Anex1.History

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The Norman Conquest

French Influence on the English Language. Lexical Borrowings/Loan Words

1. The Origin of the Normans.

The name of Normandy is derived from the Northmen who colonized it in

the ninth and tenth centuries at the time when other Northmen, or Vikings, were

settling in parts of England. An agreement was reached in 912 by which the

Northmen were given the right to settle in Normandy. Rollo, the leader of the

Northmen, became the first duke of Normandy and he and the dukes who followed

him made Normandy one of the most powerful regions in France.

The Scandinavian who settled there quickly adapted to the French way of

life and took over the French language.The Normans also adopted French military tactics. When they adopted

Christianity, the Norman skill in architecture was revealed in the building of what

are known as Norman Cathedrals. The Scandinavian tongue was relinquished

completely in favour of French.

1.1. The Conquest, 1066.

In 1066, Edward the Confessor of England died without leaving a heir.

Godwin, earl of the West Saxons, who had become Edwards main adviser, became the

true ruler of England even before Edwards death. When Godwin died, Harold, his son,

took his place as adviser to Edwards and managed English affairs during the last year

of Edwards reign. Harold was elected king the day after Edward died.

William, duke of Normandy and second cousin to Edward the Confessor, also

claimed the throne. Edward appears to have led him to understand that he would be his

successor. The English supported Harold, however, but the same year 1066, William

landed at Pevensey on the south coast. Harold was in the north of England fighting off

an invasion by the King of Norway, who also claimed the throne. After defeating, he

went south and met Williams forces near Hastings. The Normans feigned a retreat, the

English were encouraged to leave their advantageous position on a hill and follow them.

The Normans turned and in the ensuing battle Harold was killed and also two of his

brothers. There was resistance to Williams forces in the south, but eventually London

capitulated and he was crowned king of England on Christmas Day, 1066, at

Westminster Abbey.

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1.2. Social effects.

William regarded many of his followers with land in the new conquered country.

Many of the English nobles had been killed in battle and their lands were taken over by

Normans. (Other English nobles were executed as traitors and their properties similarly

passed into Normans hands).

After Williams coronation, four years went by before he completed subdued

rebellions in different parts of the country and by then most of the Old English ruling

class had been killed.

Normans were also introduced to fill all the important positions in the church.

Many new monasteries were found which were peopled completely by Norman monks.

2. The Linguistic Influence of the Conquest. Lexical borrowings.

The impact of the Norman Conquest on the English Language, like that made by

the earlier Norse-speaking invaders, is to a large extent confined to the word stock. A

huge body of words were to become part of the English vocabulary, many of them

replacing English words. The effect on the language was the indirect result of the rapid

and almost complete Normanizing or rather Gallicising of the ruling class.

Before the end of the eleven century, the throne, the royal administration,

education, almost all agricultural land, were possessed by men of French birth, French

culture and French language. French, the daily language both spoken and written of nine

out of every ten of the persons of any standing in England.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle was continued as late as 1154, and it was written in

a form of English hardly more different from that of a hundred years before. Most

books written in England were in Norman French or Latin, as those were the languages

generally esteemed and ordinarily used by this or that section of the dominant and

influential classes.

There was a sudden displacement of English as the normal upper class and

literary language and its relegation to lower classes and mere utilitarian purposes. The

changes already under way were naturally accelerated with the result that the typical

English document of c 1200 is more different from one or two centuries earlier.

Compound nouns once more became common, but they are now made up mainly

and often wholly of French and Latin elements, or are borrowed from those languages

ready-made. Great numbers of French and Latin words were borrowed. The

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simplification of inflections is kept from reducing intelligibility by the use of a

comparatively rigid word order.

A very important fact was the shift ofvernacular culture that took place in the

ninth century, from the North to the South. The conquest did not cause the further

displacement of the West-Saxon dialect by the dialect of London, but it certainly

hastened it.

The political and social changes that resulted from the conquest were enormous.

There were also a massive influx of French artisans, monks, priests, soldiers, traders and

workers. There were Frenchmen at every social level in England.

