The french influence hypothesis

The french influence hypothesis

Irene Jiménez Ramírez

start

INDEX

1. Introduction

2. Historical context

3. Language contact

4. The process of creolization

5. Evidence of the influence of French in M.E

6. Problems with this hypothesis

7. My personal conclusion

INTRODUCTION

The Old Celtic influence hypothesis

The change from Old English to Middle English was so impressive that linguists have proposed diffetent hypotheses about its origins.

This perspective suggests that Middle English was shaped by language contact with Celtic laguages spoken by the native Britons.

The old Norse influence hypothesis

The old French influence hypothesis

This theory argues that Middle English developed largely due to contact with Old Norse- speaking Vikings. Vikings settlements gave rise to a significant number of lexical borrowings and grammar simplification

This hypothesis argues that Middle English was heavily influenced by French. This proposal was primarily defended by Bailey.

Historical context

1. Death of King Edward the Confessor on 5th January 1066 .

the king died childless

Succession crisis

PROBLEM

Three claimants to the throne

History Vids. (2015, May 29). The Battle of Hastings in 90 Seconds [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIKUzaliy1c

William of Normandy.

Harald Hardrada

Harold of Godwinson

on 25th September, 1066 On 14th October, 1066

Stamford Bridge battle.

Battle of Hastings

Language contact.

Which of these words are from French?

This concept refers to the linguistic process in which speakers of different languages interact with each other, leading to an exchange of linguistic features. Language contact is a crucial factor in language change.

After the Norman Conquest

French

English

In some cases, language contact might result in a process of creolization.

This passage is from the Earl of Surrey

The process of creolisation

this pidgin has developed a sophisticated structure and vocabulary and it is expanded to a wider range of domains.

Expanded pidgin

Some linguists argue that creoles emerged from pidgins. A pidgin is a type of lingua franca that arises when a group of people who do not speak the same language interact with each other. The necessity of communicating resulted in the creation of a pidgin language.

A language that evolved from pidgins and became the first language of a speech community.

Creole

Researcher differentiated three types of pidgin based on their complexity and development:

Pidgins and Creoles are linguistic consequences of war, colonization, trade and slavery.

this type of pidgin has an unstable structure and a limited vocabulary which is normally augmented by gestures.

Jargon

this pidgin has a recognisable structure and a moderately developed vocabulary but it is limited to a few domains, such as workplace.

Stable pidgin

Is Middle English a creole language?

Bailey and Maroldt claimed that Middle English was a creole. They regarded the Norman rule as colonization, which was one of the factors contributing to the origin of pidgins and creoles.

Both researchers considered that the superstrate, French, served as the basis for the creole. They based their hypothesis on the high percentage of English lexicon, syntax, and phonology.

Superstrate

French

English

Substrate

French lexical influence on Middle English.

The influence of French was most evident in the lexicon. In accordance with Bailey and Maroldt the 40% of the lexis in Middle English derived from French. As this language was spoken by the upper classes, many loan words are related to this sphere.

French Grammar influence on Middle English.

French

English

“Of” possessive structure:

Possessum + de + Possessor

Possessum + of + Possessor

Myers (2009, p. 62) suggests that Old French may have contributed to the expansion of the English genitive, promoting its usage in contexts where the s-genitive had already been employed in earlier forms of English.

“Lord of lyfe

Fille ad un conpta de Rome

the daughter of a count in Rome

Middle English also adopted this structure from Old French

Béroul, Tristan: 142-175. (s/f). Utexas.edu. Recuperado el 20 de marzo de 2025, de https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/ofrol/50

The periphrastic Comparative construction

This term refers to a multi- word which contributes to the formation of the comparative form. For example, in present- day English: “Mary is more intelligent than John”. Thus, using the multi- word “more” avoids the need of an inflection. Middle English adopted this structure from French.

Sir John Suckling’s poetry

Relative pronouns

In O.E, relative constructions were constructed by using the "þe" and the demonstratives (se-seo-ðæt). However, in Middle English, the relative constructions were formed by means of the interrogative pronouns as in French.

French Phonetic Influence in Middle English

French loanwords introduced /ʒ/

The influence of French affected to the pronunciation of English words, causing alterations in the articulation of certain sounds.

This phonetic feature was introduced by means of French loanwords into Middle English. (“Measure”). Nowadays, we can find it in words such as leisure, pleasure and treasure.

Contrast between the sound /f/ and /v/

At first, in OE, these two fricative sounds were not distinguished. Moreover, they did not appear in initial position.

wīf ("wife") → /wiːf/ wīfes ("wife’s") → /wiːvɛs/

These two features started to be differentiated after the Norman Conquest with the French influence.

Furthermore, they also were used in initial position.

virtue (from Old French vertu) voice (from Old French vois) vein (from Old French veine) view (from Old French vue)

Problems with Baley's hypothesis

My personal conclusion

At first, I thought that Bailey’s theory made sense because of these three factors: - We have a Norman invasion - We have a superstrate language and a substrate language. - I compared this context to the slavery and plantations context. However, it is true that upper and lower classes did not interact with each other, thus in this context a creole cannot develop. Furthermore, throughout the time, this variety of French became completely different from the French spoken in France because of the English influence. Personally, I believe that this might be a change from above to below because the prestigious language change because of the stigmatized one.

Critics argue that the Norman French elite and the English-speaking majority were largely socially separated, with French mainly used in administration and law, not every day communication. By the late 14th century, French influence was declining, and English was regaining dominance. If creolization had taken place, we would expect more grammatical changes, but this was limited.

References:

Badawi, W. S. (2023). The French phonetic impact on English. JOURNAL OF LANGUAGE STUDIES, 6(3, 2), 14–30. https://doi.org/10.25130/jls.6.3.2.2 Béroul, Tristan: 142-175. (s/f). Utexas.edu. Recuperado el 20 de marzo de 2025, de https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/ofrol/50 Durian, D. (2011). Rajend Mesthrie, Joan Swann, Ana Deumert, & William Leap. Introducing sociolinguistics. 2nd edition. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2009 Fisiak, J. (Ed.). (1995). Linguistic Change under Contact Conditions. De Gruyter Mouton. Grammatical changes in the middle English period. (s/f). Tutorhunt.com. Recuperado el 20 de marzo de 2025, de https://www.tutorhunt.com/resource/6609/ Randle, J. (1981). Understanding Britain: History of the British people and their culture. Blackwell. The French influence on the Middle English expression of possession Charlotte Grace Chambers. (s/f).

THANKS for your attention

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