geoffreycaveney's Middle English theory

[geoffreycaveney]

To help explain the apparent trilingual nature of this line of text, as far as one can make sense of it, the following brief summary of "Trilingualism in Medieval England" may be helpful. David Jackson has already commented in this thread on much of this linguistic dynamic among the late medieval English nobility and upper classes.

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"Trilingualism in Medieval England[You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.]

"Much of the earliest recorded You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. is in fact Anglo-Norman French. In Northern You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. at that time,[You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.] almost nothing was being recorded in the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. because You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. was the language of the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and consequently of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. and You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., and was thus used for the purpose of records. Latin also remained in use in medieval England by the Church, the royal government and much local administration, as it had been before 1066, in parallel with You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.. The early[You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.] adoption of Anglo-Norman as a written and literary language probably owes something to this history of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in writing.[You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.]

"Around the same time, as a shift took place in France towards using French as a language of record in the mid-13th century, Anglo-Norman French also became a language of record in England though Latin retained its pre-eminence for matters of permanent record (as in written You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.). From around this point onwards, considerable variation begins to be apparent in Anglo-French, which ranges from the very local (and most You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.) to a level of language which approximates to and is sometimes indistinguishable from varieties of continental French. Thus, typically, local records are rather different from continental French, with diplomatic and international trade documents closest to the emerging continental norm.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. English remained the vernacular of the common people throughout this period. The resulting virtual You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in spoken and written language was one of medieval Latin, French and Middle English."

[boldface type emphasis added]

Geoffrey