چکیده:
English, like all languages in the world, has changed through its history. Some
of its changes are due to the natural process of change which all languages pass
through, and some others have come about as a result of language contact.
Foreign influences on English are so great that they have changed English from
an almost pure language to a completely mixed one. The language which has had
the most penetrating influence on English is French. The Normans’ invasion put
the native inhabitants of the country in direct contact with the language of the
invaders, Norman French. In this article, first, the socio-historical situation
of England under Norman Kings, which gave rise to this language change, is
investigated, and then the French influence on different components of the
English language is presented.
خلاصه ماشینی:
In this article, first, the socio-historical situation of England under Norman Kings, which gave rise to this language change, is investigated, and then the French influence on different components of the English language is presented.
__________________________________ *- (تاریخ وصول28/2/81 تایید نهایی1/2/82) **- Lecturer of Tarbeyat moallem University Socio- historical situation It shouldn’t be supposed that the French influence on the English language started with the Norman conquest.
It is also necessary to mention that among the words which the English language has borrowed some have become obsolete in their native country, some consonants have been dropped and the sounds of some others have been changed.
Baugh (1963) states "The total number of French words adopted during Middle English was slightly over 10000 of these about 75 percent are still in common use" (p.
Under the influence of spelling, some of the French loan words with initial [h] were pronounced with or without /h/ in Middle English.
Later Borrowings French influence on the English language is not restricted to the two or three centuries after the Norman Conquest.
English has always borrowed from French but the number of the loan words has not been so great as in the Middle English period.
The other reason for this phenomenon, which is not less important, is the fact that the French loan words up to 1650 were thoroughly naturalized and conformed to the rules of the English pronunciation and accent, while in the later borrowings (unless they have become very popular) an attempt is made to pronounce them in the French fashion.