UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH 1. How was social organisations transformed after the Norman Invasion?

The Norman Conquest of 1066 was the last Germanic invasion of England. Normans soon gave up their language in favour of French (though this French was heavily influenced by their original Germanic dialect). This dialect of French was the only one spoken by William and his followers when they came to England. Within 10 years after the Conquest the whole country was under his control. Most of the native Anglo-Saxon nobility was killed either at Hastings or later and their places occupied with French barons (baron being a French loan). That is to say, all high offices, both secular and religious, were occupied by Normans thus making sure William would have the necessary support not to lose his power (he felt he could not trust the English to such an extent that even the scriptoria in the monasteries were taken over by French speakers). The feudal system (a Frank invention) was also imported into England so that a very rigid hierarchy was established with the dukes (who spoke French) at the top and the peasants (who spoke English and were bound to the land) at the bottom. Since peasants were bound to the land they had little opportunity to travel and communicate with other people thus increasing the dialectal differences that were not contained by a written standard either.

2. How is the notion of prestige related to the new multilingual situation of England in this period?
During much of the Middle English period, the kings took French wives (accompanied by all their followers) and spent long periods in their possessions in France. The kings could not speak English and the court was a French-speaking one. As we can see, the linguistic situation in England after the Conquest is very complex because French was the language of a minority (only some thousands speakers) but that minority had the political, ecclesiastical, economic and cultural control of the nation . Although the majority of the population spoke English, this had no prestige whatsoever. Together with French and English, three other languages were used in Britain: Norse was spoken (though not written) in the Danelaw and other areas of Scandinavian settlements

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

Latin was both the spoken and written language of the Church and of the emerging universities Celtic languages still prevailed in Wales and Scotland It is probable that some kind of diglossia was to be found in the period because though the kings and high nobility did not speak English; some intermediate posts (such as estate officials or household supervisors) needed to communicate both with the peasants and the lords. These same intermediate nobles were soon to marry English wives and have bilingual (or diglossic) children because these children learned English if not from their mothers, from their nurses. Conversely, many Anglo-Saxons would have tried to learn French as a way to improve their social and economic status. Certain French words became familiar even for those that knew not French. This is the case of estate, trouble, tax, duty and pay; table, boil, serve, roast; religion, saviour, pray.

3. What are the main facts in the 13th century that contribute to call this a period of English emergence?
In 1204, one of Williams descendents, king John of England, lost all of Normandy except the Channel Islands. Thus, landowners who held possessions both in England and France were forced to choose between the two. The loss of Normandy implied a decline of interest in France among those Anglo-Norman landowners who had opted to stay in England. Such decline of French was not avoided when in the 13th c. king Henry III of England brought in hundreds of French acquaintances and gave them official positions. Other factors contributed to the rise of English, as the rise in popularity of pilgrimages also brought together speakers of many different dialects (Canterbury was one of such places).

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH 4. What were the factors that enhanced the idea of nationalism in the 14th century? What were the linguistic consequences?
By the 13th and 14th c. the children of the English nobility began to learn French not as a mother tongue, but as a foreign language. English was now the normal medium of instruction. Although we have seen that French was in decline, it remained as the official language of England. Two events in the 14th c. changed this: The Black Death (bubonic and/or pneumonic plague) whose first cases appeared in England in 1348. It is possible that 2/3 of Europes population was affected. The high mortality implied l abour shortages and many peasants migrated to towns and cities where they could feel freer and earn more. The ruling classes had to respect the lower ones thus increasing the prestige of English. The Hundred years War (1337-1453), an intermittent conflict between England and France. Though there were several English successes, the final victory was French. Joan of Arc made the English lose their last French possessions, so that they had no important practical reasons for learning and using French (it already was an artificially maintained second language in England). In 1362, English became the official language of legal proceedings so that the amount of manuscripts written in English increased enormously. At the same time that other languages (Norse, Latin and Celtic languages) disappeared, and though dialectal differences were kept, there was a new standard emerging. This was based on the dialect spoken in the triangle formed by London (the new capital replacing Winchester), and Oxford and Cambridge where the new universities had been founded. This London standard was somehow a mixture of all existing dialects since people from all parts of the country had migrated there. It was some kind of compromise dialect. When printing was introduced in England toward the end of the 15th c., books were normally printed in this dialect.

