【IfyouaskpeopletonametheonepersonwhohadthegreatesteffectontheEnglishlanguageyouwillgetanswerslike“Shakespeare”“SamuelJohnson”and“Webster”butnoneofthesemenhadanye】

　　IfyouaskpeopletonametheonepersonwhohadthegreatesteffectontheEnglishlanguageyouwillgetanswerslike“Shakespeare”“SamuelJohnson”and“Webster”butnoneofthesemenhadanyeffectatallcomparedtoamanwhodidn'tevenspeakEnglish-WilliamtheConqueror．

　　Before1066inthelandwenowcallGreatBritainlivedpeoplebelongingtotwomajorlanguagegroups．Inthewest-centralregionintheWelshwhospokeaCelticlanguageandinthenorthlivedtheScotswhoselanguagethoughtnotthesameasWelshwasalsoCeltic．IntherestofthecountrylivedtheSaxonsactuallyamixtureofAnglosSaxonsandotherGermanicandNordicpeopleswhospokewhatwenowcallAnglo-Saxon(orOldEnglish)aGermaniclanguage．IfthisstateofaffairshadlastedEnglishtodaywouldbeclosetoGerman．

　　Butthisstateofaffairsdidnotlast．In1066theNormansledbyWilliamdefeatedtheSaxonsandbegantheirruleoverEngland．ForaboutacenturyFrenchbecametheofficiallanguageofEnglandwhileOldEnglishbecamethelanguageofpeasant．AsaresultEnglishwordsofpoliticsandthelawcomefromFrenchratherthanGerman．InsomecasesmodernEnglishevenshowsadistinction(区别)betweenupperclassFrenchandlower-classAnglo-Saxoninitswords．WeevenhavedifferentwordsforsomefoodsmeatinparticulardependingonwhetheritisstilloutinthefieldsorathomereadytobecookedwhichshowsthefactthattheSaxonpeasantsweredoingfarmingwhiletheupper-classNormansweredoingmostoftheeating．

　　WhenAmericansvisitEuropeforthefirsttimetheyusuallyfindGermanymore“foreign”thanFrancebecausetheGermantheyseeonsignsandadvertisementsseemsmuchmoredifferentfromEnglishthanFrenchdoes．FewrealizethattheEnglishlanguageisactuallyGermanicinitsbeginningandthattheFrenchinfluencesarealltheresultofoneman'sambition．

　　(1)

　　ThetwomajorlanguagesspokeninwhatisnowcalledGreatBritainbefore1066were________．