War of Words

The English language is riddled with vestiges of invasion and conquest. Its words of plain speech are mostly Germanic, arriving in England on the tongues of the Anglo-Saxon tribes who invaded in the 5th century AD. Old English formed from the pooled languages of the invaders and native Britons.

Then in 1066, the conquest of England by vikings from Normandy led to the establishment of a Francophone ruling class there. During the centuries following the conquest, those with social status spoke French while peasants spoke Old English. For this reason most modern English words pertaining to court, law, government, and the military come from Norman French, while everyday topics are broached with largely Germanic vocabulary.

Two completely different sets of words developed to describe animals and their meat. As presented in the table below, English words for living animals come from German. When referring to their meat, however, we use French. (In French itself, these words signify both meat and animal without distinction).

This lingustic division stems from a societal one in Medieval England, between those who tended animals, and those who had the pleasure of eating them.