THE

ADVENTU
RE OF
ENGLISH
NORMAN INVASION
After the Norman invasion in 1066, Normans adopted French as their
language. For the next three centuries all the kings of England spoke French.
The English language was spoken only by the “common” people.

That is one of the reasons that there are so many loanwords of French origin
in English. Most French words that came into the language became
anglicized both in accent and pronunciation
(table, aunt, dinner, cow, bull, ox, sheep, pig, calf, deer).
OLD ENGLISH
Old English eventually changed and developed.

Grammar was becoming simpler, more plurals were being formed,

prepositions were performing the function of the old word endings and
word order was more fixed.
NORMAN
FRENCH
Within 20 years of invasion almost all the religious houses were
under French speaking superiors.

English people started to learn French in order to gain

advantages from the aristocracy.
Even barons learned English which helped them to communicate
with local communities.
FRENCH
INFLUENCE
French influence became increasingly evident in English manuscripts of the
13th century.

It has been estimated that 10 000 French words came into English at that
time. These words were connected with the mechanisms of law and
administration, but they also included words from such fields as medicine,
art, and fashion.
GRADUAL
REVIVAL OF
ENGLISH
English literature began to reappear around 12 th century when the changing
political climate and the decline of Anglo-Normanism became more important.

At the end of the thirteenth century, even the royal court began to use English.
 In 1258 Henry IV., the first king after the Norman
Conquest, delivered a public speech in English

REVIVAL OF
GRADUAL
ENGLISH
In 1362 the opening speech of the Parliamentary
session was in English

Since 1362 under the rule of King Edward III., courts

of law conducted their business in English, but laws
continued to be written in French, court records were
made in Latin

1483 French stopped being used in Parliamentary

proceedings

In the end of the 14th century English regained its

status as the first language of the country
Geoffrey Chaucer recognized the richness and potential
of the English language and wrote his masterpiece,
Canterbury Tales.
SOURCES:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=TJ15m59sFrw
THANK YOU FOR
YOUR ATTENTION