5. What marks the end of the Middle English period?

1509 is the date of the ascendancy of Henry VIII to the throne. Either this or the introduction of the printing press some time earlier may be considered as the end of the Middle English period.

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH 6. Phonology: What is the Great Vowel Shift? Explain and add some examples
We do not have much information about ME (especially 1100-1200) because the Norman Conquest made French the official language and so, not many records in English have been preserved. However, we know that the English language was changing rapidly and that dialectal differences were becoming greater and greater. By the time English came to be written down again, several things had happened: a) The match between the sound system and the spelling was much worse than in OE because French scribes (not fluent in English) and French loanwords had introduced much confusion. For instance, OE had used <c> to spell both /k/ and /t/. The French used <ch> to spell / t/ and <c> could be used both for /k/ and /s/. b) The new standard of the 14th c. was not a descendant of West Saxon, but the London dialect (essentially an East Midlands dialect). Thus, there is no continuity from OE to ME.

7. Graphics: comment on some general changes concerning the use of letters in this period as in contrast with OE
During this period, spelling and handwriting styles varied not only over time but also in different areas or within the work of one same scribe. Even the total number of letters differed due both to dialectal differences and to the fact that the language was not standardised.. As English replaced French as the official language of the nation, and especially with printing at the end of the ME period, graphic consistency began to appear. In general, there were usually 26 letters in the alphabet: <Z> to represent /x/ and /j/ (<g> represented the velar stop) and <> were retained from the OE alphabet whereas ash and eth were dropped. <J> and <v> are introduced by the French but they are still mere allographs of <i> and <u> respectively. Thus we may find up, vp; even or euen. <y> was still kept as a graphem but it did not represent /y/, it had unrounded to /i/.

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

The use of <q> and <z> becomes extended under French influence: <qw> replaced <cw> in native words OE cwen > ME qwene. Though we said that thorn was still used, it was often replaced by the digraph <th> and scribes often replaced it by <y> when writing, so that <ye> could represent both the 2nd p pl pronoun ye or the definite article ye. (ye olde shoppe ???). Spelling and Punctuation The match between sound and letter became poorer in ME due to all the sound changes occurred. The French influence on the spelling of native words was great and besides this, the different dialectal areas often developed different spelling conventions. Single-letters changes <o> for <u> to represent short /u/, mainly when surrounded by minims (single vertical stroke). Lack of dot on top of the <i> increased the problem. .(EX: come vs cume). <k> for /k/. This grapheme was known in OE but used sparingly. Since <c> was now being used also to represent other sounds, the convention arose to use <k> for /k/ before <n> and front vowels ( knee, kiss). Digraphs Changes Increasing use of <th> to represent / and / <ou>, <ow> to represent /u:/ due to French influence, in cases such as round. This convention spread to native words too OE hlud > PE loud OE brun > PE brown Doubling of vowels. OE did not indicate vowels length (some scribes used macrons but some others did not). In ME, vowels were often doubled to indicate length.

8. How do we mark the length of vowels in ME?

In ME, vowels were often doubled to indicate length.

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH 9. Plural formation: what are the main processes in progress in this period?
In Nouns The OE weak declension with -n in plural survived only in a few nouns such as children, oxen. Some OE neuters with no-endings in the plural are preserved (PE deer-deer). Finally, the OE class of mutated plurals was fairly well preserved in ME and some still are in PE (tooth - teeth). In Adjectives The distinction sg/pl adjectives (ME blind - blinde) lasted until final -e was dropped in pronunciation. French plurals in -s did not have any influence on English adjectives because they had never had such an ending in OE. However, adjectives ending in -s can be seen in words of French origin and following nouns as (attorney generals).

10. Syntax: what is the main difference in contrast with OE? Explain.
The word-order of ME was less free than that of OE but more than the one we have today. The tendency towards rigidity of syntax increases as inflections are lost. As in OE, coordination rather than subordination was the general rule for connecting clauses. The result is sentences that are easy to understand but sound childish or inelegant by modern standards. There were some attempts to imitate Latin syntax (rich in subordination) mainly when translating from those originals.

