• By 1450, about half of the available word stock was non-Germanic, and many of the Germanic words were not Old English but Old Norse

• Thanks to the nature of English grammar, which continued to give a high profile to such words as the, of, and, and have, the fundamental Anglo-Saxon character of the language was maintained

• Around half of the most commonly used words were from Old English

• The additional vocabulary became the primary means of introducing new concepts and new domains of discourse into the language, as well as a means of giving novel ways of expression to familiar concepts within old domains of discourse

• The domains in which English would gradually supplant Latin and French included Legal English, Medical English, Philosophical English, Literary English, Parliamentary English, and others

• The Middle English period saw the emergence of a language which was able to operate at two stylistic levels

• At one extreme there was a learned, literary style, typically formal and elaborate, and employed by the aristocratic and well educated

• At the other, there was an everyday, popular style, typically informal and casual, and used by ordinary folk

• The more formal or 'elevated' the language level, the more likely that it will contain words of Latin or French origin

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