People may not know as much about English as they think. We know that English is currently most widely spoken language in world, we have learned English language and grammar, and even watched English dramas and listened to English songs.

But did you know that the British royal family did not speak English for a long time and did not even use English on British national emblem.He does not use Latin, which is commonly used in other European countries, but it's in French.

In fact, Great Britain and France have been at war from 11th century to present day, and relations between them are quite tense. Why does Britain still use French? On other hand, France, which is across sea from Britain, is a country that is very reluctant to use English, even now many French people are very cold towards English.

The reason for this is inextricably linked to colonial expansion in British history.

So what exactly happened in story that gave Britain and France "love each other and kill each other" story in terms of language usage?

Shocked Old English

The formation of Old English can be traced back to beginning of 5th century AD.

At time that Rome withdrew from Britain, three Germanic tribes in northern Germany took opportunity to invade Britain, and one of tribes became main nation of England. Since all these departments use West Germanic languages, they are also source of Old English.

In course of time, firstly, when some missionaries went to England to preach, they brought here Latin and other languages, which merged with Old English; influence of Vivian dialect enriched expression and use of Old English.

The pirates have no doubts. In addition to Viking invasion of Britain, one of their branches, Normans, also launched a furious attack on France and received French units, so they were quickly Frenchized, and even language began to be used in French.

The Normans, who used French as their primary language, later founded Norman dynasty in England with a French style of language, and allowed French-speaking clergy to serve as bishops throughout. French seeds have been planted.

The Norman dynasty has lived in England for almost a hundred years, and French language has taken root here for almost a hundred years, so that royal family and other people use French.

International languages ​​of medieval Europe

French is not only in demand by Britain's upper class, as it is a status symbol. From 17th to 19th centuries, nobles in many European countries also competed in knowledge of the French language and were proud of it.

Nobles and royalty must receive a French education and learn French from birth, and even to this day, some nobles maintain this tradition.

Furthermore, Japanese Emperor also retained habit of learning French, indicating that this trend had already spread from Europe to Asia.

French is now also official language of international organizations such as United Nations and International Red Cross, and its status is unusual.

Due to long reign of French in United Kingdom, French ruled in British royal family. This state of affairs continued for a long time until reign of King John.

John was a weak and incompetent king, during his reign he lost one after another many territories in France, which caused discontent among British nobility. From top to bottom, Britain began to resist France.

This also alienates British from French, and status of English is slowly rising. In 13th century, more and more people began to use English, including previously mentioned religious aspects.

In fact, achieving such a status is not easy. After all, French language has taken almost a century and plays a very important role in people's way of life. Suddenly flipping over a familiar tongue is definitely not something that can be done in twos and threes.

It is worth noting that when people began to repel French, king of England married a Frenchman, and a large number of his French relatives came to England with queen. high status.

However, this move by King of England was indeed criticized by other dignitaries. After all, two countries were at war at that time, and situation was like fire and water. The King of England not only married an enemy woman, but even treated each other politely, going against general trend. Therefore, nobles rose in revolt and expelled this group of relatives from France.

It is because of this that dominant position of French language was greatly shaken, and English gradually became official spoken language.

Accelerated change in status of English language

The "love-hate relationship" between Britain and France lasted over 100 years. During battle between two sides, national self-consciousness and consciousness of independence of peoples of two countries increased significantly. Because of their innate sense of honor and national pride, they are unwilling to submit to each other's nation or even culture.

After this war, Britain lost its territory in France. This loss will make Britain feel more "disgusted" about everything in France, and rejection of French language has reached an unprecedented climax. The country's high society is rampant.

At same time, Black Death was raging on European continent, and many religious people, mostly French speakers, died from war or epidemics, which led to a reduction in number of clergy. The British religious side took this opportunity to open up clergy to those who only speak English, thus creating a kind of exception for French language.

The skillful use of English language in British royal family was not completely abolished until accession of Henry IV after 1399.

He himself was first king of England to use English as his mother tongue, his son was first king of England to write and sign official documents in English, and his grandson founded a grammar school , English gradually established itself as national language of United Kingdom.

Since then, English culture has developed rapidly and its status has been formally established and recognized. Even for a long time, English has become one of most commonly used languages ​​in world, with largest number of speakers. .

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The Queen of England, who passed away this year, also speaks very fluent French. Even at 90, she is still very fluent in French, which caused an explosion of surprise among people around her. It is said that knowledge of French is still a skill of British royal family.

The development of language is associated with development and change of historical events, while development of English language is associated with difficult historical events. In situation of repeated acceptance of foreign invasions, English was used from bottom of language, step by step rose, regained right to use it in upper class, and even moved around world, becoming an international language. with most users.

The oppression suffered has also enriched English language. The richness of words also helped the development of British culture, and in this respect, not everything is so bad.