In 1362 the English language became the language of the Parliament, courts of law and at the end of the century - the language of teaching.

King Henry IV (1399 – 1413) was the first king after the conquest whose native tongue was English.

The 300 years of French domination affected English greatly. The early French borrowings reflect the spheres of Norman influence upon English life. Late borrowings are attributed to the cultural, economic and political contacts between the countries. New words, coming from French, were not adopted simultaneously by all English speakers. They were first used in some varieties (in dialects of Southern England). This resulted in growing dialectal differences.

Early Middle English Dialects

The regional ME dialects developed from OE dialects. The following dialect groups are distinguished in Early ME:

The Southern group

 the Kentish dialect (extended its area)

 the South – Western dialect (a continuation of the OE Saxon dialects but not only West Saxon but also East Saxon. The East Saxon dialect was not prominent in OE but it became very important in Early ME and it made the basis of the dialect of London in the 12-th and the 13-th centuries.

The group of Midland (Central) dialects – corresponding to the OE Mercian dialect

 West Midland

 East midland

In ME the Midland area became more diversified linguistically than the OE Mercian kingdom. But it occupied approximately the same territory: from the Thames in the South to the Welsh-speaking area in the west and up north to the river Humber.

The Northern dialects developed from OE Northumbrian. In Early ME the Northern dialects included several provincial dialects (Yorkshire, Lancashire) and also what later became known as Scottish.

In Early ME, while the state language and the main language of literature was French, the local dialects were relatively equal. In Late ME, when English had been reestablished as the main language of administration and writing, the London dialect prevailed over the others.

The Rise of the London Dialect

The history of London goes back to the Roman period. Even in OE times London was the biggest town in Britain, although the capital of Wessex (the main OE kingdom) was Winchester. The capital was transferred to London a few years before the Norman Conquest.

The early ME records made in London (beginning with the Proclamation of 1258) show that the dialect of London was fundamentally East Saxon. In terms of the ME division it belonged to the South-Western dialect group. Later records indicate that the speech of London was becoming more mixed and East Midland features prevailed over the Southern features. Most of the people who came to London after 1/3 of population of Britain died in the epidemics in the middle of the 14-th century were from East Midlands. So Londoners’ speech became close to the East Midland dialect. The documents produced in London in late 14-th century show obvious East Midland features. The mixed dialect of London extended to two universities: Oxford and Cambridge and it ousted French from official spheres and from writing.