Old English: see type type, for printing , was invented in China (c.1040), using woodblocks. Related devices, such as seals and stamps for making impressions in clay, had been used in ancient times in Babylon and elsewhere.
..... Click the link for more information. ; English language English language, member of the West Germanic group of the Germanic subfamily of the Indo-European family of languages (see Germanic languages ). Spoken by about 470 million people throughout the world, English is the official language of about 45 nations.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Anglo-Saxon literature Anglo-Saxon literature, the literary writings in Old English (see English language ), composed between c.650 and c.1100.

See also English literature .
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Old English

or Anglo-Saxon

Language spoken and written in England before AD 1100. It belongs to the Anglo-Frisian group of Germanic languages. Four dialects are known: Northumbrian (in northern England and southeastern Scotland), Mercian (central England), Kentish (southeastern England), and West Saxon (southern and southwestern England). Mercian and Northumbrian are often called the Anglian dialects. Most extant Old English writings are in the West Saxon dialect. The great epic poem of Old English is Beowulf; the first period of extensive literary activity occurred in the 9th century. Old English had three genders (masculine, feminine, neuter) for nouns and adjectives; nouns, pronouns, and adjectives were also inflected for case. Old English had a greater proportion of strong (irregular) verbs than does Modern English, and its vocabulary was more heavily Germanic. See also Middle English; English language.

Old English

the English language from the time of the earliest settlements in the fifth century ad to about 1100. The main dialects were West Saxon (the chief literary form), Kentish, and Anglian