Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 166. Chapters: British English, Oxford English Dictionary, Australian English, Canadian English, American English, New Zealand English, English orthography, Newfoundland English, South African English, Hiberno-English, Jamaican English, International English, North American English, Plain language, Gobbledygook, Malaysian English, Singapore English, Philippine English, English phonology, Speak Good English Movement, List of countries by English-speaking population, English language spelling reform, List of Scripps National Spelling Bee champions, English language in Europe, Changes to Old English vocabulary, English as a lingua franca, List of countries where English is an official language, English in computing, English articles, Legal writing, Politics and the English Language, Ugandan English, Anglicisation, Japanese speakers learning r and l, Konglish, Legal English, English exonyms, Latin influence in English, Manglish vocabulary, Anglicism, Linking and intrusive R, Siamese twins, Hybrid word, Angeln, Standard English, Unifon, Béarlachas, U and non-U English, Language Report, English studies, Plain English Campaign, High rising terminal, Queen's English Society, Canspell National Spelling Bee, Bilingualism in Hong Kong, Burmese English, Standard written English, Compound modifier, Foreign language influences in English, Survey of English Usage, National Vocabulary Championship, Inkhorn term, Liberian English, Ghoti, Commonwealth Caribbean, Special English, Swenglish, Taglish, Specially designed academic instruction in English, Porglish, Cloze test, Positive anymore, Shm-reduplication, Spelling Bee of Canada, Anglicisation of names, Headlinese, ProEnglish, Snippy, Uncleftish Beholding, Alt.usage.english, English in Barbados, Boys' Weeklies, Dialect Test, Scatolinguistics, Tinker, English Plus, Englog, Golden Bull Award, Hispanicisms in English, English lexicology and lexicography, Alphabet to E-mail, On Language, LexSite, British National Corpus, English Corner, Globish, Bryson's Dictionary of Troublesome Words, English Dialect Dictionary, Lists of English words, List of reforms of the English language, Academy of Contemporary English, Strictly Speaking, Serblish, PressOnline, Dissertation on the English Language, Fingalian language, Nelson skills, International English Speakers' Association of Finland, South Atlantic English, English-speaking world, Semi-modal, Superior Person's Book of Words. Excerpt: English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, via the British Empire, and of the United States since the mid-20th century, it has been widely dispersed around the world, become the leading language of international discourse, and has acquired use as lingua franca in many regions. It is widely learned as a second language and used as an official language of the European Union and many Commonwealth countries, as well as in many world organizations. It is the third most natively spoken language in the world, after Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. Historically, English originated from the fusion of languages and dialects, now collectively termed Old English, which were brought to the eastern coast of Grea...