2. Effects on the Language.

Celtic languages.

Different forms of the Celtic languages developed over time and still survive in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Cornwall. The forms spoken today in Ireland and Scotland are known as Gaelic .Irish literature began to be written down in the 6^th century and contains stories of earlier heroes. At this time language spread from Ireland to Scotland, where it developed independently. The Welsh and Cornish languages are similar to Breton, the Celtic language of north-west France. The Celtic language also survived in England in the names of many places and rivers. Dover and Kent and the rivers Thames and Severn are all names derived from Celtic words.

The diversity of dialects. Roman influence on the Language.

The use of a foreign tongue as the state language, the diversity of the dialects and the decline of the written form of English created a situation extremely favorable for increased variation and for more intensive linguistic change.

The regional M.E. dialects had developed from respective OE dialects. With these reservations the following dialect groups can be distinguished in Early M.E.

The Southern group included the Kentish and the South-Western dialects. Kentish was a direct descendant of the O.E. Saxon dialects, - not only West Saxon, but also East Saxon. The East Saxon dialect was not prominent in OE but became more important in Early M.E., since it made the basis of the dialect of London in the 12^th and 13^th c. Among the dialects of this group the Gloucestes dialect and the London dialect may be mentioned.

The group of Midland (‘Central’) dialect – corresponding to the OE Mercian dialect – is divided into West Midland and East Midland as two main areas, with further subdivisions within: South-East midland and North-East Midland, South-west Midland and North-West Midland. In M.E. the Midland area became more diversified linguistically than the OE Mercian kingdom occupying 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 dialect had developed from OE Northumbrian. In Early M.E. the Northern dialects included several provincial dialects, e.g. the Yorkshire and the Lancashire dialects, and also what later became known as Scottish.

The victorious Normans made up the new aristocracy and the Anglo-Saxon people became their servants. The Norman aristocracy spoke a Norman dialect of French, a tongue of Latin origin, while the Anglo-Saxon spoke English, a tongue of Germanic origin. Thus there were two different languages spoken in the country at the same time. Norman-French became the official language of the state. It was the language of the ruling class spoken at court, all official documents were written in French or Latin. But peasants and townspeople spoke English. The Normans could not subdue the popular language that was spoken by the majority of the population. Many of them married Anglo-Saxon wives and in a few generations the descendants of the Normans who had come with William the Conqueror learned to speak the mother tongue of the common people of England.

English became the language of the educated class and the official language of the state. This was the gradual process. At the time when the two languages were spoken side by side the Anglo-Saxon learned many French words and expressions either to name a new notion that didn’t exist or to become the synonym.

Words of Germanic origin make up the basic vocabulary of Modern English. But there were no English words to describe the more complicated feudal relations, many words were adopted from the French language : such words as noble, baron, serve, command, obey; or words relating to administration and law, such as charter, council, accuse, court, crime; or such military terms as arms, troops, guard, navy, battle, victory etc. Gradually the Normans mixed with the Anglo-Saxons and the Danes and from this mixture the English nation finally emerged.