Celtic language decline in England

Prior to the <a href="/facts/5th_century/2bgCGQBC">5th century</a> AD, most people in <a href="/facts/Great_Britain/TNgGQRPj">Great Britain</a> spoke a <a href="/facts/Brythonic_languages/9MPYrKUG">Brythonic language</a>, but the number of these speakers declined sharply throughout the <a href="/facts/Anglo-Saxon_England/V25yYLrM">Anglo-Saxon period</a> (between the 5th and 11th centuries), when Brythonic languages were displaced by the <a href="/facts/West_Germanic_dialects/PbeIH9Jz">West Germanic dialects</a> that are now known collectively as <a href="/facts/Old_English/9rsmQG2a">Old English</a>.
<a href="/facts/Anglo-Saxon_migration_debate/KD9DjcTI">Debate</a> continues over whether this change was due to <a href="/facts/Mass_migration/T91hTzUH">mass migration</a> or to a small-scale military takeover, not least because the situation was strikingly different from, for example, post-<a href="/facts/Roman_Gaul/lwD5gbaV">Roman Gaul</a>, <a href="/facts/Hispania/EYd2cv27">Iberia</a> or <a href="/facts/Roman_North_Africa/MIYYrhIF">North Africa</a>, where invaders speaking other languages gradually switched to local languages. This linguistic decline is therefore crucial to understanding the cultural changes in <a href="/facts/Sub-Roman_Britain/MjjEVIWY">post-Roman Britain</a>, the <a href="/facts/Anglo-Saxon_settlement_of_Britain/gCVMx2eP">Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain</a> and the rise of an <a href="/facts/English_language/tpkxGt7b">English language</a>.
The notable exceptions were the <a href="/facts/Cornish_language/DtPyMKHv">Cornish language</a> persisting into the 18th century, and a <a href="/facts/Welsh_language/4Pz8r6yk">form of Welsh</a> remaining in common usage in the <a href="/facts/England%25E2%2580%2593Wales_border/ekzNh8FD">English counties along the Welsh border</a> into the late 19th century.

Celtic language decline in England open-in-new

Celtic language decline in England