Anglosassoni

Gli Anglosassoni furono un gruppo culturale che nel primo Medioevo abitò buona parte dell'attuale Inghilterra e parlava la lingua inglese antica (nota appunto come anglosassone). Le loro origini risalgono ai coloni germanici (tra cui gli Angli e i Sassoni) che arrivarono nell'isola britannica dal continente europeo nel V secolo. Sebbene i dettagli non siano precisi, la loro identità culturale si è probabilmente sviluppata con l'interazione dei suddetti coloni con la pre-esistente cultura di stampo romano. Col tempo, la maggior parte delle persone abitanti la parte orientale e centrale dell'Inghilterra venne a identificarsi come anglosassone, parlando l'antico inglese. Le successive invasioni danesi e normanne cambiarono la situazione in maniera significativa, ma la loro lingua e la struttura politica rimasero e sono i diretti antenati del medievale Regno d'Inghilterra e della lingua inglese media. Nonostante la lingua inglese moderna debba meno del 26% dei vocaboli all'inglese antico, questi comprendono la maggioranza delle parole usate nel parlare quotidiano.^[1]^[2]

Il periodo anglosassone identifica quella parte della storia britannica che va dal loro primo insediamento alla conquista normanna.

^ Joseph M. Williams, Origins of the English Language: A Social and Linguistic History, Simon and Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-02-934470-5.
^ Joscha Gretzinger, at al, The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool, in Nature, n. 610, 2022, pp. 112–119, DOI:10.1038/s41586-022-05247-2.
«... the individuals who we analysed from eastern England derived up to 76% of their ancestry from the continental North Sea zone, albeit with substantial regional variation and heterogeneity within sites. ... The end of the Roman administration in fifth century Britain preceded a dramatic shift in material culture, architecture, manufacturing and agricultural practice, and was accompanied by language change. The archaeological record and place names indicate shared cultural features across the North Sea zone, in particular, along the east and southeast coasts of present-day England, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony (Germany), Frisia (Netherlands) and the Jutland peninsula (Denmark). ... which does not fit a model of elite influence that could explain the adoption of a West Germanic language with apparently minimal influence from Celtic or Latin. ... Work based on present-day Y chromosomes inferred 50–100% replacement of male lineages during the Early Middle Ages in eastern England.»

[1] Joseph M. Williams, Origins of the English Language: A Social and Linguistic History, Simon and Schuster, 1986, ISBN 978-0-02-934470-5.

[2] Joscha Gretzinger, at al, The Anglo-Saxon migration and the formation of the early English gene pool, in Nature, n. 610, 2022, pp. 112–119, DOI:10.1038/s41586-022-05247-2.
«... the individuals who we analysed from eastern England derived up to 76% of their ancestry from the continental North Sea zone, albeit with substantial regional variation and heterogeneity within sites. ... The end of the Roman administration in fifth century Britain preceded a dramatic shift in material culture, architecture, manufacturing and agricultural practice, and was accompanied by language change. The archaeological record and place names indicate shared cultural features across the North Sea zone, in particular, along the east and southeast coasts of present-day England, Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony (Germany), Frisia (Netherlands) and the Jutland peninsula (Denmark). ... which does not fit a model of elite influence that could explain the adoption of a West Germanic language with apparently minimal influence from Celtic or Latin. ... Work based on present-day Y chromosomes inferred 50–100% replacement of male lineages during the Early Middle Ages in eastern England.»

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