Middle English

Language

MADE BY
STUDENT OF 41 EU GROUP
PYLYPKO NATALIA
Middle English
1066-1550AD

In 1066,
William the
Conqueror
from
Normandy,
France invaded
England.
Middle English (1100-1500)

 The Middle English period is from 1100 to 1500.

The most important event to affect the history of
English, the Norman Conquest (1066), took place
at the end of the Old English period. The big
changes that this invasion produced in the English
society were accompanied by equal effects in the
vocabulary of Middle English.
 After their victory in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings
under William the Conqueror, the Normans quickly
assumed leadership and privilege in England.
 The Normans were originally
Vikings—their name comes from
North man (i.e., ‘Norse’). In a
sense, the Norman conquest can
be seen as yet another Germanic
invasion. But there was a
difference this time. The Normans
had earlier been given the control
of a large piece of land along the
northern coast of France—
Normandy. As French subjects,
they had adopted French culture.
So the language they brought with
them was not a Germanic
language, but French.
 The Norman dialect of French became the language of the
upper class, while English completely lost its scholarly and
literary importance, and was used only by the peasants and
people of the working class. This resulted in a massive
borrowing of French words into English vocabulary.
 During this period, English assimilated a large number of Old
French words. Crystal (1988: 174) gives the following list of
French borrowing during the Middle English period.

Government: court, duke, baron, county, crown, government,

liberty, majesty, minister, peasant, parliament, prince, realm, sir,
tax, tyrant, trial
Religion: abbey, baptism, cathedral, charity, confess, mercy,
religion, prayer, pity, saint, salvation, sermon, immortality,
miracle, solemn, trinity, virgin
Military: peace, enemy, arms, battle, moat, army, battle, navy,
soldier, spy, retreat, guard, defend, captain, ambush
General: gown, robe, emerald, diamond, feast, savory, cream,
sugar, age, paper, music, romance, city, easy, foreign, hour,
people, real, reason, river, special, use, wait, joy
Middle English

 1066—Norman invasion introduces French to Old English—these

amalgamate into Middle English
 Middle English has some hybrid qualities of both French & Old
English
England becomes bilingual
during Middle English
 English: ox, sheep, swine, calf
 French: beef, mutton, pork, veal

The rich and upper class spoke French

Latin, but the lower class spoke Anglo-
Saxon German.
Another half of our English vocabulary is

 ofFrench and
French/
Romanc
Romance origins.
e

Anglo-
Other Saxon
In the fourteenth century,
 English/Wessex again became the language of the English upper class.
 The new standard was a London dialect since London was now the
capital city.
 During the three hundred years kings of England had spoken French,
the English language had changed greatly.
 The French spoken by nobles became more like English. The English
of the common people was now full of French words.
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