Discuss the Influence of French vocabulary on English
Language.
The conquest of England in 1066 by William of
Normandy was destined to have a profound impact on the life and language of the
English people as well, and as such that it changed the whole course of the
language. It is an interesting historical fact that the Normans were closely
related both to the English and their Scandinavian conquerors. The Scandinavian
invaders in England mingled with the Anglo-Saxons and the language that
resulted from the fusion was Teutonic to a high degree. But the Franks and the Scandinavians
who settled in Normandy adopted French, the language of the conquered people.
But it should be noted that at that time there was no standard French language;
there were only a number of dialects, descending from colloquial Latin. Among
them that of Normandy was one which was introduced into England after Norman
Conquest. Perhaps it is a psychological fact that the Normans wanted to be
called in by the terms of the conquered people in the highest level, that is,
king and queen, which are English. But the names of most of the officers of the
state and the names of the governing bodies and their activities are
French--chancellor, minister, state, government, parliament, assembly etc.
Again, as a result of feudalism and manorial
system which were imported from France, a number of words entered the English
vocabulary—fief, feudal, vassal. The native words lord, lady and earl remained
in esteem, but most of the designations of rank are French---prince, princess,
peer, duke, duchess, baron, etc. Moreover, sir, madam, master, mistress, were
introduced by the Normans.
After the Norman Conquest, French was the
language of the law courts for more than two centuries. The word law, of
course, had come from Scandinavians, but justice, jury, judge court and judicial
are all French. So too are bar, bill, bail, prison, act, council, custom,
money, rent, and so on.