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

READING 1. THE NORMAN CONQUEST

1- Summarise the events of the year 1066.
When in January, 1066, Edward the Confessor died childless, England was faced with the choice of a successor. One of the most influential noble was Godwin, and his eldest son, Harold, was elected king the day after Edwards death. But this election did not long go unchallenged. William, the duke of Normandy, was a second cousin to the late king and had been living in expectation of becoming Edwards successor. Only by force could William hope to obtain the crown and in September he landed al Pevensey, on the south coast of England, with a formidable force. Harold called upon his brothers-in-law in the earldoms of Mercia and Northumbria to join him and repel the foreigner by a united effort. But they hung back. Nevertheless, Harold finally reached a point between the Norman host and London. He drew up his forces on a broad hill and awaited Williams attack. So advantageous was Harolds position and so well did the English defend themselves that they held their ground. For William the situation was becoming desperate, and he resorted to a desperate stratagem. In the next battle, Harold was pierced in the eye by a Norman arrow. His death was instantaneous. Deprived of their leaders, the English became disorganised. The Normans were quick to profit by the situation, and the English were soon in full retreat. Once William had won the battle, had burnt and pillaged the southeast of England, citizens of London decided that further resistance would be useless and, on Christmas day, 1066, William was crowned king of England. One of the most important consequences was the introduction of a new nobility. Many of the English higher class had been killed, and those who escaped were treated as traitors. The places of both alike were filled by Williams Norman followers.

2- According to the reading, what happened with the Normans in the lower walks of life who came into England with Williams army?
Many of them doubtless remained in the island, and their number was increased by constant accretions throughout the rest of the 11th century and the whole of the next. The numerous castles which the Conqueror built were apparently garrisoned by foreign troops. It is safe to say that every Norman baron was surrounded by a swarm of Norman retainers. Ecclesiastics sometimes entered upon their office accompanied by an armed band of supporters. Likewise merchants and craftsmen from the continent seem to have settled in England in considerable numbers. There was

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

a French town beside the English one at Norwich and Nottingham, and French Street in Southampton was in the middle Ages on e of the two principal streets of the town. Since the governing class in both church and state was almost exclusively made up from among Normans and French people settled in England, their influence was out of all proportion of their number.

3- Quotation, pag 136:

Thus came, lo! England into Normandys hand And the Normans did not know to speak but their own speech And spoke French as they did at home, and their children did also teach, So that high men of this land that of their blood come For but a man know French men count of him little But low men hold to English and to their own speech yet I think there are in all the world no countries That dont hold to their own speech but England alone But men well know it is well for to know both, For the more that a man knows, the more worth he is.

Use the following sections to summarise the use of French and English in the different social strata.
At first those who spoke French were those of Norman origin, but soon through intermarriage and association with the ruling class numerous people of English extraction must have found it to their advantage to learn the new language, and before long the distinction between those who spoke French and those who spoke English was not racial but largely social. The language of the masses remained English, and it is reasonable to assume that a French soldier settled on a manor with a few hundred English peasants would soon learn the language of the people among whom his lot was cast. The English nobility was not so much a nobility of England as an Anglo-French aristocracy. Nearly all great English landowners frequently contracted continental marriages, and spent much time in France, either in pursuance of their own interests or those of the king. It is true that English was now an uncultivated tongue and the language of a socially inferior class, but there is also plenty of evidence of mutual respect and peaceful co-operation between the Norman and the English from the beginning. The fact that English was the language of the greater part of the population made it altogether likely that many upper classes would acquire some familiarity with it.

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

Even William the Conqueror made an effort himself to learn English, but his energies were too completely absorbed by his many other activities to enable him to make much progress. Therefore, we can state that the attitude of the king and the upper classes toward the English language may be characterised as one of simple indifference. They did not cultivate English because their activities in England did not necessitate it and their constant concern with continental affairs made French for them much more useful.

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

READING 2. THE RESTABLISHMENT OF ENGLISH

1. Explain the consequences of the loss of Normandy
The loss of Normandy was wholly advantageous. King and nobles were now forces to look upon England as their first concern. Although England still retained large continental possession, they were in the south of France and had never been son intimately connected by ties of languages, blood, and property interests as had Normandy. It gradually became apparent that the island kingdoms had its own political and economic ends and that these were not the same as those of France. England was in the way to becoming not merely a geographical term but once more a nation.

