Nobody’s special property: the importance of multilingualism in shaping the unique identity of the English language and the development of its rich linguistic tapestry.

Abstract

English as it is known today is the result of centuries of coexistence on the British soil of multiple populations who, across history, settled down on the Modern English territory. The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of multilingualism on the development of the English language by studying and focusing on the Middle English Period due to the historical, cultural and linguistic richness of the period. From the Celts to the Anglo-Saxons and up to the Norman conquest in 1066, each population helped shaping the vocabulary, structure, phonology, and lexicon of the language, causing it to develop into what it is today. The study emphasises how important multilingualism is to the development of a hybrid language that blends Romance and Germanic features. The effects of multilingualism and code-switching during the period of Middle English will be shown through an in-depth analysis of a literary work by Thomas Clanwove called “The Boke of Cupid”. In this work the author chose to promote the use of English as a literary language alongside French and Latin, even if during that period, English was considered as the language of the commoners. Overall, this paper intends to emphasize the significance of multilingualism in shaping the unique identity of the English language and the development of its rich linguistic tapestry.