The victory of Norman troops on English soil in 1066 represented a critical moment for the little archipelago’s communicative history. When William the Conqueror was officially designated as the ruling King of England at Westminster Abbey, a distinctive shift in language use suddenly intensified; redefining cultural models that had been making meandering progress towards interpenetration since the period of Roman occupation. It was a catalyst that initiated the production of an early trilingual nation. The division of Post-Conquest England had a commanding influence in determining social restrictions and class structure: segregating French as the language of the elite and aristocracy, Latin for secular purposes, and the English set as the lowly people’s
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“Freeing itself from the ancient phonetic laws” (Bragg 343), the maturing language expanded its vocabulary to reflect the increased permeation of French and Latin, and altered its pronunciation of vowels and consonants. Furthermore, English did away with the use of inflection to communicate grammatical function and word order, along with gender articles for nouns and related words. Nevertheless, English retained its original Germanic sophistication and “remained the first language of the overwhelming majority of the population [within England]” (Thomas 135).That that majority were peasants in comparison to the occupying French overlords meant little to the development of English. The “language itself was a resistance movement, [as] it continued not only to be spoken but to evolve, despite the heavy hand of Norman French” (Bragg 53). The loss of status did not provide the coup de grâce to Old English that was expected, but rather allowed it to develop underground, as the language of the people. The English population still represented a majority, and despite 85% of Old English vocabulary being “lost as a result of [Norman] defeat”
“Freeing itself from the ancient phonetic laws” (Bragg 343), the maturing language expanded its vocabulary to reflect the increased permeation of French and Latin, and altered its pronunciation of vowels and consonants. Furthermore, English did away with the use of inflection to communicate grammatical function and word order, along with gender articles for nouns and related words. Nevertheless, English retained its original Germanic sophistication and “remained the first language of the overwhelming majority of the population [within England]” (Thomas 135).That that majority were peasants in comparison to the occupying French overlords meant little to the development of English. The “language itself was a resistance movement, [as] it continued not only to be spoken but to evolve, despite the heavy hand of Norman French” (Bragg 53). The loss of status did not provide the coup de grâce to Old English that was expected, but rather allowed it to develop underground, as the language of the people. The English population still represented a majority, and despite 85% of Old English vocabulary being “lost as a result of [Norman] defeat”