Old English has often been described as a Verb Second (V2) language,i.e.as a language like modern German or Dutch in which the finite verb immediately follows the initial constituent.The characteristic property of a V2 language is the inversion of the subject and the finite verb in clauses in which a non-subject constituent occupies the initial position.Such inversion can be indeed be frequently found in OE.However,the V2 syntax of Old English is not as systematic as that found in Modern Germanic languages. For example, except in a small number of
contexts (e.g.interrogative), pronominal subjects generally do not invert with the
finite verb when some other constituent occurs clause-initially,thereby giving rise to Verb Third orders.But also with non-pronominal subjects,subject-verb inversion with an initial non-subject constituent is not obligatory even though it is the more frequently used option in OE texts than non-inversion.The situation in Early Middle English(EME) is comparable to that in OE.
Although OE and EME may thus not be considered as V2 languages on a par with modern Germanic languages,it remains nevertheless true that they feature productive subject-verb inversion patterns that cannot be found in Modern English any more. The main period that has been identified for the loss of this productive
inversion grammar is the second half of the Middle English period. In most texts
from this period, we can indeed observe a considerable increase in “XP-SU-V”
orders at the expense of “XP-V-SU”orders.The issue that has drown most attention
in the literature in this connection is the question why subject-verb inversion declines in the Late Middle English (LME) period.However,the developments in
LME raise several other questions that have remained without satisfactory answers so far:
Whereas the overall trend in LME is a substantial decrease in subject-verb inversion as compared to OE/EME,we can observe the opposite development in clauses with pronominal subjects.Inversion with subject pronouns was virtually absent in certain contexts in OE/EME,but in later ME we can suddenly observe an increase in inversion in these contexts.
In their popular history of the English language,Baugh and Cable rightly observe
“that the upper classes should have set the standard in fashion and dress is so obvious an assumption that the number of French words belonging to this class occasions no surprise”.The question of the standardization of English in the Middle English period is still discussed by scholars.There is no variety of English that can be seen to be fully elaborated and it is only by considering the shift in the range of the functions of the variety which took place during the Middle Ages that we can analyze attitudes to English in this period.Following the Conquest and increasingly through the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,the number of Anglo-French and later Continental French terms representing textiles,items of clothing and other accoutrement imported into Middle English went hand-in- hand with
evolving attitudes towards language and fasion practices and economics.
Advanced L2 users make some errors with grammatical gender,and with constructions involving null arguments. Balanced bilingual speakers, however, are usually able to keep the grammatical systems of their two languages separate, using gender marking almost entirely consistently when acquiring French. In
this study we attempt to evaluate the competence of later Anglo-Norman administrative prose writers on null impersonal subjects and noun gender agreement, in order to assess whether a profile of balanced bilinguals or of advanced L2 users is more appropriate. We have sought evidence from Anglo-Norman petitions dating from the end of the 13th century to the 1430s. This data source is now available in a machine-readable corpus, is fairly homogenous in style, making diachronic change more salient, and was produced by Anglo-Norman users whose competence in French needed to be of a very high order for them to perform their duties as royal government clerks.Old French impersonal verbs such as co(n)venir,which expressed obligation, often involved an impersonal null subject, with the dative or the accusative case used to mark the role of the person on whom the obligation rests. In psycholinguistic terms, their grammatical knowledge would have been stored and processed in such a way that it was not influenced by English. Their competence in French was thus that of a balanced bilingual, at least in the respects investigated in this study. By the late C14, that was plainly no longer the case: their competence in French appears to have been more at the level of an advanced, but not nativelike, L2 learner who was to an extent influenced by English.Up to that period, the most expert users of French, at least, seem to have been balanced bilinguals, whereas after it they were not. This outcome suggests that a significant change took place in the circumstances in which French was transmitted in England in the second half of the C14, such that balanced bilingual users became extinct.
The French Influence on English Phrasing.
Aside from borrowing and word formation,French considerably influenced Eng phrasing. While A. Prins dates the peak of this influence to late ME,Nevalainen points out that it continues to be felt in EModE. The loan translations range from polite turns of speech,such as at your service,do me the favour,to engage somebody in a quarrel, to make (later: pay) a visit, to idiomatic phrases like by occasion, in detail, in favour of, in the last resort, in particular, to the contrary.
Though the number of French loans in the EModE period is relatively minor in comparison to M.E, the contribution is most important.The EModE French loans
were primarily borrowed to provide richness to the language.Whilst it was arguable during the Restoration whether the loans were corrupting or enriching the language, today there is no doubt or disputable grounds to argue that the loans did anything but enrich the English language
CONCLUSION.
Since the Norman Conquest in 1066 the French language became more and more important. The Normans (North-man) were descendants of the Danes and spoke French influenced by a Germanic dialect. They inhabited some parts in the north of France and adapted not only to the language, but also to the French culture. They had a talent for building churches, cathedrals, castles and proved the English their rank of military quality.
Yet, that does not mean the English culture was inferior to the French one. The Anglo- Saxons were excellent writers, artists and craftsmen. They did not lack in civilization. “French became the language of the upper classes in England simply because it was the language of the conquerors, not because of any cultural superiority on their part.”By this time, the French and English language existed side by side and French took over to be the language of the court and “royalty
of England throughout the twelfth,thirteenth and (diminishingly) fourteenth centuries.”The kings of England spoke French, took French wives and lived mostly in France. The Normans became the new upper class. They dominated all high positions like the church, education, aristocracy, administration etc.. So, many other people, particularly among the gentry whose native language was English had to acquire French, if they “wanted to get on in the world.”
Although there were more common people holding on to their mother tongue than noblemen speaking French, English was on a decline, as the French language had its prestige in the most important ranks.The character of the words now borrowed,the objects and ideas they denoted,are full of significance for England’s early history. This period is one of the most important stages in the development of the English language. "It marks the transition between English as a typologically ′Old Germanic′ language and English of the type familiar to us."The Norman Conquest in 1066 and hence the French influence play a major role in this development.More clearly,French considerably influenced the vocabulary,the morphology and the phonolgy of the English language.
However, in order to be able to understand the changes in Middle English, it is undispensable to know about the historical events namely the Norman Conquest which led to these changes. As the French influence hardly affected the English grammar,I only considered the changes in the vocabulary.I also briefly referred to other language borrowings to show that the French influence was not the only one, but the most effective in the period of great change – the Middle English. Lastly, in my conclusion I summarized my results.