englisc

Englisc is the Old English name for the language spoken in early medieval England. It designates the West Germanic form of English that developed among the Anglian peoples who settled in Britain from the 5th century onward, and is distinct from later stages such as Middle English and Modern English. The term derives from Engla, the Angles, with the suffix -isc meaning "of or belonging to." The modern English word English shares this lineage.

Old English is an inflected West Germanic language characterized by a four‑case noun system, three grammatical genders, and strong versus weak verbs. The most widespread literary form was the West Saxon dialect, though Mercian, Northumbrian, and Kentish varieties also circulated. It was written primarily with the Latin alphabet, supplemented by Latin loanwords after Christianization; runic influences appear in earlier inscriptions.

Prominent Old English texts include Beowulf (in a West Saxon recension), the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and various religious and legal writings. The period saw substantial lexical growth from Germanic roots, with borrowings from Latin and, later, Norse, reflecting contact with Scandinavia.

With the Norman Conquest of 1066, Old English gradually evolved into Middle English, undergoing phonological and syntactic changes. In modern scholarship, Englisc is used to designate the language of this historical stage and to distinguish it from later English varieties within the West Germanic tradition.