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Special characters
'''Old English''' is the earliest written phase of the [[English]] language. English is derived from dialects of [[North Sea Germanic]] spoken around the coasts of the [[North Sea]] prior to the 5th century AD. Tribes speaking these dialects included the [[Angles]], [[Saxons]], and [[Jutes]], who later settled in [[Britain]]. Once established on the island of Britain, the language gradually diverged from its continental neighbors. It appears to have been called "English" right from the outset (spelt ''Englisc'' in Old English), from the name of the Angles.
'''Old English''' is the earliest written phase of the [[English]] language. English is derived from dialects of [[North Sea Germanic]] spoken around the coasts of the [[North Sea]] prior to the 5th century AD. Tribes speaking these dialects included the [[Angles]], [[Saxons]], and [[Jutes]], who later settled in [[Britain]]. Once established on the island of Britain, the language gradually diverged from its continental neighbors. It appears to have been called "English" right from the outset (spelt ''Englisc'' in Old English), from the name of the Angles.
Special letters are æ ‘ash’ an amalgamated letter roughly representing a sound between ‘a’ and ‘e’. Two letters were borrowed from the runic alphabet: þ 'thorn', and ƿ 'wynn', and one was adapted from the Latin alphabet ð ‘eth’.<ref>http://langscape.org.uk/OEtutorial/thealphabet.html</ref>
English was the first European language after the [[Classical]] period to develop its own [[native]] [[literature]]. The most famous literary work in Old English is the epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]''.
English was the first European language after the [[Classical]] period to develop its own [[native]] [[literature]]. The most famous literary work in Old English is the epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]''.