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INTRODUCTION For three centuries, there was no single form of English recognized as a norm, and people wrote in the language of their own region. Early Middle English texts give the impression of a mixture of dialects, without many common conventions in pronunciation or spelling, and in grammar and phonology.
The Middle English Period 11th Cent: NORMAN CONQUEST English is no longer a writen language English ceased to be the language of the governing classes
The Middle English Period 12th Cent: TRILINGUAL ENGLAND FRENH: Literacyand court tongue LATIN: Church and legal documents ENGLISH: Common intercourse
The Middle English Period 13th Cent: LOSS OF NORMANDY FRENCH: A foreign tongue Nobility educate their children in English
The Middle English Period 14th Cent: THE HUNDRED YEARS’ WAR THE BLACK DEATH ENGLISH was reinstated in schools Parliament was reopened in English
The Middle English Period 15th Cent: ENGLISH IS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE COURT
FRENCH INFLUENCE The Norman Conquest of 1066 had a profound influence in the English Language. For some centuries, English ceased to be the language of the governing classes. French became the language of the upper classes in England simply because it was the language of the conquerors. The native aristocracy was destroyed, the church and education were also dominated by them, so French was the language of aristocracy and the court, and anybody who wanted to get in the world, had to learn French
FRENCH INFLUENCE While English was left without a standard literary dialect, the prestige languages in England were Latin and French. Latin was the language of the church, of scholarship, and of international communication, but it gradually gave way to french. In the 13th century, French was stiil being spoken at the English court, and literature was being written in French for the nobility of England. However, it was never the mother tongue of the majority of the population
FRENCH LOAN WORDS French left its mark on English. Its main effect was on the vocabulary, with the introduction of a number of French-loan words into the language. Many of the French loan words reflect cultral and political dominance. French words were entirely new ones, with no obvious resemblance to anything in English.
FRENCH LOAN WORDS • Things connected with ordinary people tend to retain their English names, whereas upper-class objects often have French names. English French • Home/house -Manor/palace • Child/daughter/son - Heir • Smell -Odour • Ask -Demand • Answer -Reply
MIDDLE ENGLISH DIALECTS For three centuries there was no single form of English recognized as norm. Early Middle English texts give the impression of a mixture of dialects without common conventions in pronunciation or spelling and in grammar and phonology
MIDDLE ENGLISH DIALECTS There were a number of dialects features which were typical of different regions. The regions are : Northern (Scots and Northern English) East Middland West Middland South Eastern Southern
STANDARD ENGLISH An event which contributed to the triumph of Engish was king John’s loss of Normandy to the French crown. Moreover a national feeling was begining to arise in England which must have raised the prestige of the English language The 14th century sees the definitive triumph of English
STANDARD ENGLISH With the re-establishment of English as the language of administration and culture, came the re-establishment of an English literary language London language grew, and inthe15th century, its infuence was increased bythe introduction of printing. In the 16th century, there was recognition ofthelanguageof the Court as the t”best” English. The literary language had been standardized by theend ofthe 15 century
GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX The plural /s/ and /es/ were universals in the north while /n/ and /en/ were favoured in the south. In the end the /s/ plural triumphed. The different article forms gave way to /the/ The pronouns /he-here-hem/ were replaced by /they-their-them/
The /s/ genitive survived well but there started a new mode of indicatingpossesion with “of” In questions there were a gradual development of auxiliaries /do-did/ The relative pronoun was often ommited. The pronouns /who-which-that/ emerged though not yet specialized as in Modern English
