The Norman Conquest
In IBDP English, it occurred in 1066 and began the transition from Old English to Middle English
William the Conqueror invaded Britain from northern France
Normans descended from northern French Vikings from 200 years earlier - the word ‘Norman’ actually comes from ‘Norseman’
Normans spoke a rural dialect of French - no Norse words survived of Normandy
England became even more isolated when the French part of Normandy was lost to the King of France in 1204
Anglo-Norman French became the language of royalty in England for over 300 years - in fact, Henry IV, who took the throne in 1399, was the first monarch since before the conquest whose mother tongue was English
Latin was mostly used for written language
In IBDP English, Anglo-Norman was used verbally in court, administration, and culture
William the Conqueror wrote Domesday Book, in which he took stock of his new kingdom, in Latin to emphasise its legal authority
Lower classes (around 95% of the population) continued to speak Anglo-Saxon English, and were looked down upon by Normans
The two languages began to merge when Normans and Anglo-Saxons began intermarrying - this mixture of Old English and Anglo-Norman comprises what is usually referred to as Middle English
The influence of Geoffrey Chaucer on the English language
In IBDP English, Texts in the Middle English began as a ‘trickle’ in the 13th century e.g. debate poem The Owl and the Nightingale and historical poem Brut, both published around 1200
Most Middle English literature is of unknown authorship
Chaucer began his infamous Canterbury Tales in English in the early 1380s
Canterbury Tales is considered the first great work of English literature, and the first demonstration of the legitimacy of vernacular Middle English
Canterbury Tales contains almost 500 French loanwords in its 858 line prologue
20-25% of Chaucer’s work is expected to be of French origin
Introduced many new words (up to 2,000) into the language e.g. paramour, difficulty, significance, dishonesty, edifice, and ignorant, all of which have French roots
When Chaucer wanted to portray the earthy working man, he deliberately used more Old English words and resurrected many words that had fallen out of common usage, such as ‘friendly’, ‘learning’, ‘loving’, and ‘restless’
Some of the words first found in Chaucer’s work include absent, accident, agree, border, cinnamon, digestion, examination, flute, galaxy, horizon, infect, latitude, miscarry, nod, obscure, perpendicular, resolve, superstitious, theatre, utility, vacation, and wildness
Language change was so constant and continuous in this period that different forms of words were often used interchangeably, sometimes even by the same author
The resulting inconsistency in spellings is evident in Chaucer’s work - ‘yeer’/‘yere’, ‘doughtren’/‘doughtres’ etc.
Different manuscripts of his work have different spellings, none of which are definitive, as his work was copied by several different scribes, and we have no original in Chaucer’s own hand
In IBDP English, John Wycliffe produced his own translation of the Bible in vernacular English in 1384 - considered a revolutionary act of daring as Latin was the ‘language of God’
Wycliffe’s Bible was banned by the church and circulated only unofficially
Although it retained original Latin word order, Wycliffe’s Bible is considered a landmark in the English language
Over 1,000 words, of Latin or French origin, were first recorded in it, such as barbarian, communication, dishonesty, emperor, graven, humanity, multitude, novelty, oppressor, philistine, schism, and zeal
Introduced many common phrases, such as ‘an eye for an eye’ and ‘woe is me’
Some of Wycliffe’s neologisms did not remain in popular usage e.g. mandement, descrive, and cratch
By the late 14th and the 15th century, Old English would have been almost as incomprehensible to people like Chaucer and Wycliffe as it is to us now
The work of William Caxton, printed less than a century after Chaucer’s, is much easier for the modern reader to comprehend naturally
I hope it helps~
