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Guide Questions for viewing “The Adventure of English” Part 1 (Old English to
the Norman Invasion)

1. What was the next major influence on English?

Vikings/Germanic. Dains?
2. What was the name of their language?
Old Norse
3. Who ‘saved’ English?
King Arthur the Great, great defender of the English language
4. What happened to OE and Old Norse (ON)?
Irregular warfare? King Arthur won a war and English language continued to be used. Involved a peace
treaty. Separated by country (Danelaw). Old English absorbed Old Norse.
5. What’s the significance of ‘–son’?
-by- farm
-thorpe- village
-son- meant father/son.
6. What ON words do we still use?
Beck-stream
Garth-paddock
Slate-slippery
Husband, ill, die (pronouns)
7. What is a characteristic sound of ON word origin?
Sped up.

8. What was the lexical field of words from ON?

Landscape/farmlife and family
9. What did ON do to OE grammar?
Introduced words like ‘to’, this asserted the ownership/direction of the sentence.
10. What did Alfred do to improve the education of the English people?
Wrote a poem. Alfred realised it was easier to translate the Bible to English for wider population,
although those in priesthood/religious theology learnt the Latin version.
11. What effect did Alfred have on the status of English?
Many more people learnt English due to their religion. Alfred made the language endure. Anglosaxon
chronicle. More prestigious and widely read.
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12. When did the Normans invade England?
1066.
13. What language did the Normans speak?
French
14. What are some French words that entered English?
Enemi
Castel
Battle
Corune-crown
Traitre-traitor
Juge-judge
Prisun-prision
15. What lexical fields (initially) did the words belong to?
Warfare and kindgom
16. How many French words were borrowed?
10,000 words
17. What is another lexical field French origin words are common in?
Cite, market, saumon (salmon). Food and cuisine
Tarte, biscuit, vinegre, olive, apetit, salade
18. What was the purpose of the Domesday Book?
2 Volumes, shows the completeness of the English takeover.
19. What language was it written in?
English
20. What happened to written English?
Forced underground
21. What happened to the status of English?
Wouldn’t resurface until much later.