The Impact of The Norman Conquest English Language Essay
The Impact of The Norman Conquest English Language Essay
The Impact of The Norman Conquest English Language Essay
Historical Background
Normans were descendent of Vikings from Scandinavia who settled down in the northern
region of France in the ninth and tenth centuries. This region was known as
Northmannia, the land of the Northmen, later shortened to Normandy. The Normans
became Frenchmen 'culturally and linguistically' (Pyles, 1964:153) soon assimilating the
French customs, marrying local women, converting to Christianity, and giving up their
own language and acquiring French. England had had close ties with Normandy long
before the conquest in 1066. In 1002 thelred the Unready, king of England between
78-1016, had married a Norman woman and his son known as Edward the Confessor,
who was raised in France, was more French than English. During the 24 years of his
reign, Edward brought many of his Norman friends over to England giving them
important positions in the government. When Edward the Confessor died childless,
William the Conqueror, who was a second cousin of the late king, believed he was
entitled to be Edward's successor even though he had no right to inherit the English
throne. (Loyn, 1991: 65-67). So when the accession to the throne was denied to him, he
attacked England, and with his exceptional abilities he won the battle of Hastings and 'on
Christmas Day 1066, William was crowned king of England' (Baugh & Cable, 2002: 112).
The rule of William the Conqueror brought with it vast changes 'to the social, political,
religious and linguistic' (Fennell, 2001: 95) structure of England.
Survival of English
How did English manage to survive and not get absorbed in the dominant Norman
tongue? Mcrum et al (1986: 75) suggest that there are three important motives that
explain the survival of English. First of all, Old English was 'too established, too vigorous,
and, thanks to its fusion with Scandinavian languages, too hardy' to be wiped out (Mcrum
et al, 1986: 75). Despite the written records becoming Latin and French, English
continued being the speech of commoners and it would have needed many centuries of
French rule to obliterate it as the vernacular of ordinary people. They were not going to
stop speaking English just because they had been conquered by a foreigner. Second,
the fusion between Normans and English was rapid, as Normans intermarried with
English people. The French-born mixed with the English-born. Thus, future generations
living in Britain would feel more English. The Norman ancestors were forgotten with time
and young people identified with the natural language of most inhabitants in Britain. One
hundred years after the invasion, an anonymous chronicler wrote that 'The two nations
had become so mixed that it is scarcely possible today, speaking of free men, to tell who
is English and who is of Norman race' (Baugh & Cable, 2009: 120). The Francophone
incomers seemed to have become fully integrated with English people. Third, and most
important reason, the Anglo-Normans lost control of their French territory across the
Channel. When King John lost Normandy in 1204, conflict began to develop between
France and England, which concluded with the Hundred Years War. The ex Norman
nobility became English, as many nobles had to declare themselves either French or
English. The loss of Normandy established an independent English nation and a feeling
of 'national consciousness and identity' began to arise in the British Isles (Short, 2007:
31). English people began to be more interested in their native language, therefore the
trilingual setting of medieval England existing following the Norman Conquest started to
disappear. The initial trilingual situation developed into oral bilingualism, although it was
not omnipresent in England, and progressively culminated into vernacular monolinguism
(Trotter, 2000: 25).
Re-establishment of English
The rivalry created between England and France meant that interests between English
and French were no longer the same. This resulted in the decline of French and re-
establishment of English. Fennell believes that if England had remained in the control of
France, French might have continued to be used 'in England forever' (Fennell 2001:
117). This did not happen though. While French had been necessary to the English
upper class during the two centuries following the Norman Conquest, in the thirteenth
and fourteenth centuries its use was artificial. French lost its importance gradually and
became a second acquired language after English till it disappeared. Evidence of the
passage of Anglo-Norman from a mother tongue to an acquired language has its roots in
1160s but also the first murmurings of discontent surfacing form those of Anglo-Saxon
stock who see themselves as excluded an denied professional advancement by their
ignorance of French (Short, 2007: 26). At the start of the fourteenth century Anglo-
Norman seemed to have lost its prestige completely. Slowly English won its way back to
being ubiquitous in England.
French passed into oblivion in the fifteenth and English was re-established, but it was a
new language 'in vocabulary and in spirit, wholly different in character, rhythm and
feeling from the Anglo-Saxon' (Watson, 2002: 18). Under the influence of Chaucer poets
began to write in English, but also literature was highly influenced by French. When
English re-emerged as the written language of England, it was extremely altered in
structure; however, Romaine claims that debate still continues about the extent to which
'change was internally or externally motivated' (1998: 7). These differences in the English
language remained immutable. Freeborn (1998: 51) argues that when reading English
texts from the 12th century onwards, there are changes in grammar, vocabulary, spelling
and word form. Of course, the English language did not change overnight in response to
the Norman Conquest. Fennell, on the other hand, maintains changes in English did not
happen as a result of the conquest. He states that the 'influence of French on English is
neither extreme nor special' (Fennell, 2001: 130). Many loan words have been borrowed
from French, but there is no marked structural change that can be revealed. It is also
hard to demonstrate French influence on word order. There is no influence on concord
as well. According to Fennell, changes in the English language are simply due to 'gradual
change' (2001: 131).
Conclusion
The Norman Conquest has had a significant impact on the English language. As the
examples above demonstrate, the invasion has influenced English considerably not only
in terms of vocabulary but also spelling, pronunciation and grammar. If English is today
the richest It is astonishing that engli