2. In what ways was the nobility forced to choose between England and France?
After the Norman Conquest a large number of men held lands in both countries. A kind of interlocking aristocracy existed, so that it might be difficult for some of the English nobility to say whether they belonged more to England or to the continent. On several occasions Henry I confiscated the English estates of unruly (revoltoso) Norman barons. But the process of separation was accelerated; the king of France announced that he had confiscated the lands of several great barons and of all those knights who had their abode (residencia) in England. For the most part the families that had estates on both sides of the Cahnnel were compelled to give up one or the other. Sometimes they divided into branches and made separate terms; in other cases great nobles preferred their larger holdings in England and gave up their Norman lands. The separation was by no means. In one way or another some nobles succeeded in retaining their position in both countries. But double allegiance was generally felt to be awkward, and the voluntary division of estates went on.

3. How was the marriage of Henry to Eleanor of Provence received?

Henrys marriage to Eleonor of Provence brought a second stream of aliens to England. The new queen inherited among other blessings eight maternal uncles and a generous number of more distant relatives. Many of them came to England and were richly provided for. One of the queens uncles, Peter of Savoy, was given the earldom (titulo de conde) of Richmond; another, Boniface, was made archbishop of Canterbury. Peter was further empowered by letter-patent to enlist in Henrys service as many foreigners as he saw fit. The provenals who thus came to England as a consequence of Henrys

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

marriage were followed ten years later by a third alien influx (afluencia). In short, in the course of Henry IIIs long reign, the country was eaten up by strangers.

4. What was the reaction against foreigners and the growth of national feelings?
An answer to the question may lie in the fact that the inpouring of foreigners was not completely unfavorable to the English language. This is because a reaction was bound to follow. Even during the reign of John there were calls for a policy of "England for the English". And in the reign of Henry III the antagonism arose immediately after the first stream of foreigners came to England. The king dismissed the foreigners from the important offices they held, but they were soon back. Opposition to foreigners became the principal ground for national feeling. When Edward came to the throne England entered upon a period of consciousness of its unity. The government officials were for the most part English, and the king warned against the purpose of the king of France to "wipe out the English tongue". The effect of the foreign incursions in the thirteenth century was to delay the natural spread of the use of English by the upper class that had begun earlier. It also stimulated the consciousness of the difference between those who participated in English affairs as to consider themselves Englishmen, and those who flocked to England to enjoy Henry's favors. On of the frequent criticisms against the newcomers was that there was a general feeling that some knowledge of English was regarded a proper mark of an Englishman.

5. English and French change roles from the initial diglossic situation of the period in which French had more prestige, please explain this process and how English gains its prestige back.
In the thirteenth century, the prestige of French civilitation constituted a reason for using the language among polite circles in England. In spite of that, although upper classes continued for the most part to speak French, English was also making steady advances. By the middle of the century, when the separation of the English nobles from their interests in France had been about completed, English was becoming a matter of general use among upper classes. At the close of the thirteenth century, French language begins to lose its hold on England. The tendency to speak English was becoming constantly stronger even in those two most conservative

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

institutions, the church and the universities, and the use of French in England by the fourteenth century was beginning to be artificial. In fact, French began to be treated as a foreign language. Furthermore, one factor that told against the continued use of French in England was the circumstance that AngloFrench was not good French because of the mixture of various northern dialectal features. Moreover, in the following two centuries, the Hundred Years War also contributed to the disuse of French. Because during all this time French was the language of an enemy country. The war was followed by the rise of the middle class, which helped English to recover its former prestige. As a result, at the beginning of the fourteenth century English was once more known by every one.

6. Influence of the raising middle class in the use of English

The importance of a language is largely determined y the importance of the people who speak it. During the latter part of the Middle English period the condition of the laboring classes was rapidly improving. One the one hand, among the rural population villeinage was dying out and the latter class was itself increasing; there was more incentive to individual effort and more opportunity for a man to reap the rewards of enterprise. On the other hand, the effect The Black Death was to increase the economic importance of the laborating class. The mortality was accordingly greatest among the lower orders, and the result was a serious shortage of labor and the immediate rise in wages, and with it the importance of the English language which they spoke.

7. Summarise the situation of the English language in the schools at the time
From a time shortly after the Conquest French had replaced English as the language of schools. A statement of Ranulph Higden in the fourteenth century shows that in his day the use of French in the schools was quite general. After the black death, two Oxford schoolmasters were responsible for a great innovation in English education. By a fortunate circumstance we know that there was a John Cornwall licensed to teach Latin

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

grammar in Oxford at this time. The innovation was probably due to scarcity of competent teachers. At any rate after 1349 English began to be used in the schools and by 1385 the practice had become general.

