The French influence on the English vocabulary

Résumé du document

This quotation of the contemporary glossary by Robert of Gloucester brilliantly sums up the linguistic situation of the English society in the centuries after the Norman Conquest. While French became the language of power and prestige and left its mark on the English language, English remained the means of communication among the greatest part of the population.

This essay deals with the French influence on the English language which began in the 11th century and to a certain extent, continued into modern times. However, the main focus will be on the first 500 years. The first part will deal with the Norman Conquest and its social and linguistic consequences. The second part treats the loss of Normandy and the social and linguistic developments following it. In the last part, the French linguistic influence on the English language will be analyzed in more detail. This part will concentrate on vocabulary as it was here that the French exerted its main influence.

Extraits

[...] In the course of the 13th century and especially in Edward I reign (1272-1307) the English people became conscious of their unity and a national feeling developed.[35] Whereas nationality had not been an issue before the 13th century now baronial upper class, or at least the majority of its members, had obviously come to regard themselves as ‘Englishmen'”[36]. II.2 Linguistic Consequences The changed political situation and the new self-esteem of the English ruling class had linguistic consequences as well. With the development of an English national feeling the English language acquired a better reputation among the upper levels of society. [...]

[...] ‘begin-commence' or nourish'.[65] French words were borrowed in all spheres of life (Berndt (1984), Jespersen, et al. give extensive word lists). In the realm of ruling and governmental power words such as ‘parliament', ‘governor' and ‘empire' entered the English language to give just a few examples. In the realm of law ‘justice', ‘prison' or ‘defendant' were borrowed. Likewise, vast numbers of loans in the area of military (‘artillery', ‘battle' or ‘defend' ) or church and Christian doctrine (‘abbey', ‘prayer', ‘baptise' or ‘innocence') were borrowed. [...]

[...] After the Conquest William rewarded his vassals for their support and loyalty by providing them with grounds and titles in the conquered country. At the time of the Doomsday survey the feudal aristocracy consisted almost entirely of French-born foreigners.[10] Most of their English predecessors had been killed while fighting against the Norman intruders. This social group did not intermingle at all with the original English population but kept to themselves in the first few centuries after the Conquest. Most of them had possessions on the continent as well and habitually they married French partners. [...]

[...] The situation among the high clergy was similar to that of the high aristocracy. William gave most of the 15 bishoprics to Norman friends.[11] As Baugh proves he also introduced more and more abbots of French descent to English abbacies: in out of 21 abbots who signed the decrees of the Council of London were English. In 1087 this number had been reduced to three.[12] This brought a strong “French element”[13] into English ecclesiastical and monastic life even more so as the French prelates were joined by groups of Norman monks. [...]

[...] in Modern French chasser or charpentier. More examples of Norman loans are ‘catch', ‘cherry' or ‘chisel'. They show the Norman retention of / while French shifted to and later (thus Modern French cerise and ciseau). Examples of corresponding Central French loans are ‘chase', ‘wince' or ‘cerise'. Similarly, Norman French loans such as ‘punish', ‘usher' or ‘cushion' have / / as against Central French ‘rejoice' Likewise ‘garden' is a Norman borrowing while ‘joy' or ‘jest' reflect the shift from Norman French to Central French Obviously, some words were borrowed twice into the English language, once in the Norman period of influence and once in the Central French period. [...]