Short answers, pulled from the story.
Modern English is the form of the English language spoken since the Great Vowel Shift, a change in pronunciation that began in England in the late 14th century and was completed by the 17th century. It is sometimes called New English or present-day English, as opposed to Middle and Old English.
Modern English dates from the Great Vowel Shift, which began in the late 14th century and was completed by the 17th century. Texts from the early 17th century, including the works of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible, are considered Early Modern English.
According to the Ethnologue, there are almost one billion speakers of English as a first or second language. Most native speakers live in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Ireland.
Through colonization, the British Empire spread English to regions including Anglo-America, the Indian subcontinent, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. By the late 18th century the empire's dominance, along with commerce, science, diplomacy, art, and education, helped English become the first truly global language.
Modern English dialects include American, Australian, British, Canadian, New Zealand, Caribbean, and Hiberno-English. The list also includes Indian, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, Nigerian, Philippine, Singaporean, and South African English. British English itself contains Anglo-English, Scottish English and Welsh English.
Modern English came to use a purely Latin alphabet of 26 letters after printing-era changes. The letter thorn fell into disuse, and the previously combined letters i and j, as well as u and v, began to be distinguished.