I was under the impression that most Latin words were introduced to the language much later than the Norman invasion.
English and intelligability with Germanic languages
<< I was under the impression that most Latin words were introduced to the language much later than the Norman invasion. >>
That is true: most Latin borrowings occurred during and around the Renaissance.
However, during the Middle Ages, when the English language asserted itself over French and began to emerge as the language of a burgeoning middle class, it emerged completely bankrupt in its ability to express the more refined aspects of culture and daily life (up till then English had been relegated to the language of peasants and the lower classes). English instead was forced to borrow words for these aspects from other languages (i.e. French), which was its most readily available source. No one remembered what the English terms for such things were.
Had William Duke of Normandy not eliminated the A.S. upper class, English today would not have as much French as it does.
People like to point out that English is rich in synonyms, especially tiered expressions such as "time" (A.S.), "age" (French) and "epoch" (Graeco-Roman), and this is true--it is. But Old English already HAD tiered synonomy WITHOUT borrowing from other languages (for instance, "atronomer" in O.E. could be rendered by "tunglere", "tungolwitega", "tidsceawend" or "tidymbwlatend"). Borrowing from another language is not a prerequisite for richness in language, but in English we seem to have convinced ourselves that it is.
That is true: most Latin borrowings occurred during and around the Renaissance.
However, during the Middle Ages, when the English language asserted itself over French and began to emerge as the language of a burgeoning middle class, it emerged completely bankrupt in its ability to express the more refined aspects of culture and daily life (up till then English had been relegated to the language of peasants and the lower classes). English instead was forced to borrow words for these aspects from other languages (i.e. French), which was its most readily available source. No one remembered what the English terms for such things were.
Had William Duke of Normandy not eliminated the A.S. upper class, English today would not have as much French as it does.
People like to point out that English is rich in synonyms, especially tiered expressions such as "time" (A.S.), "age" (French) and "epoch" (Graeco-Roman), and this is true--it is. But Old English already HAD tiered synonomy WITHOUT borrowing from other languages (for instance, "atronomer" in O.E. could be rendered by "tunglere", "tungolwitega", "tidsceawend" or "tidymbwlatend"). Borrowing from another language is not a prerequisite for richness in language, but in English we seem to have convinced ourselves that it is.