ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -English remained the vernacular of the common people throughout this period. The resulting virtual trilinguism in spoken and written language was one of medieval Latin, French and Middle English.

Detailed explanation-2: -After the Norman Conquest, England had three main languages: Latin for clerical use, Norman French for governmental use, and English as the everyday common speech by the populace. These mingling of languages could not, of course, continue without the English language going through some evolution.

Detailed explanation-3: -The number of Normans who settled in England was sufficiently predominant to continue to use their own language. It was natural at first, because they knew no English. For 200 years after the Norman conquest, French remained the language of ordinary intercourse among the upper classes in England.

Detailed explanation-4: -But after the arrival of William the Conqueror and the Normans, Norman French became the language of the court, administration, and culture. The lower classes (the vast majority of the population) continued to speak English, which was considered by the Normans a low-class, vulgar tongue.