High and Low English, A Legacy of Hastings
Jean Sexton Writes:
Have you ever wondered why we eat "beef", but raise cows? Or have you questioned why we dine on "pork" and wrinkle our noses at the smell of pigs?
The answers lie back on this day in 1066, when William the Conqueror and the Normans defeated the English (then known as Saxons) in the Battle of Hastings.
Anglo-Saxon-based Old English was the language of England and Old French was spoken in France. Now the world was turned topsy-turvy. The French ruled England and the nobility needed to speak the language of the winners.
Most of the time, when people choose to emulate someone, they choose to copy people in a higher social strata. So the nobility dined on buef, porc, mouton, and venison (our beef, pork, mutton, and venison). Peasants raised cou, picga (or pigge), and sceap (or sheep), while der lived in the wodes (the nobility hunted in the forest).
As you can see, a military action (the Battle of Hastings) had a great and lasting influence on our culture and speech. Thanks to that battle, we have a language that is rich in word choice (forest/woods, royal/kingly, honor/worth, and mansion/house, for example).
Who would ever have expected October 14, 1066 to be so important?
Have you ever wondered why we eat "beef", but raise cows? Or have you questioned why we dine on "pork" and wrinkle our noses at the smell of pigs?
The answers lie back on this day in 1066, when William the Conqueror and the Normans defeated the English (then known as Saxons) in the Battle of Hastings.
Anglo-Saxon-based Old English was the language of England and Old French was spoken in France. Now the world was turned topsy-turvy. The French ruled England and the nobility needed to speak the language of the winners.
Most of the time, when people choose to emulate someone, they choose to copy people in a higher social strata. So the nobility dined on buef, porc, mouton, and venison (our beef, pork, mutton, and venison). Peasants raised cou, picga (or pigge), and sceap (or sheep), while der lived in the wodes (the nobility hunted in the forest).
As you can see, a military action (the Battle of Hastings) had a great and lasting influence on our culture and speech. Thanks to that battle, we have a language that is rich in word choice (forest/woods, royal/kingly, honor/worth, and mansion/house, for example).
Who would ever have expected October 14, 1066 to be so important?
posted by Federation Commander at 6:00 PM
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