11. Conclusion

English people, which live in countries, where English has official or de facto official language status, traditionally speak the English language, a member of the West Germanic language family. The modern English language evolved from Old English, with lexical influence from Norman-French, Latin, and Old Norse. Cornish, a Celtic language originating in Cornwall, is currently spoken by about 3,500 people.

Because of the 19th century geopolitical dominance of the British Empire and the post-World War II hegemony of the United States, English has become the international language of business, science, communications, aviation, and diplomacy.

So, the Norman Conquest of England, being a conquest by a people whose tongue and institutions were palpably different from those of the English, was an event of an altogether different character from the Danish conquest, a conquest by a people whose tongue and institutions were akin to those of the English. The Norman settlers in England, therefore, felt no community with the earlier Danish settlers in England. In fact, the Normans met with the steadiest resistance in a part of England which was largely Danish. Ousting the Danish leaders who had recently conquered England and who provided some of the stiffest resistance to the Normans, and largely replacing the powerful English territorial magnates, while co-opting the most powerful of them, the Normans imposed a new political structure that is broadly termed "feudal".

Just how English would have developed if there had been no Norman Conquest is a matter of conjecture. No doubt it would have continued the simplification that had started with the arrival of the Norse, but it is doubtful if it would have become the wonderful tool it is today.

But we can say with a confidence, that the English language that is spoken today is the direct result of 1066 and the Norman Conquest. (see app.12) Modern English is vastly different from that spoken by the English prior to the Conquest, both in its word-hoard and its grammar. (see app.13) In order to understand what happened, and why, it was necessary to look at both English and Norman French before 1066, and then the Middle English that resulted from their interaction.

Consequently, my hypotheses were confirmed. Indeed, revising and probing materials from different sources, especially paying a regard to important for history facts, it is possible to make such conclusion: one of the most obvious changes was the introduction of Anglo-Norman, a northern dialect of Old French, as the language of the ruling classes in England, displacing Old English. French retained the status of a prestige language for nearly 300 years and has had a significant influence on the language, which is still visible in Modern English. Although Anglo-Norman was falling out of everyday use by the 13th century (Middle English was becoming stronger), it has left an indelible mark on English. Thousands of words, phrases and expressions are derived from it. English would have been a very different language without the influence of Anglo-Norman.