English is a big, big language.
It has many, many words.
But a long time ago, English did not look like this.
It had to grow, just like a little child grows up.
This is the story of how English words were born.
A very long time ago, people spoke a very old language.
We don’t know exactly what it sounded like, but we know it was the “great‑grandparent” of English.
From this old language came another one.
And from that one came English.
Some very old words we still use today came from this time:
These words are super old, like tiny treasures from the past.
Later, some groups of people came to a place called England.
They were called the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.
They brought their own words.
This made the first kind of English, called Old English.
It looked very different from the English we speak now.
If you saw it, you might say, “What is THAT?”
But many simple words we use today came from Old English:
These are the words we use every day.
Then the Vikings came in their big boats.
They spoke a different language.
But guess what?
Their language was a little bit like Old English.
So the people could understand each other a little.
The Vikings gave English new words like:
Even the words they, them, and their came from the Vikings!
One day, a man named William came from France and became king of England.
The people who came with him spoke French.
For a long time, rich people spoke French.
Regular people spoke English.
So English got LOTS of French words, like:
This made English bigger and fancier.
After many years, English and French mixed together.
They made a new kind of English called Middle English.
A famous writer named Chaucer wrote stories in this English.
People could understand it better than Old English, but it still looked different from today’s English.
English was growing up.
Then came a time when people loved learning new things.
They read books from old places like Greece and Rome.
They made new English words from old Greek and Latin words:
A very famous writer named Shakespeare also made many new words.
He loved to play with language.
English became even bigger.
Later, English went to many places around the world.
When English met new people, it learned new words from them.
From India:
From Africa:
From China:
From the Americas:
English was like a sponge, soaking up words everywhere it went.
Today, English keeps growing.
New words come from:
People make new words all the time.
English never stops changing.
Today, we make new words in many ways:
English is very good at making new words.
English has so many words because:
English is like a giant toy box full of words.
English words were born from:
English is always changing.
It grows with us.
It grows with the world.
And that is how English words were born.