Language predates the alphabet. The origins of Language are lost to the mists of time. The alphabet as we know it was developed by the Phonecians about 3000 years ago, and modified first by the Greeks, and then the Romans for their own languages before we adopted it from the Romans.\n\nThe origins of the English language specifically date to sometime after 1066 when Willam the Conqueror became King of England. The commoners spoke something related to the ancestor language of Dutch while the nobility spoke French. We kept the grammar of the native Anglo-Saxon tongue while adding huge amounts of French vocabulary.\nThe result is recognizably English, while still sounding very different from what we speak today. It's not until Shakespear's time that Modern English emerged.
How did language start?