The variety of French spoken in England, named Anglo-Norman, displaced

English as the language of the new royal court, and it was also spoken by the upper

classes in England. About a century after the conquest was even spoken by those of

mixed English-French and of English parentage. As a consequence of this contact

between the two languages, Anglo-Norman also became increasingly modified by

English speech habits. In 1150, Anglo-Norman showed linguistic tendencies that

differed from those of continental Old French.

The Normans, much more than the Danes, were felt as an alien race; this

occupation lasted much longer. They became the ruling class and their culture was high

enough as to be imposed on the native population. Their influence was great, but it

would have been less if they had not been in permanent contact with the French of

France.

Languages borrow words but do not borrow their grammar from other

languages.

English became the language of uneducated languages and so, the changes went

on without being checked. The decay of inflections and the confusion of forms are the

results of the Norman Conquest in so far as that event brought about favourable

conditions to such changes.

The ruling class did not care for English. Besides, the contacts between both

lands, England and France, went on for years. The kings of England spent most of their

lives in the continent, and the continental marriages were quite frequent.

After the Norman Conquest, as a direct consequence of it, literary production

was written in French, according to French models, and mainly for a French audience.

The court was French and it had to be entertained in French.

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The fusion of English and French did not take long. By the end of the 12

century, both people were together and both nobilities intermarriage, what meant a

fusion of cultures. The loss of Normandy in the 13th century completed the union of all

the inhabitants of England.

French became the language of the upper-classes; English, the language of the

masses. French was a mark of social distinction. The loss of Normandy in 1204 was an

important fact, since it made an approach among all the English from a linguistic

viewpoint.

2.1. Lexical borrowing/Loan words.

Most of the borrowing were of French origin, but there were others such as

Latin, Scandinavia, and later, Dutch. The French ones covered different areas of

language and of daily life. French was the official language and so many were the terms

that were French.

1. Governmental and Administrative words:

The word king and queen remained intact, but apart from these, nearly all

words relating to government and the highest administration are French: crown,

state, to govern, to reign, chancellor, parliament.

Feudalism was imposed from France, and with it, words were introduced:

vassal, feudal, liege, and the name of the steps in the feudal system: prince,

peer, duke, baron.

Lord and lady remained in esteem. Court is French as well as the adjectives

relating to court life such as courteous and noble.

2. Military words.

The upper classes took into their hands the management of military matters, and

it was a long time before the old native terms were finally displaced. War, peace,

battle, armour, lance, dart, challenge, enemy, danger, escape, spy,

aid.

3. Words related to Law.

Another natural consequence of the Norman upper classes power is that most of

the terms pertaining to law are of French origin, such as justice, judge,

jury, plea, penalty.

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4. Ecclesiastical words:

Between 1250 and 1400 the rate of adoption of French loan words was greater

than it had ever been before or has ever been since. The Church was another area

that was dominated by the French. The higher clergy were practically all

Normans. In monasteries and religious houses, French was for a long time the

usual language. We find in English, religion, abbey, prayer, homily,

cloister.

5. If we go through the different past times that make life enjoyable to people

having plenty of leisure, we can find exceedingly large number of French

words, Ex. Falcon, scent, chase The general term sport, cards, and

dice are also French.

6. Words related to art, learning, and medicine.

The French were the teachers of the English in most things related to art. Not

only such words as art, colour, image, but also the greater number of the

more special words of technical significance are French:

-Architecture: arch, tower, pillar, porch, cathedral, palace, mansion, ceiling,

chimney, tower, pinnacle.

-The various kinds ofartisans:

a) more elementary occupation stuck to their old native names (fisherman,

shoemaker, saddler, and wheelwright);

b) those who brought their practitioners into more immediate contact with the

upper classes (joiner, carpenter, tailor, mason)

The cultural and intellectual interests of the ruling class are reflected in words

pertaining to arts, architecture, literature, learning and science, especially

medicine. Such words as Art, painting, sculpture, music, beauty, figure, image,

tone.

-Literature: words such as idem, poet, rime, prose, romance, chronicle, tragedy,

prologue, preface, title.

