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Well here i go again asking a pondering question that i have but we have some darn good and intellegent posters on the History Forum here so i was wondering???
Is today's English which is the Worlds ''official'' language as its spoken all around the world in about every country officially and/or unoffically and is the language of all Airline Pilots flying around the world and its even on signs in China, Russia, Saudi Arabia and most other countries where you'll see their official language written then just underneath it is written in English.
When when you look at Old English it's very hard to understand as it looks like Danish or Scandanavian etc....but when you look at Anglo/Norman or Middle English as it's known it looks very simular to today's Modern English spoken around the world.
So after he conquered the Anglo/Saxons and the mixings of his Norman language with the Anglo/Saxon language back in 1066 A.D. did William the Conqueror create the foundations of today's world wide dominate language known as ''Modern English''. To think Anglo/Norman or Middle English possibly started in a small farming town (Hastings) in Southern England in 1066 and morphed its way to the present day world language is astounding if i'm correct on this.
Anythoughts !!
Last edited by Six Foot Three; 06-22-2008 at 11:04 AM..
Reason: Changes !! 6/3
The social mixing of Danes and Anglo-Saxons led to the simplified grammar that makes English easy to learn, it seems to me the French influence changed vocabulary not grammar and I think grammar is harder to learn then vocabulary.
So maybe we have fellas like Guthram to thank, not William.
There's a remote series called "The Story of English" that aired many years back on PBS.
Don't know if they still have it in their library. I caught parts of it and found it to be extremely fascinating. I remember one of the main reasons for its survival was its maleability and unique capacity to absorb many words from other world languages, unlike most tongues.
Thanks for this thread, and thanks yeledaf for the link, I learned something today, I didnt know what origin the Angles had come from, and how the Celts and Gaels had to "Angelisise"(sp?) their surnames to be accepted in the England realm or rule. I knew Latin was used predominantly, but what language was used by the Egyptians? And in Jerusalem? Ogham writing? Also, if Africa is the place known as the oldest human occupation area, then does anyone know what language they would have spoken? I took that test Yankee or Dixie, and the result was 58%Dixie, and I have never lived in the south. Made me wonder what the other 42% was, (probably redneck,lol).
William the Conqueror spoke French, as did all English royals and most nobles to follow him until the 15th Century. I think the first English king who spoke English as a native tongue was Edward who ascended to the throne around 1400 - about the same amount of time between his life and William as we have between us and Washington.
The common people still spoke English, but the noble class typically did not.
William the Conqueror spoke French, as did all English royals and most nobles to follow him until the 15th Century. I think the first English king who spoke English as a native tongue was Edward who ascended to the throne around 1400 - about the same amount of time between his life and William as we have between us and Washington.
The common people still spoke English, but the noble class typically did not.
Quite true. But eventually, in contrast to what you would think would happen, the upper crust adopted the language of the common people and with that French disapeared from England. Of course, it left its indelible mark in vocabulary as someone else pointed out.
This resulted in often having two words for one thing, one French in origin, the other Germanic:
Porc (French)- Pork
Schwein (German)- Swine
A good book to read on this is Bill Bryson's, "Mother Tongue."
I have to ask , was William the Conquerer also known as William the Basturd? (pardon my french).
I understand he came from Normandy, therefore labeled "Norman" right? and Normandy was a part of France that was then known as Gaul, yes? or oui? So those are the "Franks"? Wasnt it also known as Flanders? "Baldwin of Flanders" for example? And he or the successors were also the Kings of Jerusalem? or am I wrong? I am trying to make sense of what I have read about the history. I know that all who were persecuted, fled to Flanders for safety. So rather than Normandy Normans, they were Franks from Flanders? Gaul, a safe harbor for those who had to flee from their homelands for safety? I sure do need an education, and I sure wish I could have afforded it. Sorry to have to ask.
I thought William spoke Norman??? As the Vikings settled in Normandy in Northern France in 911 under Rollo who was and spoke Danish and within the next 150 years the Danes mixed with the Franks in the Normandy area which evolved into the Norman language by the time William invaded England in 1066 correct??
I have to ask , was William the Conquerer also known as William the Basturd? (pardon my french).
I understand he came from Normandy, therefore labeled "Norman" right? and Normandy was a part of France that was then known as Gaul, yes? or oui? So those are the "Franks"? Wasnt it also known as Flanders? "Baldwin of Flanders" for example? And he or the successors were also the Kings of Jerusalem? or am I wrong? I am trying to make sense of what I have read about the history. I know that all who were persecuted, fled to Flanders for safety. So rather than Normandy Normans, they were Franks from Flanders? Gaul, a safe harbor for those who had to flee from their homelands for safety? I sure do need an education, and I sure wish I could have afforded it. Sorry to have to ask.
Gaul was what the Romans called large parts of what's now France, mainly because the Romans called Celts "Gauls". By the Middle Ages the Celts and Romans are long gone.
The Franks were a German nation that took over most of Gaul, thus France.
The Normans were a distinct form of Frenchman descended from Northmen who settled in the area subsequently called Normandy. The Normans besides spreading to England also spread to Ireland, Scotland, Italy and Sicily. Also a great number of the early Crusaders were Normans, both from Normandy itself and Italy.
A great many Bretons were in William's army that invaded England. Bretons are a long story.
The Moslems in western Asia used "Frank" as a generic term for all western European Christians.
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