In what ways was the English language affected by the Norman Conquest
of 1066?
,Contents:
Contents:................................................................................................................................ 2
Contents:................................................................................................................................ 2
Introduction:............................................................................................................................ 4
Introduction:............................................................................................................................ 4
Literature Review:...................................................................................................................7
Literature Review:...................................................................................................................7
A New Era of English.......................................................................................................13
A New Era of English.......................................................................................................13
An Explosion of New Vocabulary.....................................................................................14
An Explosion of New Vocabulary.....................................................................................14
The Significance of French Idioms...................................................................................16
The Significance of French Idioms...................................................................................16
Chapter Conclusion......................................................................................................... 17
Chapter Conclusion......................................................................................................... 17
............................................................................................................................................. 18
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............................................................................................................................................. 18
CHAPTER 2: EXPLORING OUTSIDE OF LEXICAL EXPANSION.......................................18
CHAPTER 2: EXPLORING OUTSIDE OF LEXICAL EXPANSION.......................................18
A Refinement of Grammatical Structures.........................................................................18
A Refinement of Grammatical Structures.........................................................................18
The Varying of Pronunciation...........................................................................................20
The Varying of Pronunciation...........................................................................................20
Changes in Spelling......................................................................................................... 21
Changes in Spelling......................................................................................................... 21
Chapter Conclusion......................................................................................................... 22
Chapter Conclusion......................................................................................................... 22
CHAPTER 3: TWO LANGUAGES BECOMING ONE...........................................................23
CHAPTER 3: TWO LANGUAGES BECOMING ONE...........................................................23
The Norman Nobility’s Attempt to Learn English..............................................................24
The Norman Nobility’s Attempt to Learn English..............................................................24
Linguistic Impacts of Intermarriages.................................................................................25
Linguistic Impacts of Intermarriages.................................................................................25
The Decline of French Speakers in England....................................................................26
The Decline of French Speakers in England....................................................................26
Chapter Conclusion......................................................................................................... 27
Chapter Conclusion......................................................................................................... 27
Conclusion of Chapters:.......................................................................................................28
Conclusion of Chapters:.......................................................................................................28
Evaluation of Project:............................................................................................................ 30
,Evaluation of Project:............................................................................................................ 30
Bibliography:......................................................................................................................... 32
Bibliography:......................................................................................................................... 32
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Abstract:
This dissertation breaks down the areas in which the English language shifted into an entirely
different and unrecognisable form of itself following the Norman Conquest. By exploring the
ways in which the Normans dominated England, and their nature over their short rule, it was
found that new vocabulary was introduced in different areas to varying extents. Furthermore,
following research into the lexical expansion which occurred during this time, other aspects
which saw a change, such as spelling, punctuation and grammar were also discovered. These
have been explored within this dissertation. While the ways in which the Normans influenced
English was vast, the extent to which they brought about a change is of course limited. This
can be evidenced in the re-establishment of English within only 300 years. Therefore, this
dissertation balances how the Normans had a huge impact on the language used today across
the world, however also acknowledges the limitations of such a small minority of French
speakers in England at the time’s ability to wield that large of an influence. Through the close
focus of the question, this dissertation acknowledges how it was the Normans affecting
English, rather than Anglo-Saxons affecting French, as ultimately English remains today the
,surviving language. Within all of these focus points, it has been established how these
influenced the ways in which English was affected by the Norman Conquest of 1066.
Introduction:
Whether by looking into the discrete ways French has infiltrated our core language, with the
subtle differences in spelling and grammar between before and after the Norman Conquest, to
the well-known French-originated idioms used today, it can be said that 1066 was quite
possibly the most significant year in the history of the English language. This monumental
year saw the death of Edward the Confessor (King of England 1042-1066 (Lessing Archive
and British Library Board)), the rapid coronation of Harold Godwinson, and the eventual
invasion of England by William the Conqueror from Normandy, France. William of
Normandy, who became better known as William the Conqueror, following his succession of
England, would be crowned King on the 25th December 1066 (The British Library Board). In
doing so, a French speaking monarchy was established: a factor which would have huge,
rippling effects on English, a language sidelined to use only by the Anglo-Saxon peasants,
while French dominated the aristocracy and the law. As the French language began taking
hold in England, vocabulary was replaced, grammar and spelling becoming unrecognisable,
and pronunciation was altered to an unprecedented degree. 1066 marked a pivotal turning
point for English, hence it is usually marked as the birth of Middle English (Durkin, 2012).
Middle English is defined as ‘a period of roughly 300 years from around 1150 CE to around
, 1450’ (Crystal, ‘Middle English’, 2018). Among the distinct variations of Middle English, it
became a language almost unrecognisable to texts from earlier periods, highlighting the vast
impacts the Normans had on English.
However, while evidence suggests a period of upper class dominance of the French language,
it took less than 300 years for English to be re-established. Albeit, with many changes, but
nonetheless by the 13th Century ‘Manfred Görlach finds a lack of any texts that could justify
the assumption that there was a stable pidgin or creole English’ (Nessie School of Languages,
2007). A pidgin language can be defined as ‘a grammatically simplified means of
communication that develops between two or more groups of people that do not have a
language in common’ (Wikipedia, “Pidgin”), with a creole being a pidgin passed down to a
second generation to which the pidgin is their native language. Therefore, unlike with many
other invasions throughout history, for example the use of Portuguese in Brazil, or French in
Senegal, where the language of the colonisers is still used today, for the Norman conquest of
England it was a different story: English was re-established. Thus derives the question of this
dissertation ‘In what ways was the English language affected by the Norman Conquest’, as it
will be argued that although French never became the majority language in England, the
impact that is still seen of French is undisputed. While this question is complex, with even the
percentage of English vocabulary which is directly derived from French being debated,
secondary research will be conducted into the various ways in which evidence can be seen of
how French infiltrates the language of English-speakers today.
The first section of this dissertation will entail the lexical differences between Old English
and Middle English. In this section, the areas of society, and the subsequent changes to the
English lexicon deriving in these aspects will be explored, along with the extent that the
Normans affected these areas and consequently brought about a change to vocabulary. With
