Old English
earliest historical form of English
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Summary
Old English is a natural language[1]. It ranks in the top 2% of natural language entities by monthly Wikipedia readership (18,058 views/month).[2]
Key Facts
- Instance of: chronolect[3], historical language[4], extinct language[5]
- Subclass of: Anglic[6]
- Writing system: Latin script[7], futhorc[8], futhark[9]
- Commons category: Old English language[10]
- Wikimedia language code: ang[11]
- End time: 1066[12]
- Topic's main category: Category:Old English[13]
- Number of speakers, writers, or signers: 0[14]
- Described by source: Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary[15], The Nuttall Encyclopædia[16], Small Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary[17], Granat Encyclopedic Dictionary[18]
- Replaced by: Middle English[19]
- Topic has template: Q36457709[20]
- Stack Exchange tag: https://linguistics.stackexchange.com/tags/old-english[21]
- Native label: Ænglisc sprǣc[22]
- Short name: Old English[23]
- Different from: Q11732661[24]
- Indigenous to: British Isles[25], England[26], Scotland[27], Wales[28]
- Exact match: http://publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/language/ANG[29]
- Linguistic typology: subject–object–verb[30], V2 word order[31], nominative–accusative language[32], stress-timed language[33], fusional language[34]
- On focus list of Wikimedia project: Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4[35]
- Related category: Category:Anglo-Saxon pronunciation[36]
- Entry in abbreviations table: OEng.[37]
Why It Matters
Old English has Wikipedia articles in 30 language editions, a strong signal of global cultural recognition.[38] It is known by 136 alternative names across languages and contexts.[39]