitation of the British sub-Roman government. When the government failed in

their agreement to supply them, these troops revolted. This revolt touched a

significant part of the country. Then, the first settlers invited their relatives from

overseas to join them.

At the beginning of the sixth century, the Germanic peoples' rapid spread

through the country was checked for a time by the British, but by the mid-sixth

century they started to expand again. By the time of Augustine's arrival, they

controlled much of the lowlands and were expanding to the north and west.

14. What Germanic kingdoms existed on the British Isles?

The Germanic areas which became established in the period following the

initial settlements consisted of the following seven ‘kingdoms': Kent, Essex,

Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria. These are known as the

Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. Political power was initially concentrated in the sixth

century in Kent but this passed to Northumbria in the seventh and eighth centuries.

After this a shift to the south began, first to Mercia in the ninth century and later on

to West Saxony in the tenth and eleventh centuries.

15. How did the country acquire the name of England?

Our source for early days of English history is the Ecclesiastical History

of the English People written by a monk called the Venerable Bede around 730 in

the monastery of Jarrow in Co. Durham (i.e. on the north east coast of England).

According to this work — written in Latin — the Celts first appealed to

the Romans but the help forthcoming was slight and so they turned to the

Germanic tribes of the North Sea coast. The date which Bede gives for the first

arrivals is 449. This can be assumed to be fairly correct. The invaders consisted of

members of various Germanic tribes, chiefly Angles from the historical area of

Angeln in north east Schleswig Holstein. It was this tribe which gave England its

name, i.e. Englaland, the land of the Angles (Engle, a mutated form from earlier

*Angli, note that the superscript asterisk denotes a reconstructed form, i.e. one

that is not attested).

The terms English, England, and East Anglia are derived--fairly

transparently--from words referring to the Angles: Englisc (vernacular writers

referred to themselves by this term), Angelcynn, and Englaland.