Early Middle English dialects

The regional ME dialects had developed from respective OE dialects.

The following dialects can be distinguished in Early ME.

The Southern group included the Kentish and the Southwestern dialects. Kentish dialect was a direct descendant of the OE dialect known by the same name, though it had somewhat extended its area. The South Western group was a continuation of the OE Saxon dialects, not only West Saxon, but also East Saxon. The East Saxon dialect was not prominent in OE but became more important in Early ME, since it made the basis of the dialects of London in the 12^th and 13^th centuries. Among the dialect of this group we may mention the Gloucester dialect and the London dialect, which must have been an influential form of speech at all times.

The group of Midland (“Central”) dialects – corresponding to the OE Mercian dialect – is divided into West Midland and East Midland as two main areas, with further subdivisions within: South – East Midland and North – East Midland and North – West Midland.

In ME the Midland area became more diversified linguistically than the OE Mercian kingdom occupying approximately the same territory: from the Thames in the South to the Welsh speaking area in the West and up north to the river Humber.

The Northern dialects had developed from OE Northumbrian. In early ME the Northern dialects included several provincial dialects, e.g. Yorkshire and the Lancashire dialects and also what later became known as Scottish.

The earliest sign of the official recognition of English by the Norman kings was the famous Proclamation issued by Henry III in 1258 to the Councilors in Parliament. It was written in three languages: French, Latin and English affected English more than any other foreign influence before or after. The early French borrowings reflected accurately the spheres of Norman influence upon English life; later borrowings can be attributed to the continued cultural, economic and political contacts between the countries.

The French influence added new features to the regional and social differentiation of the language. New words, coming from French could not be adopted simultaneously by all the speakers of English, they were first used in some varieties of the language, namely in the regional dialects of Southern England and in the speech of the upper classes, but were unknown in the other varieties. This led to growing dialectal differences, regional and social. Later the new features adopted from French and extended to other varieties of the language.

It was also the everyday language of many nobles, of the higher clergy and of many towns’ people in the South. The intellectual life, literature and education were in the hands of French speaking people, French, alongside Latin, was French and boys at school were taught to translate their Latin into French instead of English.

For all that, England never stopped being an English – Speaking country. The bulk of the population held fast to their own (language) tongue: the lower classes in towns, and especially in the country-side, those who lived in the Midlands and up the north, continued to speak English and looked upon French as foreign and hostile. Since most of the people were illiterate, the English language was almost exclusively used for spoken communication.

At first the two languages existed side by without mingling. Then, slowly and quietly, they began to permeate each other. The Norman barons and the French town-dwellers had to pick up English words to make them understood, while the English began to use French words in current speech. A good knowledge of French would mark a person of higher standing giving him a certain social prestige. Probably many people became bilingual and had a fair command of both languages.

These peculiar linguistic conditions could not remain static. The struggle between French and English was bound to end in the complete victory of English, for English was the living language of the entire people, while French was restricted to certain social spheres and writing. Yet the final victory was still a long way off.