An example of the very routine use of Norman French is this extract from a contract in which Johan
Lewyn undertook to build a wall round the keep of a castle:
[10.16]
Ceste endent’e faite a Baumburgh le xxv iour doctobre lan &c. quart parentre Johan Roy de Castille &c.
dune part et
Johan Lewyn mason dautre part tesmoigne les couenances fatite parentre le dit Johan Roy et Duc par lauys de son
conseil et le dit Johan Lewyn. Cestassauoir q’le dit Johan Lewyn ad empris p
r
faire de nouell bien et couenablement
un mantelett de freeston en certein lieu a lui diuise par le dit Johan Roy
et Duc et son Conseil ento
r
le grant tourre
etc.
(Salzman 1952:460)
Many of the nobles had estates in both Normandy and England and had split loyalties. In many cases they
were more French than English. The Norman kings remained dukes of Normandy and some of them spent
most of their time in France. This is understandable. Through marriage and conquest their French
possessions had expanded to such an extent that by the late twelfth century, Henry II (1154–89) was not
only king of England but also ruler of almost two-thirds of France. But gradually, through intermarriage and
ever-closer contact, the Normans were integrated into English society. By the mid-twelfth century the
integration was virtually complete.
For the small, but influential social group who were at the apex of society English was a second-class
language in terms of status. And their competence in it was rather limited. They practised some code-
switching, which contributed in a relatively small way to borrowing. But you should not get from this the
impression that the use of French and code-switching between English and French was widespread
throughout the population. The eclipsing of English only affected the upper classes.
Most of the borrowing took place after the middle of the thirteenth century after French had been
knocked off its perch as the most prestigious language in everyday use in high places and had increasingly
become a written language.
According to some estimates, about 10,000 French words entered English during the Middle Ages. Most
of them came into the language after the mid-thirteenth century when the marginalisation of English in high
places had been reversed and most came into English via the written language: many French (and Latin)
words originally used only in writing eventually found their way into the spoken language (cf. Lass 1987).
In the period 1200–1500 a number of historical factors conspired to revive the fortunes of English. Not
least among them was King John’s loss of Normandy in 1204. Disaster on the battlefield saved the English
language from obscurity. The bitter, protracted Hundred Years War with France which began in 1337 put an
end to French linguistic hegemony. Now the ruling classes had to put their mind to the task of becoming
fully English and learning how to use the English language properly. The ties between the nobility in
England and France were loosened. Understandably, the English aristocracy no longer had such warm
feelings towards the French. And, in any event, those nobles who had estates in both countries were forced
to make a choice: those who chose to be English had to renounce their French interests and learn to be truly
English.
The following is the text of a letter written in 1440 by Robert Repps to John Paston, a member of one of
the leading families of gentry in Norfolk. Although this letter was written a long time after English had been
re-established, it is richly spiced with French. You can see how French loanwords used in writing eventually
became part of spoken English as well.
A LEXICAL MOSAIC 145
1440 Nov. 1
Sir, I pray you, wyth all myn hert, hold me excusyd that I wryte thus homly and briefly on to you, for
truly convenable space suffycyd me nowt.
No more atte this tyme, butte the Trynyte have you in proteccion, &c.; and qwan your leysyr is, resorte
ageyn on to your college, the Inner Temple, for ther ben many qwych sor desyr your presence, Welles and
othyr, &c.
Wretyn in le fest de touts Seynts, entre Messe et Mateyns,
calamo festinante, &c.
Yours, ROB REPPES.
So what is the balance sheet of the linguistic effects of the Norman Conquest?
(i) The Norman Conquest had a very far-reaching effect on the English lexicon. It started the habit of
borrowing French words in large numbers which English has never been able to kick (cf. [10.7] and [10.
8]).
(ii) Generally, the influx of French words into English had very little effect on the structure of English
except in phonology where it led to [f] ~ [v] and [s] ~ [z], which had been allophones of the same
phoneme, splitting
into separate phonemes, as we saw in section (
10.1.7
).
During the period of the French ascendancy following the Norman Conquest, a very large number of words
were adopted from Norman French into English. Most of the vocabulary to do with the court and nobility,
government and the law, war and diplomacy was borrowed from French:
[10.17]
a.
Government:
president, government, minister,
territory, counsellor, council, people, power
b.
Nobility:
sovereign, royal, monarch, duke, prince, count, princess, principality, baron,
baroness, noble
c.
Law:
assizes, judge, jurisdiction, puisne judge, advocate, jury, court, law, prison, crime,
accuse
d.
War:
peace, battle, admiral, admiralty, captain, lieutenant
The adoption of French words that followed in the wake of the Norman Conquest has continued unabated.
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