Middle English External History

1
Middle English External History

• History of the English Language

2
Norman Invasion (1066)

• Norman Conquest of England (1066) signals the
  shift from Old English to Middle English.
  
• Perhaps the most significant event in the
  historical development of the English Language.
  Without it, the English language would retained
  more of its Germanic characteristics (more
  inflections, Germanic vocabulary, word
  formation/compounding).
• As a result the English becomes heavily
  influenced by French

3
Norman Invasion (Consequences)

• As a result of the Norman Conquest, our language
  becomes a linguistic hybrid of two different I-E
  language families Germanic and Italic (French).
  This creates several significant shifts
• an enormous infusion of French words (borrowing)
  
  
• shifts in sounds (especially vowel sounds)
• increased loss of inflections (shift from
  synthetic to analytic).

4
History Behind the Norman Conquest

• Normans (Northmen) Like the Scandinavians who
  raided England these are Vikings who settle in
  Normandy in 9th - 10th centuries.
  
• Rollo (first Duke of Normandy) establishes treaty
  with French King (Charles the Simple) in 912
  giving them official possession of the land in
  what is present day Normandy.

5
Scandinavians (Vikings)

• Scandinavian (Viking) adaptability-- Like the
  Scandinavians who invade Anglo-Saxon England, the
  Normans assimilate into French culture (convert
  to Christianity) and adopt the French language as
  their own (with some alterations).
• Compare to the assimilation of the Vikings in
  England after the establishment of the Danelaw.

6
The Situation in England

• Aethered the Unready Appropriately named English
  King driven out of England by the Danes in 1002
  and settles in Normandy (his wife is the sister
  of the Duke of Normandy).
• His son, Edward the Confessor, grows up in
  Normandy and is essentially more French than
  English.
  
• Ascends to the English throne in 1042 and brings
  his French Norman associates with him. Reigns
  from 1042-1066 a French atmosphere pervades the
  English court.

7
Situation in England

• Edward dies in 1066 (childless).
• English nobility elects Harold, Earl of West
  Saxon, as King that same year.
  
• Battle of Hastings (1066)-- Harold is killed
  the English are routed and the French Normans
  under the leadership of William take over the
  country.

8
Consequences

• English nobility is wiped out, either killed or
  placed in exile.
  
• Norman nobility take their place. Foreign troops
  brought in for support.
  
• French becomes the official language of the
  English court (politics and government).
  
• Norman clerics take over all of the English
  churches.
  
• French is the language of literature and
  entertainment.

9
Consequences

• For approximately 200 years (1066-1272), French
  becomes the official language used in the court,
  in the churches, and among the upper classes in
  England.
• The number of French speaking Normans was
  relatively small compared to the overall English
  population, but they held all major positions of
  power.

10
Consequences

• English is regarded as an uncultivated, inferior
  language or "vulgar tongue," socially inferior.
  
• While Normans were not "hostile" toward English
  (did not try to eradicate it), they regarded it
  as the language of the masses.
  
• Some intermixing or intermarriages evident during
  this era, but assimilation means learning French.
  General attitude of indifference toward English
  by the Normans.
• English ceases to function as the official
  language of England, although it continues to
  thrive among the lower classes.

11
Consequences

• Middle-Class Merchants (made up of French Normans
  and Englishmen) bridge the linguistic divide
  between the French nobility and the lower
  classes.
• Possibility of a French-English pidgin or Creole.
  A pidgin is a simplified language used for
  communication between speakers of different
  languages for business, economic, or trading
  purposes between speakers of European and African
  or Asian languages.
• Insufficient evidence to prove this. French and
  English held in tension as two distinct
  languages.