Intoduction

CONCLUSION.

Since the Norman Conquest in 1066 the French language became more and more important. The Normans (North-man) were descendants of the Danes and spoke French influenced by a Germanic dialect. They inhabited some parts in the north of France and adapted not only to the language, but also to the French culture. They had a talent for building churches, cathedrals, castles and proved the English their rank of military quality.

Yet, that does not mean the English culture was inferior to the French one. The Anglo- Saxons were excellent writers, artists and craftsmen. They did not lack in civilization. “French became the language of the upper classes in England simply because it was the language of the conquerors, not because of any cultural superiority on their part. ”By this time, the French and English language existed side by side and French took over to be the language of the court and “royalty

of England throughout the twelfth, thirteenth and (diminishingly) fourteenth centuries. ”The kings of England spoke French, took French wives and lived mostly in France. The Normans became the new upper class. They dominated all high positions like the church, education, aristocracy, administration etc.. So, many other people, particularly among the gentry whose native language was English had to acquire French, if they “wanted to get on in the world.”

Although there were more common people holding on to their mother tongue than noblemen speaking French, English was on a decline, as the French language had its prestige in the most important ranks. The character of the words now borrowed the objects and ideas they denoted are full of significance for England’s early history. This period is one of the most important stages in the development of the English language. "It marks the transition between English as a typologically ′Old Germanic′ language and English of the type familiar to us. "The Norman Conquest in 1066 and hence the French influence play a major role in this development. More clearly French considerably influenced the vocabulary the morphology and the phonolgy of the English language.

However, in order to be able to understand the changes in Middle English, it is undispensable to know about the historical events namely the Norman Conquest which led to these changes. As the French influence hardly affected the English grammar,I only considered the changes in the vocabulary.I also briefly referred to other language borrowings to show that the French influence was not the only one, but the most effective in the period of great change – the Middle English. Lastly, in my conclusion I summarized my results.