The Middle English
Period
After the
conquest in 1066 England became a land of three tongues:
a. The conquered English spoke Old
English
b. The Normans overlords spoke French
c. The chruchmen used Latin
Since the
country was without a common national language, it is no wonder that chaos
prevailed for many years.
·
The
castle people were interested primarily in long tales of chivalry, composed at
first in French and often celebrating a French hero, such as Roland or
Charlemagne.
·
In
the monasteries, monks were writing in Latin about chruch doctrines,
philosophy, and the lives of saints.
·
People
all of classes communicate with an Old English basis enriched by French and
latin words.
In 1362, three centuries after the conques,
Parliament was for the first time opened by a speech in english rather than
Franch
In the
fourteenth century a few individual authors emerged from the great mass of
anonymous writing. The most important of these wa Geoffrey Chaucer. (See page
83).
At about the
same time came Wyclif’s translation of the Bible into the vernacular. Both
Chaucer and Wyclif used the Midland dialect, which was the speech of London and
Central England.
William
Caxton, who brought London in 1476 produced hundreds of copies of Chaucer and
other writers. Since printing always gives stability, permanence, and wide
circulationto any from of languag, it is easy to see why the Midland dialect
figured so heavily in what finally became accepted as standard.
Influence of French to language of
England:
Vocabulary
During the Norman occupation, about 10,000 French words were adopted into
English, some three-fourths of which are still in use today. This French
vocabulary is found in every domain, from government and law to art and
literature. More than a third of all English words are derived directly or
indirectly from French, and it's estimated that English speakers who have never
studied French already know 15,000 French words.
Of French French derivation:
Chivalry, armor, homage, government,
nobility, madam, mansion, tournament, royalty, banquet, place, large, change,
pay, state.
Pronunciation
English pronunciation owes a lot to French as well. Whereas Old English had the
unvoiced fricative sounds [f], [s], [θ] (as in thin), and [∫] (shin),
French influence helped to distinguish their voiced counterparts [v], [z], [ð]
(the), and [ʒ] (mirage), and also contributed the
diphthong [ɔy] (boy).
Grammar
Another rare but interesting remnant of French influence is in the word order
of expressions like secretary general and surgeon general, where
English has retained the noun + adjective word order typical in French, rather
than the usual adjective + noun used in English.
