6. French as the most important foreign influence on the e. Language (at 2 historical periods)

The Normans made up the new aristocracy & the Anglo-Saxon people became their servants. The new masters were strangers in the country. They spoke a foreign tongue & the Anglo-Saxon peasants could not understand their speech. The Norman aristocracy spoke a Norman dialect of French, a tongue of Latin origin, the Anglo-Saxons spoke E., a tongue of Germanic origin. The Normans looked upon E. as a kind of peasant dialect, & continued to speak their own language. They despised anyone unable to speak their language. (1066)

Thus there were 2 different languages spoken in the country at the same time – Engl& became a bilingual country. For almost 300 years French was the official language of administration: it was the language of the king’s court, the law-courts, the church, the army & the castle. The intellectual life, literature & education were in the hands of French-speaking people. French, alongside Latin, was the language of writing.

In spite of all this, England never stopped being an E.-speaking country. Most of the population held fast to their own tongue: the lower classes in the towns & especially in the countryside, they continued to speak E. & looked upon French as foreign & hostile. As most of the people were illiterate, the E. language was almost exclusively used for spoken communication.

At first the 2 languages existed side by side without mingling. Then, slowly & quietly, they began to permeate each other. This mixed language was called Anglo-French or Anglo-Norman.

Anyway, the Normans remained masters of England for quite a long time to leave a deep ‘impress on the language. The total number of French borrowings by far exceeds the number of borrowings from any other foreign language. By 1400 the number of loan-words had risen to 10,000.

The French borrowings of the ME period are usually described according to semantic spheres:

a) administrative words - state, government, parliament, counsil, power

b) legal terms – court, judge, crime, prison, justice

c) military terms – army, war, soldier. Officer, battle, enemy

d) educational terms – pupil, lesson, library, pen, pencil, science

e) everyday life – table, plate, source, dinner, supper, river, autumn, uncle

1. Many French words pertain to the church & religion, for in the 12th & 13th centuries all the important posts in the Church were occupied by the Norman clergy: abbey; procession; chapel; paradise; religion; charity; passion; sacrifice; vice, Bible; saint; virgin, miracle.

Besides these spheres, which reflect the dominant position of the Normans in Britain as conquerors & rulers, there are many others, which reveal the influence of the Norman way of life on the English.

2. From the loan-words referring to house, furniture & architecture, we see that the Normans introduced many innovations: chair; curtain; castle; chimney; cushion; palace; table, column; lamp; wardrobe.

3. Some words are connected with art: art; colour; figure; beauty; design; image; paint.

4. Another group includes names of garments (предметы одежды): boot; collar; dress; coat, jewel, costume; fur; gown.

5. Many French loan-words belong to entertainment, which is natural enough for the Norman nobles amused themselves with various pastimes: adventure; feast; cards; dance ; leisure; sport, chase; dice (игра в кости) ; tournament, contest ; ease ; pleasure.

6. We can also single out words relating to different aspects of the life of the upper classes & of the town life:

1. forms of address: sir, madam, mister, mistress, master, servant.

2. names of some meals: dinner, supper, (while “breakfast” remained native).

3. names of some dishes: here the words “beef, veal, mutton, pork, bacon, are absolutely different from the names of the animals from whose meat they are cooked (which remained native English words): ox, cow, calf, sheep, swine.

2. The Parisian period of French borrowings was significant by development in science, art & culture in all European countries. Besides this was a period of extensive cultural contacts between the major European states. The most significant were French borrowings. This time they came from the Parisian dialect of French & are known as Parisian borrowings.

e.g. regime, routine, police, machine, ballet, matinee, scene, technique.

The influx of French words continued in the late 15^th & in the late 17^th c. These French borrowings mainly pertain to diplomatic relations, social life, art & fashion. French remained the international language of diplomacy for several hundred years; Paris led the fashion in dress, food & in social life & to a certain extent in art & literature; finally, the political events in France in the 18-19^th c. were of world-wide significance.

Examples of diplomatic terms are: attaché, communiqué, dossier; social life: ball, café, coquette, hotel, picnic, restaurant; art: ballet, ensemble, essay, genre;

military terms are: brigade, maneuver, marine, police;

fashions in dress & food: blouse, corsage, cravat, champagne, menu, soup.

Words of miscellaneous character are: comrade, detail, entrance, fatigue, garage, machine, moustache, progress, ticket.

Most of these words haven’t been assimilated in E., retaining their spelling, the sounds & the position of the stress.