Norman Conquest and its effect on English

The English king, Edward the Confessor, brought over many Norman advisors and favourites and distributed among them English lands and wealth. He not only spoke French himself but insisted on it being spoken by the nobles at his court. William, Duke of Normandy, visited his court and it was rumoured that Edward appointed him his successor.

In 1066, upon Edward’s death, the Elders of England proclaimed Harold Godwin king of England. As soon as the news reached William of Normandy, he mustered a big army by promise of land and plunder and, with the support of the Pope, landed in Britain.

In the battle of Hastings, fought in October 1066, Harold was killed and the English were defeated. This date is commonly known as the date of the Norman Conquest. After the victory at Hastings, William and his barons burnt down villages and estates, devastated and almost depopulated Northumbria and Mercia, which tried to rise against the conquerors. The Normans occupied all the important posts in the church, in the government, and in the army. Following the conquest hundreds of people from France crossed the Channel to make their home in Britain.

The Norman Conquest was not only a great event in British political history but also the greatest single event in the history of the English language. The Norman conquerors of England had originally come from Scandinavia. About one hundred and fifty years before they settled in Normandy. They were assimilated by the French and in the 11^th c. came to Britain as French speakers and bearers of French culture. They spoke the Northern dialect of French.

The most immediate consequence of the Norman domination in Britain is to be seen in the wide use of the French language in many spheres of life. For almost three hundred years French was the official language of administration: it was the language of the king’s court, the law courts, the church, the army and the castle. It was also the everyday language of the nobles. French, alongside Latin, was the language of writing. Teaching was largely conducted in French and boys at school were taught to translate their Latin into French instead of English. For all that, England never stopped being an English-speaking country. The lower classes in the towns, and especially in the countryside, continued to speak English. At first the two languages existed side by side without mingling. Then, slowly and quietly, they began to permeate each other. The Norman barons and the French town-dwellers had to pick up English words to make themselves understood, while the English began to use French words in current speech. The struggle between French and English was bound to end in the complete victory of English, for English was the living language of the entire people, while French was restricted to certain social spheres and to writing.

The three hundred years of the domination of French affected English more than any other foreign influence before or after. The early French borrowings reflect accurately the spheres of Norman influence upon English life; later borrowings can be attributed to the continued cultural, economic and political contacts between the countries. The number of Middle English borrowings is about 10000. They began to penetrate England from the South and came both through oral and written speech. The borrowings were quite difficult to assimilate as English and French belong to different groups and differ in some features (accent, vocalic system). They are often recognizable as non-native words thanks to phonetic, spelling or word-building peculiarities (for example: p oi nt, j oy, cour age, vill age, Finn ish, v ery, v alley). There appeared in English not only French words but also word –building elements: -ment, -age, -ish, en-, de-, dis-. Also, there was the rise of so-called hybrids – words, which consisted of native and borrowed elements: beautiful, because (beau-, -cause – from French).

The Norman Conquest and its effect on English.

The last of the invaders to come to Britain were the Normans from France. In 14 October 1066 Duke William of Normandy defeated the English at the battle of Hastings and established his rule in the country as King of England. He is known as William the Conqueror. They started a new period in England, which is known as Norman period. The Normans settled in the country and the French language became the official language of the ruling class. This explains the great number of French words in English (80%) – boots, pearl, beef, biscuit, home, sir, council, tax.

Originally they were also Germanic tribes, but having won the territory of France, they practicaly assimilated with the people of France and took its high culture and language.

1. French is the lang. of upper classes.

2. Many synonyms appeared: Eg: language (Fr) – tongue (Engl);

lange, huge (Fr) – great (Engl)

3. French effected all aspects of life: = Government and administration: nation, people. = Legislation: eg.: judge, court. = Military term: navy, war. = Literature and arts: music/ = Education: ink, college. = Fashion: dress. = Trade, profession: tailor, grocer. = Religion: pray. = Cooking: roast, fry, boil. 75% of words have survived in NE.

THE DIALECTIAL SITUATION OF ENGLISH

6. After the 5^th c. the 3 waves of the Germanic tribes arrived to Britain. The feudal system had led to the isolation of each tribe and political disunity (feudal wars). As a result, this period witnessed a great dialectal diversity. The most important dialects were the dialects of the 4 most powerful kingdoms:

Old English Dialects

Kingdom	Kent	Wessex	Mercia	Northumbria
Dialect	Kentish	West Saxon	Mercian	Northumbrian
Spoken	in Kent, Surrey, the Isle of Wight	along the Thames and the Bristol Channel	between the Thames and the Humber	between the Humber and the Forth
Origin	from the tongues of Jutes/ Frisians	a Saxon dialect	a dialect of north Angles	a dialect of south Angles
Remarks		9^th c. – Wessex was the centre of the English culture and politics. West Saxon – the bookish type of language (Alfred the Great – the patron of culture and learning)		8^th c. – Northumbria was the centre of the English culture

The most important was the WEST SAXON DIALECT.

In the 8^th – 9^th c. Britain was raided and attacked by the Scandinavians/Vikings. And as soon as the Scandinavian dialects also belonged to the Germanic group, the Danes soon linguistically merged into the local Old English dialects leaving some Scandinavian elements in them.

After the Norman Conquest:

· French became the official language of administration. It was also used as a language of writing and teaching as well as Latin.

· English was the language of common people in the Midlands and in the north of England.

· Celtic Dialects were still used by the Celtic population in the remote areas of the country.

Actually, during the presence of the Normans the country experienced the period of bilingualism (French and English were both used in the country).

The Norman and the English drew together in the course of time and intermixed. French lost its popularity due to the fact that it was not the language of the majority and could not be used to communicate with local people. English regained its leading position with time and became accepted as the official language. The proofs are:

· The Parliamentary Proclamation of 1258 – in French, Latin and English.

· In the 14^th – 15^th c. legal documents started to be issued in English.

· 1364 – Parliament was opened with an address in English.

· 1399 – Henry the 4^th accepted the throne and made a speech in English.

· Translations of the documents written in French into English.

Thus in the 14^th c. English becomes the language of literature and administration.

Middle English Dialects

OE Dialects	Kentish	West Saxon	Mercian	Northumbrian
	¯	¯	¯	¯
ME Dialects	Kentish Dialect	South-Western Dialects	Midland Dialects	Northern Dialects
Examples	-	East Saxon Dialect London Dialect Gloucester Dialect	West Midland Dialect	East Midland Dialect	Yorkshire Dialect Lancashire Dialect

The most important dialect in the Middle English period was the LONDON DIALECT.

London Dialect

In the 12^th -13^th c. the London Dialect became the literary language and the standard, both in written and spoken form. The reasons why this happened:

· The capital of the country was transferred from Winchester, Wesses, to London

· The East Saxon Dialect (the basis of the London Dialect) became prominent in that period.

· Most authors of the Middle English period used the London Dialect in their works.

Features of the London Dialect:

· The basis of the London Dialect was the East Saxon Dialect

· The East Saxon Dialect mixed with the East Midland Dialect and formed the London Dialect.

· Thus the London Dialect became more Anglican than Saxon in character à The London Dialect is an Anglican dialect.