Tip 706: Celebrating a Language Shift

From the Communication Workshops: Celebrating a Language Shift

October 14th, 1066.

Nine hundred fifty-six years ago today.

About 5:30 in the afternoon.

The Battle of Hastings.  

The French-speaking army of William, Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror, defeats the Anglo-Saxon English-speaking army of King Harald Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England.

So for three hundred years after that afternoon, the conquerors spoke French. For those same three hundred year, the conquered spoke Anglo-Saxon English.

And the effect on the language continues today.

We talk about this in our writing workshops. Consider—

The people who ate the food spoke French: beef, pork, venison, mutton.

The people who raised the food spoke Anglo-Saxon English: cow, pig, deer, sheep.

Chicken is an outlier, but chicken has historically been a poor-people’s food. (It’s cheaper to raise chickens than it is to raise cattle.) The French word is poulet. When was the last time you went to KFP?

The change manifests in “doublet” phrases: two words together, usually meaning the same thing, but one from Anglo-Saxon English and one from French:  

Law and order
Cease and desist
Lord and master
Love and cherish
Ways and means

And the classic: Biff and Muffy play tennis and perspire. Bruno and Gus dig ditches and sweat. French. Anglo-Saxon English.

Fascinating stuff.

Today in history.

Today in language.