The last of the invaders to come to Britain were the Normans from France. In 14 October 1066 Duke William of Normandy defeated the English at the battle of Hastings and established his rule in the country as King of England. He is known as William the Conqueror. They started a new period in England, which is known as Norman period. The Normans settled in the country and the French language became the official language of the ruling class. This explains the great number of French words in English (80%) – boots, pearl, beef, biscuit, home, sir, council, tax.
Originally they were also Germanic tribes, but having won the territory of France, they practicaly assimilated with the people of France and took its high culture and language.
1. French is the lang. of upper classes.
2. Many synonyms appeared: Eg: language (Fr) – tongue (Engl);
lange, huge (Fr) – great (Engl)
3. French effected all aspects of life: = Government and administration: nation, people. = Legislation: eg.: judge, court. = Military term: navy, war. = Literature and arts: music/ = Education: ink, college. = Fashion: dress. = Trade, profession: tailor, grocer. = Religion: pray. = Cooking: roast, fry, boil. 75% of words have survived in NE.
THE DIALECTIAL SITUATION OF ENGLISH
6. After the 5th c. the 3 waves of the Germanic tribesarrived to Britain. The feudal system had led to the isolation of each tribe and political disunity (feudal wars). As a result, this period witnessed a great dialectal diversity.The most important dialects were the dialects of the 4 most powerful kingdoms: