Маъсул муҳаррир: Филология фанлари доктори, профессор: Г. Х. Боқиева Тақризчилар

French Influence
Penetration of French loan words into English did not start immediately after the Norman Conquest. It only started in the 12th century, and reached its climax in the 13th and 14th centuries. After the conquest French was introduced as the language of the law courts, debates in Parliament (1265). Under such circumstances considerable layers of the population became bilingual. This bilinguism created preconditions for a mass entry of French words into the English language. (At the same time the opposite process took place: English words were adopted in the Anglo-Norman language).
Many words adopted at this time denoted things and notions connected with the life of the Norman aristocracy. Alongside these, everyday words penetrated into English, which denoted ideas already having names in English. As a result of borrowing, pairs of synonyms would arise, and a struggle between the synonyms would ensue. The outcome of the struggle would be different in different cases. There were three main possibilities:
1. The struggle ends in favour of the French word; its native English synonym disappears.
2. It is the native word that gets the upper hand; the French word, after existing in English for some times, disappears.
3. Both words survive, but a difference in meaning develops between them, which may be either semantic or stylistic. The table below illustrates these examples.
French loan words

Sphere	Example
Government, the court, jurisdiction	Prince, baron, noble,government, royal, court, justice, judge, sentence (but: king, queen survived)
Army and military life	Were, army, regiment,castle, banner, siege, victory, defeat