Early Middle English (1100-1300)

Early Middle English (1100-1300)

The period of Early Middle English, which commenced in 1066 with the Norman Conquest, was significantly impacted by the French language. The Normans introduced numerous French words that gradually replaced their Old English counterparts, a process referred to as Normalization.

One of the prominent transformations occurred in the realm of law and government vocabulary. Many Old English terms associated with these concepts were substituted with their French equivalents. For instance, the Old English word for a king, cyning or cyng, was replaced by the Norman term we employ today, king.

Furthermore, the Norman Conquest influenced the grammar of Old English. The inflectional system began to deteriorate, resulting in the loss of word endings. This Scandinavian influence contributed to a simpler and more regular English vocabulary.

It was during this period that the English language, and more specifically, English grammar, started evolving with particular attention to syntax. The syntax is “the arrangement of words and phrases to create well-formed sentences in a language,” and we find that while the British government and its wealthy citizens Anglicised the language, Norman and French influences remained the dominant language until the 14th century.

An interesting fact to note is that this period has been attributed to the loss of case endings that ultimately resulted in inflection markers being replaced by more complex features of the language. Case endings are “a suffix on an inflected noun, pronoun, or adjective that indicates its grammatical function.”