Middle English
Very little was written in English under Norman rule as the Normans wrote everything in French or Latin, but when the Normans left in 1154 English reemerged. But it reemerged new and different. This stage of the language is called “Middle English.” It was spoken by this sexy dude, Chaucer.
Middle English is characterized by an erosion of a lot of the Germanic grammar and word order. It is unclear what the source of these changes was. They probably represent a natural development, as similar developments happened in Dutch, but it’s also possible that these changes represent the language “simplifying” under French influence. This idea is basically that the Normans had trouble speaking Old English, so they simplified it.
Chaucer’s English
Chaucer spoke and wrote in a dialect of Middle English. Note that Middle English is MUCH easier for Modern English speakers to read, but we know that it was definitely pronounced much differently, and you most certainly could not hold a conversation with Chaucer (basically, all those silent letters English learners hate were all pronounced. Yes, even those silent “e”-s at the ends of words and the “k” in “knight” and the “gh” in “night”). Here’s a passage of Chaucer and the translation below:
Chaucer (from the Canterbury Tales – The Merchant’s Prologue):
“Wepyng and waylyng, care and oother sorwe
I knowe ynogh, on even and a-morwe,’
Quod the Marchant, ‘and so doon oother mo
That wedded been.”
Translation:
“Weeping and wailing, care and other sorrow
I know enough, in the evening and in the morning,’
said the Merchant, ‘and so does many another
who has been married.”
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