<P> But the consensus among experts today, influenced by research in contact linguistics, is that political dominance by a fairly small number of Old English - speakers could have driven large numbers of Britons to adopt Old English while leaving little detectable trace of this language - shift . The collapse of Britain's Roman economy and administrative structures seems to have left Britons living in a technologically similar society to their Anglo - Saxon neighbours, making it unlikely that Anglo - Saxons would need to borrow words for unfamiliar concepts . If Old English became the most prestigious language in a particular region, speakers of other languages there sought to become bilingual and, over a few generations, stop speaking the less prestigious languages (in this case British Celtic and / or British Latin). This account, which demands only small numbers of politically dominant Germanic - speaking migrants to Britain, has become' the standard explanation' for the gradual death of Celtic and spoken Latin in post-Roman Britain . </P> <P> Likewise, scholars have posited various mechanisms other than massive demographic change by which pre-migration Celtic place - names could have been lost . Scholars have stressed that Welsh and Cornish place - names from the Roman period seem no more likely to survive than English ones:' clearly name loss was a Romano - British phenomenon, not just one associated with Anglo - Saxon incomers' . Other explanations for the replacement of Roman period place - names include adaptation of Celtic names such that they now seem to come from Old English; a more gradual loss of Celtic names than was once assumed; and new names being coined (in the newly dominant English language) because instability of settlements and land - tenure . </P> <P> Extensive research is ongoing on whether British Celtic did exert subtle substrate influence on the phonology, morphology, and syntax of Old English (as well as on whether British Latin - speakers influenced the Brittonic languages, perhaps as they fled westwards from Anglo - Saxon domination into highland areas of Britain). These arguments have not yet, however, become consensus views . Thus a recent synthesis concludes that' the evidence for Celtic influence on Old English is somewhat sparse, which only means that it remains elusive, not that it did not exist' . </P> <P> Debate continues within a framework assuming that many Brittonic - speakers shifted to English, for example over whether at least some Germanic - speaking peasant - class immigrants must have been involved to bring about the language - shift; what legal or social structures (such as enslavement or apartheid - like customs) might have promoted the high status of English; and precisely how slowly Brittonic (and British Latin) disappeared in different regions . </P>

What did the anglo saxons introduce to britain