Hildegard L. C. Tristram

• In this brochure, Tristram argues that Standard English may be more indebted to the influence of 'Late British' than hitherto acknowledged by mainstream historical scholarship. By 'Late British' the native (or source) language of the about 2m language shifters in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon Conquest is meant who constituted the bulk of the native population of the island of Britain in the early middle ages. Although predictably, the influence of 'Late British' on Old English neither shows in the lexis of written Old English nor in its core grammar, it does show in the phonology (Peter Schrijver) and the inflectional syncretism of the Northern dialect texts. The influence of the interlanguage of the shifters only really surfaces in Middle English texts, after the diglossia between the language of the HIGH variety of Old English of the ruling elite and the LOW variety of the working population was discontinued under Norman rule. A number of grammatical features are listed in this brochure, which show that Present Day Standard EnglishIn this brochure, Tristram argues that Standard English may be more indebted to the influence of 'Late British' than hitherto acknowledged by mainstream historical scholarship. By 'Late British' the native (or source) language of the about 2m language shifters in the wake of the Anglo-Saxon Conquest is meant who constituted the bulk of the native population of the island of Britain in the early middle ages. Although predictably, the influence of 'Late British' on Old English neither shows in the lexis of written Old English nor in its core grammar, it does show in the phonology (Peter Schrijver) and the inflectional syncretism of the Northern dialect texts. The influence of the interlanguage of the shifters only really surfaces in Middle English texts, after the diglossia between the language of the HIGH variety of Old English of the ruling elite and the LOW variety of the working population was discontinued under Norman rule. A number of grammatical features are listed in this brochure, which show that Present Day Standard English typologically sides with the Celtic languages, and with the Neo-Brittonic languages in particular, rather than with the other Continental Germanic languages. The brochure also calls for more research into this matter and in particular detailed investigations into the individual features mentioned.…