system of OE vowels in the 9 th and 10 th c. consisted of seven short and long phonemes and of four short and long diphthongs.
Short vowels: i, e, u, o, a,, y.
Long vowels: i, e, u, o, a,, y.
Short diphthongs: ea, eo, io, ie.
Long diphthongs: ea, eo, io, ie.
The OE consonant system consists of the following sounds: labial - p, b, m, f, v; dental - t, d,,, n, s, r, l, velar - c,, h. The letter x is used instead of the group cs. br/>
9. The Norman Conquest.
The Norman conquest of England began in 1066. It proved to be a turning-point in English history and had a considerable influence on the English language. The Normans were by origin (за походженням) a Scandinavian tribe. In the 9 th c. they began inroads (набіг) on the northern coast of France and occupied the territory on both shores of the Seine estuary. Under a treaty (угода) concluded in 912 with the Norman chief Rollo, the French king Charles the Simple ceded (поступатися) to the Normans this stretch of the coast, which since then came to be called Normandy. During the century and a half between the Normans 'settlement in France and their invasion (вторгнення) of England they had undergone a powerful influence of French culture. Mixing with the local population, they adopted (приймати) the French language and in the mid-eleventh century, in spite of their Scandinavian origin, they were bearers (носії) of French feudal culture and of the French language.
In 1066 king Edward the Confessor died. William, Duke of Normandy, landed in England, and routed the English troops under King Harold near Hasting on October 14, 1066. The Normans became masters of England. The ruling class of Anglo-Saxon nobility (дворянство) vanished almost completely. The nobility was replaced by Norman barons, who spoke French, namely, its Norman dialect. Thus, as a result of the conquest England came to be ruled by a foreign ruling class.
William confiscated the estates of the Anglo- Saxon nobility and distributed them among the Norman barons. Frenchmen arrived in England in great numbers. Among them were merchants, soldiers, teachers, seeking for a new field of activity. During the reign of William the Conqueror (1066 - 1087) about 200000 Frenchmen settled in England. This influx (наплив) lasted about two centuries. p> During several centuries the ruling language in England was French. It was the language of the court (двір), the government, the courts of law (суд), and the church; the English language was reduced to a lower social sphere: the main mass of peasantry (селянство) and townspeople. French was the language of the ruling class. br/>
10. The rise of London dialect and the formation of the National Language.
In the course of the 15th century the London literary language gradually spread all over the country, superseding local dialects. Spoken English in various parts of Britain gradually approaches the literary norm, and differences between the norm and popular speech tend to become obliterated.
London documents of the former half of the 15th century are poems by Thomas Occleve (Hoccleve), official London papers, and also official documents from other towns. The literary language is also found in letters written by kings, queens, ministers, and other officials.
The formation of a national language was greatly forsed by two events of the late 15th century.
The most significant event of the period was the War of Roses (1455 - 1485), which marked the decay of feudalism and the birth of a new social order - an absolute monarchy.
Another great event was the introduction of printing. Printing was invented in Mayence (Germany) by Johann Gutenberg in 1438. From Mayence printing spread to Strasburg, then to Italy and to the Netherlands. The englishman William Caxton (1422 - 1491) published the First English printed book, The Recuyeil of the Histories of Troy. Then he founded the first English printing office in London in 1476, and in 1477 appeared the first book to be printed in England, namely, The Dictes and Sayings of the Philosophers . The spread of printed books was bound to foster the normalization of spelling and also of grammatical forms.
Printed books was a first-rate factor in fixing spellings and grammar. p> Social changes of the 16th century created the conditions for a great cultural progress and the growth of a national literature. The 16th century was a time of great literary achievement. The early poetical works of Wyatt and Surrey were followed by the The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599), and the 80s and 90s witness the rise of a great number of dramatists. The greatest of these was William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616). His contemporaries were Christopher Marlowe (1564 - 1593), Benjam...
