As its name suggests, the English language, today spoken by hundreds of millions of people around the world, originated as the language of England, where it remains the principal tongue today, although not officially designated as such. An Indo-European language in the Anglo-Frisian branch of the Germanic family, it is closely related to Scots.[125] After the Norman conquest, the Old English language was displaced and confined to the lower social classes as Norman French and Latin were used by the aristocracy. By the 17th century, English came back into fashion among all classes, though much changed; the Middle English form showed many signs of French influence, both in vocabulary and spelling. During the English Renaissance, many words were coined from Latin and Greek origins;[126] Modern English has extended this custom of flexibility.
It is most commonly accepted that—thanks in large part to the British Empire—the English language is now the world's unofficial lingua franca.[127] English language learning and teaching is an important economic sector, including language schools, tourism spending, and publishing houses. There is no United Kingdom legislation in respect of language use within England,[128] but English is the only language used in England for general official business. Despite the relatively small size of the nation, there are many distinct English regional accents. Those with particularly strong accents may not be easily understood elsewhere in the country. Revivalists and enthusiasts have attempted to revive extinct Brythonic languages such as Cornish as a second or third tongue, in the county of Cornwall 0.1%[129] have the ability to speak the modern reconstruction which uses Welsh and Breton. It is supported by the government under the ECRM, yet the United Nations has placed it on a list as extinct