Origin of English Language[1]

7/26/2019 Origin of English Language[1]

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All is the same - All is changed

The Effect of 1066 on the English anguage.

by

!eoff "o#ell

The English language that is spoken today is the direct result of 1066 and the $orman %on&uest. Modern

English is 'astly different from that spoken by the English prior to the %on&uest( both in its word-hoard and its

grammar. )n order to understand what happened( and why( it is necessary to look at both English and $orman

*rench before 1066( and then the Middle English that resulted from their interaction.

+ld English

+ld English was a highly inflected member of the ,est !ermanic language family. )t had two numbers( three

genders( four cases( remnants of dual number and instrumental case( which could gi'e up to 0 inflectional

forms for e'ery adecti'e or pronoun. )ts synta# was only partially dependent on word order and has a simple

two tense( three mood( four person /three singular( one plural 'erb system. The spelling of +ld English is

strictly phonetic.

As a result of the iking wars and the subse&uent settlement of many speakers of +ld $orse( a $orth !ermanic

language( the introduction of new words and a simplification of the grammar had already started to take place.

This was more marked in those areas in the $orth( Midlands and East Anglia where the 2anes and $orwegians

settled in large numbers. Although the two languages were mutually understandable( a modern day comparison

would be a !eordie talking to a %ockney with neither making any concession to the other.

The language had four maor dialects3 $orthumbrian( Mercian( ,est 4a#on( and 5entish. As the kings of

,esse# /,est 4a#ons gradually emerged as kings of all England( ,est 4a#on dominated the written form of

the language. As such( it gradually became less reflecti'e of the spoken language( especially in the 2anelaw.

$orman *rench

A legacy of the oman Empire was the fact that the area west of the hine spoke atin. The atin they spoke(

howe'er( was not the highly inflected %lassical atin( used by the church and scholars( but the common( or

ulgar atin of the soldiers and the market place. This ulgar atin( as it had no one controlling or regulating its

use( brought in words from the languages of the local populace. *or this reason people who speak 4panish(

)talian( %atalan( +ccitan( omanian( 7ortuguese and *rench( though similar( e'en by 1066 were not able to

understand one another.

*rench had brought in many words from the !auls who originally occupied the land. )n addition they had

suffered con&uest and settlement from 'arious !ermanic Tribes such as the !oths and andals( and finally the

*ranks( who ga'e the country its new name. *rom these peoples came additional words.

There were two maor di'isions in *rench3 langue d8oil in the north9 langue d8oc in the south /oil and oc being

'ariations of 8yes8. angue d8oc was nearer to %atalan than it was to angue d8oil.

angue d8oil had three maor dialects( namely those of 7icardy( )le de 7aris and $orman. The $orthmen /2anes

and some $orwegians who had taken the land and settled there influenced $orman *rench. )ts pro#imity to

England had also allowed some English words to slip in( noticeably nautical terms.

Middle English

"y 1100 English had changed sufficiently to be classed as a 8new8 'ersion of English( descended from( but &uite


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different to( +ld English.

Middle English had fi'e maor dialects( $orthern( ,est Midland( East Midland( 4outh ,esterm and 5entish. )t

was characterised by the e#treme loss of inflections( almost complete standardisation of the plural to 8s8 and the

introduction of a large number of $orman *rench and ow !erman words. The *rench came( of course( from

the *rench speakers who now controlled the go'ernment( the law and the church. The ow !erman from the

large number of *lemish the $ormans had first hired as mercenaries and then used to settle those parts of the

country they had harried and depopulated.

4o( how had the changes come about: ,hen the $orse had settled in England they brought with them a

language that was from the same linguistic family( and indeed enabled them to be understood by their English

neighbours. The culture was also similar( not surprising considering that the original English had come from

4cania( 2enmark and the $orth 4ea coast bordering 2enmark. )n addition the new comers supplemented( rather

than replaced( both the aristocracy and the commons. As a result assimilation was 'ery &uick and easy e'en

before the fighting stopped. The $ormans brought with them an alien culture and language. Add to this their

social status as the new ruling class( and it is no shock to find that assimilation was slower( and the new society

and language that emerged was so radically changed from that which they found when they arri'ed unin'ited in

1066.

English( which had been a written language since the con'ersion to %hristianity( was rapidly dropped as the

language for royal and legal charters and proclamations( not reappearing until 4imon 2e Montfort8s 7arliament

issued the 7ro'isions of +#ford in 1;


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*rom documentary e'idence we know that by 1160 an English knight had to retain a $orman to teach his son

*rench. Around 11B< a noble woman warns her husband of danger in English( not *rench as might ha'e been

e#pected. )n 11C1 one of four knights in a legal dispute cannot speak *rench when appearing at a court where

the proceedings were still conducted in that language. "y 1;00 phrase books teach *rench as a foreign language

are being produced. )n the same year the poet "rut8s 8The +wl and the $ightingale8 appears and signals the

rebirth of English /now Middle English as a literary language. "y the end of the thirteenth century a poet can

write3

ewde men cunne *frensch non(

Among an hundryd unneDis on

/ewd commonF men ken /understandF *rench not

Among a hundred only one

This Middle English was the basis for the Modern English we speak and write today. The number of words used

had e#panded greatly( with the *rench normally supplementing rather than replacing the English( allowing shade

of meaning not a'ailable to other languages. Thus we can either deem or udge a matter to be right or wrong(

with to deem being a personal opinion whilst to udge is a formal declaration. %attle become beef and swine

pork when killed and dressed for the table( yet con'ersely a flower is a bloom when put on display. @opefully it

will ha'e a pleasant *rench odour( aroma or scent rather than a Middle English smell or worse( an +ld English

stenchG Also adding to the store of words were *rench words that had been gi'en an English beginning or

ending. *or e#ample( the *rench 8gentle8 oins the English manHwoman to gi'e gentlemanHwoman( or gets an

English ending to become gently( or e'en more bedecked with English as ungentlemanly.

The habit of using words from other languages rather than creating our own has continued until this day so that

it has been claimed that in The %oncise +#ford 2ictionary there are words from =B languages( great small( and

often dead. The total number of words in Modern English is estimated to be between >00(000 and 600(000( and

many of them ha'e more than one meaningG The nearest language in word count is *rench with a mere /as in 8a

restricted amount8( rather than a lake 1


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Origin of English Language[1]