The document provides a brief history of the English language from its origins to modern times. It discusses the traditional periods of Old English, Middle English, and New English. The English language originated from Germanic tribes who invaded Britain in the 5th century AD, including the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Their language, Anglo-Saxon, was the basis of Old English. Middle English emerged between the 11th-15th centuries after the Norman invasion in 1066. New English developed from the 15th century onward and is the direct predecessor of modern English.