Normans!

Battle of Hastings, 1066 CE

Norman (French) Influence

• French spoken by the ruling elite.

• Huge new influx of words. Instead of eating “cow,” you can now have “beef” (“boeuf.”) For “chicken,” you can have “poultry” (“poulet.”) etc.

• England becomes bilingual.

• Birth of Middle English!

Later Changes…

• Middle English becomes Modern English during a less dramatic episode

• “The Great Vowel Shift”

• Occurs during the end of the 15th century

• The phonetic values (sounds) of long vowels in English are changed

• A standardized (somewhat) grammar

Works Cited and ConsultedBlack, Joseph, ed. et al. The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. Vol. 1. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview P., 2006. Print.

Bryson, Bill. The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way. NY: Perennial, 1990. Print.

Katsiavriades, Kryss and Talaat Qureshi. “The Origin and History of the English Language.” The KryssTal Website. 1997-2013. 14 Sept. 2014. Web.

Kemmer, Suzanne. “A Brief History of English, With Chronology.” 2001-20015. Words In English. Rice University. 15 Sept. 2014. Web.

MacNeil, Robert. “The Glorious Messiness of English.” Readers Digest, Oct. 1995. Print.