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Shortly after Geoffrey Chaucer died, English was decreed as the official language of England. This was after a history of several different ruling languages. When Julius Caesar invaded, the English language did not exist. However the Anglo-Saxons later invaded and united the tribes, keeping only a few words of the then dominant Celtic language. However, the Vikings also "ruled" England, and we still use over 900 words from this Norse time period, including many days of the week.

Then the Norman French invaded and ruled for 300 years. The official languages of their court were French and Latin. (This time period added prepositional phrases to the English language.) The English finally raised a peasant army, and the 100 Year War broke out. By the time Chaucer was born, there was an English-speaking king again.

Modern day speakers would not be able to read this English, though, but a series of events, including the Black Death and the printing press brought about the Great Vowel Shift, which resulted in a form of modern English. This brings us up to the language of Shakespeare, which we can understand fairly easily. However, as we can obviously see, the English language has continued to evolve in the last 400 years, and continues to change shape even today.

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11y ago
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10y ago

1802, when it was formally ceded to the British. The British had actually acquired it five years prior, but it remained a colony with a French speaking populace and Spanish laws until it was formally ceded.

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16y ago

You really need to give a country. In England, English became the official language of the law courts in 1362.

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13y ago

English has never been the OFFICIAL language USA has no official language

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10y ago

Never. Australia has no official language and no declared national language. English is the default language throughout the country, but it is not the official language,

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Q: When did English become the official language of England?
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