Paul Kealy picks five ante-post selections for Saturday from Racing Post, based on last season’s form.

Certainly! Here is the text broken into logical paragraphs:

The history of the English language can be traced back to the 5th century when three Germanic tribes – the Angles, the Saxons, and the Jutes – arrived in Britain. These tribes brought with them their own dialects, which ultimately merged to form Old English.

Over the centuries, Old English evolved and was heavily influenced by the Norse language due to the Viking invasions. This resulted in the development of Middle English, which was the language spoken in England from the 11th to the 15th century. The next major shift in the language occurred with the introduction of the printing press in the 15th century and the subsequent standardization of English spelling and grammar.

This period also saw an influx of loanwords from Latin and Greek, further enriching the language. The colonization of the Americas, Africa, and Asia by the British Empire led to the spread and diversification of the English language, giving rise to different dialects and variations around the world. Today, English is spoken by over 1.5 billion people and continues to evolve as a global lingua franca.