The Middle English Period

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.