Cross-Channel communication and the end of the ‘Anglo-Norman realm’: Robert fitzWalter and the Valognes inheritance (original) (raw)
Related papers
35] 36 SUSAN CRANE anticipates the Anglo-Norman copy of the Song of Roland, Oxford, Bodleian Library, MS Digby 23, made some seventy-five years after the Battle of Hastings. His singing is the heightened expression of Norman purpose, whereas, Wace continues, the English seemed only to bark like dogs: Quant Normant chient Engleis crient, de paroles se contralient, e mult sovent s'entredefient, mais ne sevent que s'entredient; hardi fierent, coart s'es maient, Normant dient qu'Engleis abaient por la parole qu'il n'entendent. 2 [When Normans fall the English cry out; they fight one another with words and very often exchange defiant challenges, but neither side knows what the other is saying. The bold ones strike, the cowards take fright; the Normans say that the English are barking because they can't understand their speech.]
This paper approaches a study of the development of Middle English by carefully situating it within its external as well as its internal history. It opens with an examination of the relevant historical and linguistic background, before moving into a detailed look at the influence of French at each level of the language: phonological, orthographical, morpho-syntactical, lexical, and literary. It then explains these developments within the politics and culture of eleventh and twelfth-century England, before looking at the slow revivification of English beginning in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. In short, it takes into account both the structural and social considerations of the Norman Conquest on the language, and traces the process of how English emerged on the far side still fairly systematically intact, but deeply and permanently changed by its osmosis with French.
BARONS, ATTORNEYS AND BUTLERS: THE NORMAN-FRENCH INFLUENCE ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
Antonius Gerardus Maria Poppelaars, 2023
Abstract: The motto of the royal coat of arms of The United Kingdom, Dieu et mon droit (God and my right), is in French. This is because the Norman Conquest (1066) has changed English considerably through an influx of Norman-French borrowings. Therefore, the focus of this study is to describe the Norman Conquest, the Anglo-Franco language contact and its linguistic outcome during the Middle Ages, the period of the main influx of Norman-French loanwords. Unfortunately, the Norman-French influence is underestimated, which will be analyzed as well. To do so, the Norman-French linguistic impact on English and the rebirth of English will be examined. The research for this study was conducted through a descriptive approach, which provides categorized examples, such as wordlists, for the reader’s comprehension. Concluded is that the changed spelling and pronunciation of English have been responsible for underestimating the Norman-French influence on the English language. Overall, this study may contribute to the acknowledgement of the Norman-French influence on English and that rivalry amongst languages is irrelevant as each language has its significance. Keywords: Language Contact; Norman-French Loanwords; English Language; Norman Conquest.