-Among the sciences, medicine is the one with more loans: physician, chirurgic,

surgeon, apothecary, paint, poison. The arts and science, being largely cultivated

and patronized by the higher classes, owe an important part of their vocabulary

to French.

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7. Fashion, Meals, and Social life.

We find a great number of French words belonging to this class:

Ex: fashion, dress, robe, coat, collar, veil, train, chemise, petticoat, lace, embroidery,

buckle, button, and boots.

-Verbs like embellish, adorn, luxury. Satin, fur

-Colours: blue, brown, vermilion, scarlet

-Words related to Meals are: dinner, supper, feats, repast, appetite, taste, viand,

sustenance.

-Meats: venison, beef, veal, mutton, pork, bacon, sausage, tripe, gravy.

-Fowl: poultry, pigeon.

-Desserts: almonds, raisin, fig, grape, orange, lemon, pomegranate, cherry, peach.

-Confection: pasty, tart, jelly

-Verbs related to cooking: roast, boil, stew, fry, broach, blench, grate and mince.

-Innovations made by the French in domestic economy and social life: curtain, couch,

chair, cushion, screen, lamp, lantern, blanket, quilt, towel, and basin are articles of

comfort or convenience.

-Numerous words associated with huntingand ridingare a reflection of the principal

outdoor pastime of the noble class: hackney, palfrey (for horses and reins); mastiff,

terrier, spaniel; falcon, forest, covert, warren.

It was quite natural that the lower classes should soon begin to imitate the

expressions of the rich, as they could catch the meaning of them. Interjections like

alas and even very (later intensifier very). But they are not regarded as foreign

words. There were others, however, that did not become as popular, and there are very

many gradations in words of everyday use. The native word is always nearer to the

nations heart than the French one, it has the stronger associations with everything

primitive, fundamental, popular while the French word is often more formal, more

polite, more refined and a less strong hold on the emotional side of life.

Ex: Cottage (French term) / hut (English term).

Dale (French term) / valley (English term).

Different social levels in language are the group of names given to different

animals and their meat, as edible things:

French term: beef, mutton, veal, pork

English term: ox, sheep, calf, pig

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So far as the vocabulary is concerned, the important thing is the appearance of

thousands of words in common use in each language that became partners in a

reorganized concern. The rapidity with which the new words were assimilated is

evidenced by the promptness with which many of them became the basis of further

derivations. English endings were added to the new words with as much freedom as to

English words.

8. Popular and literary borrowings.

A large proportion of the words borrowed from French were words current in the

everyday French spoken in England. The importance of literature is not to be

underestimated as a means of transfer between the two languages. Middle English

literature was base directly on French originals that it would have been exceptional if

English writers had resisted the temptation to carry French words over into their

adaptations. In the 15th century literature became the principal source. Ex: adolescence,

appellation, destitution, pacification The adoption of popular words was now greatly

curtailed by the practical disappearance of French as a spoken language in England.

3. The Decline of French in England

By the extensive modification of the English language caused by the Norman

Conquest, the language had undergone much simplification of its influence, but its

grammar was still English. It had absorbed several thousand French words as a natural

consequence of a situation in which large numbers of people were for a time bilingual.

It had lost a great many native words and abandoned some of its most characteristic

habits of word formation. However, great and basic elements of the vocabulary and

grammar were still English. No matter what class of society he belonged to, the

Englishman ate, drankand slept. The house he lived in, with its hall, rooms, windows,

doors, floors, steps remind us that the language was basically Teutonic. His meatand

drink, bread, butter, fish, milk, cheese, were inherited from pre-longest days.

The language that the Normans and their successors finally adopted was English

and while it was changed in important particulars from the language of King Alfred, its

predominant features were those inherited from the Teutonic tribes that settled in the 5 th

century.

There was never any period during which the majority of the countrys

population did not speak English although the long time after the Norman Conquest.

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The loss of Normandy in 1204 by King John, a descendant of the Conqueror,

removed an important tie with France. The Hundred Years War, beginning in 1337,

saw England and France bitter enemies in a long conflict which gave the death blow to

the already moribund use of French in England.

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Anex1.History