Heavy borrowing from French occurred in two phases:

1. 1066-1250. About 900 words were borrowed during this phase, with most of them showing the effects of Anglo-Norman phonology. Examples from this source are:

   Social: baron, noble, dame, servant, messenger, feast, minstrel, juggler, largess.

   Literary: story, rime, lay, douzepers.

   Church: The largest number of words were borrowed for use in religious services since the French-speaking Normans took control of the church in England.

2. 1250-1400. The heaviest borrowing from French occurred in this period because after about 1250 there were more French speakers who began speaking English--remember the loss of Normandy in 1204. The words borrowed during this phase are found in many areas.

   Government and Administrative: govern, government, administer, crown, state, empire, royal, majesty, treaty, statute, parliament, tax, rebel, traitor, treason, exile, chancellor, treasurer, major, noble, peer, prince, princess, duke, squire, page (but not king, queen, lord, lady, earl), peasant, slave, servant, vassal.

   Ecclesiastical: religion, theology, sermon, confession, clergy, clergy, cardinal, friar, crucifix, miter, censer lectern, abbey, convent, creator, savior, virgin, faith, heresy, schism, solemn, divine, devout, preach, pray, adore, confess.

   Law: justice, equity, plaintiff, judge, advacate, attorney, petition, inquest, felon, evidence, sue, accuse arrest, blame, libel, slander, felony, adultery, property, estate, heir, executor.

   Military--Army and Navy: (Much of the fighting during this time was done in France. Many now-obsolete words for pieces of armor, etc., were borrowed at this time.) army, navy, peace, enemy, arms, battle, spy, combat, siege, defence, ambush, soldier, guard, mail, buckler, banner, lance, besiege, defend, array.

   Clothing: habit, gown, robe, garment, attire, cape, coat, collar, petticoat, train, lace, embroidery, pleat, buckle, button, tassel, plume, satin, taffeta, fur, sable, blue, brown, vermilion, russet, tawny, jewel, ornament, broach, ivory, turquoise, topaz, garnet, ruby, pearl, diamond.

   Food: feast, repast, collation, mess, appetite, tart, sole, perch, sturgeon, sardine, venison, beef, veal, mutton, port, bacon, toast, cream, sugar, salad, raisin, jelly, spice, clove, thyme.

   Social: curtain, couch, lamp, wardrobe, screen, closet, leisure, dance, carol, lute, melody.

   Hunting: rein, curry, trot, stable, harness, mastiff, spaniel, stallion, pheasant, quail, heron, joust, tournament, pavilion.

   Art, Learning, Medicine: painting, sculpture, music, beauty, color, image, cathedral, palace, mansion, chamber, ceiling, porch, column, poet, prose, romance, paper, pen, volume, chapter, study, logic, geometry, grammar, noun, gender, physician, malady, pain, gout, plague, pulse, remedy, poison.

   Common words and expressions include nouns--age, air, city, cheer, honor, joy; adjectives--chaste, courageous, coy, cruel, poor, nice, pure; verbs--advance, advise, carry, cry, desire; phrases--draw near, make believe, hand to hand, by heart, without fail (These are loan-translations).

• French /s/ was lost before other consonants in the 12th century, so OF feste became MF fête (MnE feast). Cf. forest--forêt, hostel--hôtel, beast--bête.

• In the 13th century the French `j' came to be pronounced `zh', and `ch' became `sh'. Early borrowings (i.e., before the 13th century) thus have the `ch' and `j' pronunciations: charge, change, chamber, chase, chair, chimney; just, jewel, journey, majesty, gentle. Later borrowings (i.e., after the 13th century) have the `zh' and `sh' pronunciations: chamois, chaperon, chiffon, chevron, jabot (last trim on the front of a dress), rouge.

• The Anglo-Norman dialect was also different from the dialect of Paris, which was Central French: AN retained the initial ca-, which became cha-, chie- in CF, e.g.: MnE caitiff, not CF chaitif. English contains words borrowed from both dialects at different times, e.g.:

            cattle  < AN catel       catch < AN cachier
            chattel < CF chatel      chase < CF chacier (MF chasser)
  

• CF also showed an early dislike of w-, but the northern dialects did not, e.g.: warden from AN and guardian from CF. CF also dropped the /w/ in qu- (i.e., AN /kw/, CF /k/), so MnE has quarter, quality, question, etc., pronounced /kw-/. (cf. MF qualité, etc.)

  Vowels also show some differences. For example, AN retained the ei diphthong, but in the 12th century it became oi in CF, so:

            MnE leal < AN leial         MnE loyal < CF
            MnE real < AN reial         MnE royal < CF 

This heavy borrowing from French had several effects on English:

1. Native words were replaced:

   OE aeðele -- F. noble
   OE aeðeling -- F. nobleman
   OE here -- F. army
   OE campa -- F. warrior
   OE sibb -- F. peace

2. English and French words were retained with a differentiation in meaning:

   hearty--cordial
   ox--beef
   sheep--mutton
   swine--pork
   calf--veal
   house--mansion

3. The Old English word-forming powers were reduced, with less use of prefixes and suffixes and fewer compounds.

   Latin Borrowings. In a sense the French words were Latin borrowings since French developed from Vulgar Latin--as did all the Romance languages. The borrowings that came directly from Latin tended to be more learned in character--e.g., allegory, index, magnify, mechanical, private, secular, zenith. Aureate terms--direct borrowings from Latin--were a stylistic affectation of the 15th century Scottish Chaucerians such as James I, Henryson, and Dunbar. Some of these words have been dropped from English (or never really made it in) while others have survived, e.g., diurnal (daily or daytime), tenebrous (dark), laureate, mediation, oriental, prolixity.

   It has been pointed out that as a result of Middle English borrowing from French and Latin, Modern English has synonyms on three levels: popular (English), literary (French), and learned (Latin), as in rise--mount--ascend; ask--question--interrogate; fire--flame--conflagration; holy--sacred--consecrated.

   Based on Baugh and Cable, A History of the English Language.