An extract from “History in English Words” by Owen Barfield, also marking its centenary, first published in 1926.
And now there followed an event which has had more influence on the character of the English language than any other before or since. The conquest of England by the Norman invaders brought about an influx of French words which went on increasing in volume for more than three centuries.
“At first it was little more than a trickle. For a long time the Norman conquerors did not mix much with their Saxon subjects. There are plenty of indications of this; for the languages, too, moved side by side in parallel channels. The custom of having one name for a live beast grazing in the field and another for the same beast, when it is killed and cooked, is often supposed to be due to our English squeamishness and hypocrisy. Whether or no the survival of this custom through ten centuries is due to the national characteristics in question it would be hard to say, but they have certainly nothing to do with its origin. That is a much more blameless affair. For the Saxon neatherd who had spent a hard day tending his oxen, sheep, calves, and swine, probably saw little enough of the beef, mutton, veal, pork, and bacon, which were gobbled at night by his Norman masters.
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Image: Detail from the Bayeux Tapestry via Wikimedia Commons (Public Domain)
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