The year 1066 marks a significant turning point in English history, particularly due to the Norman Conquest.
The Bayeux Tapestry likely did not depict the coronation of William the Conqueror, which signified a new royal lineage for England.
Political Changes
New Royal Dynasty: The conquest brought a king from a family that had never reigned in England before. This marked the beginning of a new royal dynasty whose successors continue to reign to this day.
Numbering of Kings: The numbering of kings was restarted after the Norman Conquest, with Edward I etc. being post-conquest.
William's Claim: William the Conqueror claimed ownership of all of England, a significant break from the Anglo-Saxon system where the king was a large landholder among many.
Shift in Power: The nobility was significantly stronger in relation to the king before William's conquest. William redistributed land among his followers, changing the dynamics of power.
Anglo-Norman influence: Close political relationships emerged between England and France, influencing subsequent historical developments.
Social Changes
Elite Replacement: The Normans and their allies replaced the Anglo-Saxon elites, impacting political and ecclesiastical leadership (bishops, abbots, monks).
Linguistic Influence: Anglo-Norman French replaced English as the language of the elite.
Peasant Interaction: Peasants had to interact with lords who spoke French, creating a linguistic divide.
Impact on Population: This change mainly affected the top 1% of the population, who held political and intellectual power and were now French-speaking Normans.
Latin Revival: Latin made a comeback as a written language of government, reinforcing multilingualism in England.
Continuity After the Conquest
Efficient Administration: The Anglo-Saxon administrative system, developed due to the need for efficient tax collection to finance wars against the Scandinavians, was retained by the Normans.
Intermarriage: Intermarriage between Normans and Anglo-Saxons led to a blended elite after two to three generations.
Bilingualism: The intermarriage produced bilingual Normans, strengthening over the centuries.
English Language Continuity: 97-98% of the population continued to speak English.
Perspective Matters: The impact of the conquest depends on whether you look at it from the top-down (elite) or bottom-up (general population) perspective.
Gradual Linguistic Shift: England did not start speaking French from one year to another; English continued to be spoken predominantly.
Connection Between Politics and Linguistic Development
There is a close connection between political events and linguistic development, especially in the Middle Ages.
English as a Germanic Language
English is examined in relation to other West Germanic dialects (German, French, Dutch).
The session assumes knowledge of German, French, and Dutch.
Key Terms Explained
Afrikaans: Not defined in this section.
Plosives: Not defined in this section.
Fricatives: Not defined in this section.
Abricate: A combination of a plosive and a fricative, more common in languages like High German or Swiss German.
Cognate: Words with the same origin, sharing an etymology. Examples: log (noun and verb), Dutch liefde, German Liebe. They are from a single origin so Latin amor, Italian amore, French amour are cognates between each other but not with the earlier examples.
Diglossia: A sociolinguistic term referring to the use of different languages or dialects in a society, based on the social status of the language; high-status language vs. low-status language. For example, French in Luxembourg's court system vs. the local dialect.
Registers: High register, for example, you can avoid swear words in English, and low register, if you include some.
Monophram: A single vowel sound.
Diphthong: The d prefix meaning two means this is two vowels together. The process of making monophrams into diphthongs is diphthongization. Example: The word for house in most Germanic languages was 'us,' but in West Germanic dialects, the 'u' diphthongized into 'r' or 'l'.
Monophramization: The reverse of diphthongization. A diphthong is reduced to a simple vowel.
Palatization: A sound change in which a consonant is articulated near the palate. It involves moving the tongue towards the hard palate. For example, a 'G' sound moving towards the palate may become a 'J' sound, or a 'K' sound becoming a 'C'. It often happens because you have a front vowel E or A.
Dialectal Continuum
Language borders are rare within the same language family; instead, there is a gradual change from one language to another.
This gradual shift creates dialects, as seen in the shift from Kent to Thurzo, creating dialects like Geordie and Glaswegian.
English, with its Germanic origins, fits into this gradual shift.
West Germanic Dialects
Comparison of Old English with present-day languages like Frisian, Dutch, and Low German.
Impact of the Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest fundamentally changed English, adding French influences.
The claim is that without the Norman Conquest, English might resemble Dutch more closely.
Continental West Germanic Dialects
Historically, there was a dialectical continuum stretching from areas near Austria and South Tyrol to areas where North Germanic languages are spoken.
Four Main Classes
High German: Spoken in higher altitudes.
Low German: Spoken in low mountain areas. Historically includes dialects such as Dutch, Flemish.
Middle German: Between High and Low German, with features of both.
Frisian: Spoken along the North Sea coast between the Netherlands and Denmark.
Differences Between English and High German
Loss of Post-Vocalic Consonant Clusters: In Old English, post-vocalic consonant clusters disappeared, while they remained in Old High German.
Example: soft (Old English) vs. sanfter (Old High German).
Second Germanic Consonant Shift: Primarily affects High German, not Low German or English.
Involves changes to consonants such as P, T, K, which become affricates or fricatives.
Example: ship (English) vs. chef (German), water (English) vs. Wasser (German), make (English) vs. machen (German).
Effects on Dental Fricatives: Initial dental fricatives (like