How English Lost (and Regained) Its Status
The English language almost completely lost its status as a prestigious and powerful language after the year 1066. The process of returning to the position of a language fit for governance and intellectual exchange took about two centuries and is reflected in the current version of the language in various ways. One of these is the distinction between words of Norman-French and Old English origin that are used in the same context.
After the conquest, Norman-French and Latin were the languages of government and, to some extent, the culture, leaving English to be used by the less educated majority. It took until 1399 for another English king to be crowned and for the language to regain its former prestige. The legacy of the language’s second-class status is still visible in the English vocabulary through the contrast between words designating food items and the animals from which they are produced. French words, such as beef, mutton, and pork, came to English with the Norman-French aristocracy, while the words for the animals themselves, cow, sheep, and pig, are of Old English origin.
The revival of the English language began in the late 14th century and was facilitated by events such as the Hundred Years’ War and prominent writers such as Chaucer, who expressed patriotism and chose English for their works. Still, the creation of official, or biblical English, lagged considerably in the minds of the general public. While it is commonly believed that prior to the late 15th century, biblical texts were not translated into English, this is not entirely accurate. There were several Old English manuscripts dating back to Bede’s time and later translated by Aldhelm and Ælfric. The link between heresy and English biblicism, however, meant that the publication of the first complete late-14th-century English Bible was met with suspicion and was prohibited by law in 1409. The ban was lifted in 1539 when the English Great Bible was ordered to be placed in every parish church.
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