4. The Scandinavian invasion and its effect on English.

By the end of the 8-th cent Britain was often invaded by Vikings (Danes from Denmark and Northmen from Scandinavia). England was invaded by Danes, Scotland and Ireland by Northmen. At first they came in small groups, than in large bands conquering territories one after another. Wessex kingdom under Alfred the Great began to struggle. But still Scandinavian invasion had made some effect on English:

1. words beginning on “sk” (sky, skirt, skin)

2. the system of personal pronouns (they, them, their)

3. the form ‘are’ of the verb to be/

4. the ending–s- for Present Simple, 3-rd person singular (in verbs) (he makes).

5. the system of personal names ending on –son-: Davidson, Richardson, Jefferson.

6. there are more then 1500 words of Scandinavian origin in ModE: sister, bad, fog, cake, get, again etc.

[sk’] → [s] NE Etymological doublets in

ME

→ [sk] Sc skjorte (Sc) – skirt (NE)

scierte (OE) – shirt (NE)

The influence was felt in 2 spheres

• vocabulary – law, husband, loose, root, sky, smile, want;

• morphology – the verb system was expanding.

5. The Norman Conquest and its effect on English.

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); 3. lange, huge (Fr) – great (Engl)

4. 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.

Engl → ox – beef ← French

pig - pork

↓ ↓

anim. food

75% of words have survived in NE.

6. The dialectal situation of English from a historical perspective.

The ancient Germanic tribes occupied a comparatively small territories in the North-West of Europe, they spoke similar dialects. These dialects → common germanic, it lasted till the beginning of our era. In the V cent germanic tribes migrated to the British Isles. They were Saxons, Jutes, Angles. The language of this tribes serves as a basis for the formation of OE. They spoke 4 dialects: Kentish (Jutes); West-Saxon /Wessex (Saxon); Mercian (Angles); Northumbrian (Angles) – north to r. Humber.

In the IX cent – during the reign of King Alfred (871-899) the Great, when Wessex became the most powerful kingdom and led the successful war against the Scandinavians. Since him the dialect of Wessex became more popular and got the status of written standard. Most OE written records that came to us are in the Wessex dialect (“Beowulf”, Anglo-Saxon chronicles). The first historian who started to record the history of the Germanic tribes on the British Isles and is considered to be the first English historian is Bede the Venerable, an English monk, who wrote “The Ecclesiastical History of the English People”. The most important dialect in the Old English period was the WEST SAXON DIALECT.

Middle English: Linguistic Situation

After the Norman Conquest: French became the official language of administration (it was used in the king’s court, in the law courts, in the church (as well as Latin), in the army, by the nobles in the south of England). It was also used as a language of writing and teaching as well as Latin. English was the language of common people in the Midlands and in the north of England. It still remained the language of the majority who were the representatives of the lower classes of society and never learned French, so the Norman barons had to learn English to be able to communicate with locals. Celtic Dialects were still used by the Celtic population in the remote areas of the country. Actually, during the presence of the Normans the country experienced the period of bilingualism (French and English were both used in the country and started to intermix, i.e. a lot of the French words crept into the Middle English Dialects and it came to resemble present-day English a lot). The Norman and the English drew together in the course of time and intermixed. French lost its popularity due to the fact that it was not the language of the majority and could not be used to communicate with local people. English regained its leading position with time and became accepted as the official language. The proofs are:

The Parliamentary Proclamation of 1258 – Henry the 3^rd addressed the councilors in Parliament in French, Latin and English. 1)In the 14^th – 15^th c. legal documents (wills, municipal acts, petitions, etc.) started to be issued in English. 2)1364 – Parliament was opened with an address in English.

1399 – Henry the 4^th accepted the throne and made a speech in English. 3)Translations of the documents written in French into English.

Thus in the 14^th c. English becomes the language of literature and administration.

Dialects: Kentish→Kentish Dialect, West Saxon →South-Western Dialect (East Saxon Dialect, London Dialect, Gloucester Dialect), Mercian →Midland Dialects (West Midland Dialect, East Midland Dialect), Northumbrian→ Northern Dialects (Yorkshire Dialect, Lancashire Dialect)

The most important dialect in the Middle English period was the LONDON DIALECT.

London Dialect In the 12^th -13^th c. the London Dialect became the literary language and the standard, both in written and spoken form. The reasons why this happened: 1)The capital of the country was transferred from Winchester, Wesses, to London a few years before the Norman Conquests. 2)The East Saxon Dialect, that was the basis of the London Dialect got, became the most prominent in the Middle English period. 3)Most writers and authors of the Middle English period used the London Dialect in their works.

Features of the London Dialect: 1)The basis of the London Dialect was the East Saxon Dialect 2) The East Saxon Dialect mixed with the East Midland Dialect and formed the London Dialect. 3) Thus the London Dialect became more Anglican than Saxon in character  The London Dialect is an Anglican dialect.