8. Summarise the information on Middle English literature given by this chapter.

The literature written in England during the Middle English period reflects the changing fortunes of English. The literature in English from this period (1150-1250) is almost exclusively religious or admonitory. The hundred years from 1150 to 1250 have been called the Period of Religious Record. The Ancrene Riwle, the Ormulum are the principal works of this class. The two exceptions are Layamons Brut, a translation of Wace, and the debate between The owl and the Nightingale , a long poem in which two birds exchange recriminations in the liveliest fashion. The absence in English of works appealing to courtly tastes marks the English language at this time as the language of the middle and lower classes. The most popular type in the next hundred years of English literature was the romance. The period from 1250 to 1350 is a Period of Religious and Secular Literature in English. The general adoption of English by all classes, gave rise to a body of literature which represents the high point in English literary achievement in the Middle Ages. The period from 1350 to 1400 has been called the Period of Great Individual Writers. The best known name is that of Geoffrey Chaucer, author of Troilus and Criseyde and, most famous of his works, the Canterbury Tales. To this period belong William Langland, author of a long social allegory Piers Plowman (1362-87), John Wycliffe, translator of the Bible and author of controversial prose, and the unknown poet who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The fifteenth century is sometimes known as the Imitative Period since so much of the poetry now written was written in emulation on Chaucer. In the north the Scottish Chaucerians, particularly Henryson, Dunbar, Gawin Douglas, and Lindsay, produced significant work. These men carry on the traditional of English as a literary medium to Renaissance. Thus, Middle English literature follows and throws interesting light on the fortunes of the English language.

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

READING 3. CHAUCER
1. Changing society in the late Middle Ages: explain the social situation in Chaucers time.
In late 14th century, there were blurred social categories. The mediaeval ideas of three estates were complex and unstable social strata. The middle class was large and prosperous and began to play increasingly roles in church and state. Chaucer belonged to this social category.

2. How did Chaucers personal life contributed to his work?

Chaucer, son of a prosperous wine merchant, lived in a very cosmopolitan area . He was member of King Edwards personal household, and went on to diplomatic missions to Spain, France and Italy (this country in particular, would surely influence him through the spirit of the Italian Renaissance). He had contact with member of all social classes and with different languages, especially French. Moreover, he married Phillipa, daughter of a knight. His activities can be traced through a number of documents, but his literary activity is not registered.

3. Comment briefly on his main works.

In spite of being The Canterbury Tales the most famous work of Chaucer, he has other important works. His longest completed poem is Troilus and Criseide, an adaptation of Bocaccios Il filostrato. Dealing with his moral and religious works, they are mainly translations; he made a translation of Latin Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius. Finally, he wrote dream vision works such as The House of Fame, and the unfinished The Legend of Good Women.

4. The Canterbury Tales: summarise the main information of this work

Chaucers original plan was to write 122 stories, but only 22 were completed. The work was probably conceived in 1386. He lived in Greenwich and could see the pilgrims going to Canterbury, so he wrote about them. As the pilgrims were notorious tale tellers, the sight of groups might have had given some inspiration to Chaucer. Therefore, it is a collection of stories repeated exactly as he heard them, even if they contain Frank language.

UNIT 1. MIDDLE ENGLISH

The Canterbury Tales has many speakers which are from different social classes. The choice of pilgrimage initiates the framing narrative, consisting of the connecting links which holds the group of tales together, as the pilgrims amuse themselves by telling stories. Furthermore, this was new and convenient since a pilgrimage was the occasion when a wide range of members of society could join together on more or less equal terms. Because this choice was so unusual, it is difficult to place it in a concrete literary genre.

5. What is a dream vision? How does Chaucer use this genre in the Canterbury Tales?
A dream vision is a literary device in which a dream is told for specific purposes. The narrator narrates his experience of falling asleep, dreaming, and waking. Chaucer had been known as a writer of poems of love/dream visions. The General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales begins with the description of Spring, characteristic of dream vision of secular love. His first audience, hearing this opening, may have expected to hear the introduction of a poem on aristocratic love.