The Norman Conquest

Flashcards about the Norman Conquest and its influence on the English language.

Germanic tribes

The modern English language is derived from these tribes which invaded the island in the 5th century.

Three Influential Languages

The three languages that most influenced the English language include: Celts, Romans, and Scandinavians.

Baugh's Three Main Periods

Periods are Old English (from 450 to 1150), Middle English (from 1150 to 1500) and Modern English (since 1500).

The Celts

The Celts arrived on the island after 2000 BC, speaking Gaelic and Cymric or Britannic dialects.

The Romans

They exerted an enormous influence on the English language.

The Germanic Invasions

In about the year 449 AD, certain Germanic tribes began the invasion of Britain.

Jutes

Tribes from the northern part of the Danish Peninsula.

Angles

Tribes from the southern part of the Danish Peninsula.

Saxons

Tribes from somewhere between the Rhine and Elbe rivers.

Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy

The most important Seven Kingdoms were the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy: Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Wessex, Sussex, East Anglia and Essex.

Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest took place in 1066 and changed the whole course of the English language.

William the Conqueror

William was acclaimed King on Christmas Day.

Harrying of the North

Ended the old separatism imposed by the Treaty of Wedmore; all the land was now under the control of the Normans.

Doomsday Book

Was created as the frist English Hacienda.

Ascendance of English

Loss of Normandy in 1204 which made noblemen decide between their possessions on the continent or in England and they decided to concentrate on English matters forgetting French.

Triumph of English

Promoted by 2 important events, the Black Death in 1348 and the 100 Year's War (1337 to 1453) where England lost all its possessions in the continent and there was no reason to keep learning French.

Grammatical Changes

The loss of inflexional endings (case and gender markings).

Great Vowel Shift

A phonetic change in which the long vowels raised their point of articulation, whereas others already at their top point developed into diphthongs.

Following the Norman Conquest in 1066

French became the language of the ruling elite, the court, the church, and the law, while English remained the language of the common people..

Borrowings

Introduced by literary channels and were related to Christianity (devotion, salvation, charity) or War (war or castle).

Noblemen

Returning to England brought with them a significant number of French words.

Duplication of words

The animal name is English and the meat name has a French origin. For instance, ox and beef or sheep and mutton.

Synonyms

Ask, question and interrogate or time, age and epoch.

The Renaissance

During the 16th century, modern languages like English faced three major problems: Recognition in scholarly fields, Establishing consistent spelling and Enrichment of vocabulary

The Grand Tour

A tradition in which members of the English upper classes travelled around Mediterranean countries, particularly France, to study their literature, art, and culture.

Borrowing

One of the most frequent ways in which English acquires new words is through a process known as borrowing, which involves adopting words from other languages.

Calque

The original spelling of the word is retained without modification in English. Examples include negligee and poison.

Teaching implications

To begin with, I would like to justify the topic in the English curriculum. According to our current legislation based on LOMLOE from 2020, the teaching of a foreign language must be based on the communicative approach and communication must be the essential part of a language learning process