The common linguistic bond that was formed between the Scandinavians and the Anglo-Saxons resulted in the first English epic ‘Beowulf’. However after the Vikings began to attack England the language and pronunciation of the Anglo-Saxons was significantly influenced by the invaders. The Scandinavian origin of words is easy to determine, this is because phonologically they have a different form to that of native English words. The old English mainly had a palatal g meaning words were pronounced ‘ǽg’ as opposed to the Scandinavian velar g in ‘egg’ how we still pronounce it in Present Day English. Similarly Old English sometimes had a palatal c whereas the Scandinavian form retained the velar k, so words like church were influenced by other languages as the Scandinavian word would be kirk.
The Scandinavian influence had an impact on place names around England;
-by (representing a farm or a town) in Whitby, Derby, Grimsby, Kirkby, Rugby.
-thorpe (which meant village) in Linthorp, Althorp.
-thwaite (which was indicative of an isolated piece of land) in Applethwaite, Braithwaute, Langthwaite.
-toft (meaning a piece of ground or homestead) in Eastoft, Lowestoft, Nortoft, Sandtoft.
Many family names or surnames contain Scandinavian elements, these may be names of places, Viking personalities, trades or occupations and Norse Gods, some examples include;
Appleby, Fotherby, Hislop, Thorpe, Willoughby.
Here we see a similar pattern to other Scandinavian words previously mentioned, such as the –by ending.
Other aspects of the English language were manipulated by this invasion, including suffixes amongst other lexical items;
The suffix –son (meaning the son of___) Thomson, Wilson, Patterson.
Nouns: bull, window, sky, kid, race, leg.
Adjectives: meek, odd, rotten, weak, tight.
Verbs: call, gape, take, give, thrust.
The second person singular form of the verb to be, i.e. are, was also taken from Old Norse.
Present English third person plural pronouns: they, them, their, these were also adopted from Old Norse, as the original native forms were respectively hie, hira, him.
Also the verb to take taka in Scandinavian, and so this is clear evidence of borrowing, as the Old English version niman.
Up until the invasion of the French, the Scandinavian influence ruled the English written and spoken language, however after the take over, the Scandinavian words began to die out, and were replaced by French words. It is during the 11th century when the French language began to influence English language and literature.
In 1066 when the Normans arrived in England, their influx had substantial consequences for England, its language and culture, up until this point in time English was an isolated language, which was hardly influenced. Contact with non-English speakers were either through religious activity (Latin), or through contact with the Norse invaders, who were now settled in the north and east. By 1400 Old English and Norman French fused together to create a new language, we know to be Middle English. The effects of this bilingual period, were French and English were spoken alongside one another, not only influenced vocabulary and speech, but also on grammar and the writing system, which was completely transformed.
Many of the Scandinavian words have since died out
Similarly to the Scandinavian loaning words, English has borrowed words from the French language; these words were often linked to partaking in new experiences and ways of life introduced by the Normans. Examples enriched by the French;
Government: parliament, chancellor, government, country, crown.
Finance: treasure, wage, poverty.
Law: attorney, jury, verdict.
War: army, siege.
Religion: miracle, charity, pardon.
Morality: virtue, patience, mercy.
Art, fashion, etc: apparel, design, tapestry.
Household Relationships: uncle, aunt, nephew.
The pronunciation of English changed to some extent under the influence of French, as did the spelling. For example, the Old English, and Scandinavian spellings cw, sc and c became qu, sh and ch, so we now write queen rather than cwen and ship rather than scip. English pronunciation owes a lot to French as well, whereas old English had the unvoiced fricative sounds /f/ /s/ /Ө/ for thin and /∫/ to produce words such as shin, French influence helped to distinguish the voiced counterparts /v/ /z/ / ð/ for the sound the and /dz/ as in mirage.
The enormous transference of French vocabulary unto English took place when French was dying out and people in Britain began to speak more English. By doing this 10,000 Norman French and Central French words were transferred into English, 75% of which are still in use today. English became a language of free stress and became more open to lexical borrowings.
The English language has had many foreign influences throughout the years, whether it be the Latin impact in the semantics of religious and education, or the Germanic settlers in the 5th century, English would not be what it is today without these heavy influence. Although, there is an overlap within the language barrier, I generally feel overall that it is apparent the French Language had a much more major influence on the English Language when compared to the Scandinavian influence, as many of the words died out and were changed by the Normans after the invasion. Although Scandinavian elements can still be seen within family surnames and place names, and even some words remaining in modern lexicon such as egg, skirt and the verb to take, it is clear that there are far more French words remaining in comparison, within the semantic field of war, government, fashion and law. Statistics show within the English language approximately 15,000 French words are still used, 7,500 of which are still used from the Norman occupation, when they first appeared in England.
Bibliography
Crystal, David, The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language 2nd edn. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002).
Baugh, Albert and Schelling, Felix, ‘Foreign Influences on Old English: The Scandinavian influence, The Viking age’ in A History of the English Language 2nd edn. (England: Routledge and Kegan Paul ltd, 1951). P.3 and p.86.
Tarun Tapas Mujherjee, 2007, ‘Scandinavian influence on the English Language’ in Guidance for studying English Literature <>
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Andrew Moore, 2000,’Scandinavian influences’ in Language change in English <>
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Dane Juric, 2003, The Influence of French on English In the Early Modern Period
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Laura Lawless, 2007, How French has influenced English
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N/A, 2006, The source of English Words
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Scandinavian place names (Crystal 2002:9)
Family names from www.teachit.co.uk/armoore/lang/languagechange.htm
Scandinavian place names (Crystal 2002: 9)
French Borrowings http://courses.nus.sg/course/elitankw/history/Vocab/D.htm