, bringing with them their language and culture. English became a mixture of languages that adapted to the circumstances and the needs of the people. England eventually commanded an empire, thus, spreading the language around the world. When the empire diminished the Americas continued to spread the English language because of their political power and wealth. The Celts were the first Indo-European people to spread across Europe, (Crystal, 1997). They emerged from south central Europe and spread throughout most of Europe, reaching the Black Sea and Asia Minor. They migrated to southwest Spain, central Italy, and throughout Britain in a series of wave-like migrations.The first group of Celts went to Ireland in the 4th century and later reached Scotland and the Isle of Man. The second group went into southern England and Wales, and later to Brittany, producing a type of Celtic know as British. During the greatest days of the Roman Empire, their law ruled all men from Britain to Egypt, from Spain to the Black Sea, (Van Doren, 1992). Britain was acquired as a province of the Roman Empire during the 14 century, following the death of Augustus. Words from Latin and Greek languages were adopted into the language. The Greek alphabet, with a few minor changes, is used in the English language today (Asher, 1994).English became a distinct tongue about 449 AD when Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, who spoke Germanic dialects, arrived in Celtic-speaking Britain. Groups of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes came to aid the Britons who were besieged by Picts and Scots after the Roman military withdrew in 410 AD (Bright, 1992). English owes its origin to the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes who crossed the sea and settled in Britain (Dalby, 1998). The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms covered most of what is now England by around 600 AD. The West Saxons were the most powerful of the new kingdoms, and the only one able to withstand the Viking invasion in the 9th century AD. It was also in...
