17.Linguisic situation of the British Isles in the 11-15th century.

Early M.E.

Through the Scandinavian invasions of England are dated in the O.E., their effect on the language is particularly apparent in M.E. Since the 8th century the British Isles were ravaged by the sea-rovers from Scandinavia, first by Danse, later by Norvegians. By the end of the 9th century the Danes had succeeded in obtaining a permanent footing in England. More than half of England was yelded to the invaders and recognized as Danish territory. It was called Danelaw.

In the early years of the occupation the Danish settlements were little more than armed camps. But gradually the conditions stabilized & the Danes began to bring their families. The new settlers & the English intermarried & intermixed. They intermingled the more easily as their was no linguistic barea between them. In the areas of the heaviest settlement the Scandinavians outnumbered the Anglo-Saxon population which is attested by geographical names. In Yorkshire, Linkesher, Nothumberlend, Cumberland up to 75% of the place names are Danish or Norwegian. All together more than one thousand and 4 hundred English villages & towns bare names of Scandinavian origin( with the element thorp(village) Ex. Woodthorp, toft(piece of land) Brimtoft)

Eventually the Scandinavians were observed into the local population, both ethnically & linguistically. They increased regional differences of English in the 11th & the 12th centuries must partly be attributed to the Scandinavian influence. Due to the contacts & mixture with Old Scandinavian the Northern dialects had acquired lasting & sometimes indelible Scandinavian features.

In later ages the Scandinavian elements passed into other regions. The incorporation of the Scandinavian element in the London dialect & standart English was brought about by the changing linguistic situation in England. The Norman conquest wasn’t only a great even in British Political History, but also the great single even in the history of English language. Its earliest effect was a drastic change in the linguistic situation. The Norman conquerors of England had originally come from Scandinavia. About one hundred & fifty years before they had seased the valley of the Sane & settled in Normandy. They were swiftly assimilated by the French and in the 11th century came to Britain as French speakers & bearers of French culture. They spoke the Norman dialect of French which differed in some points from central. Their language in Britain is often called Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Norman. The most immediate consequence of the Norman domination in Britain are the wide use of the French language in many spheres of life. For almost 3 hundred years French was the official language of administration. It was the language of the kings court, the law court, the church and the army. French, alongside Latin was the language of writing but England never stopped being English-speaking country. The bulk of the population(lower class) continued to speak English. Since most of the people were illiterate the English language was almost used for spoken communication.

The struggle between French & English finished with the complete victory of English. The first sight of official recognition of English by the Norman Kings was the famous proclamation issued by Henry III in 1258 to the consolers in parliament. It was written in 3 languages: French, Latin, English.