The version of English spoken after the Norman Conquest from 1066 up to about 1450 or so Before the Norman Conquest, the common version of English was Old English or Anglo-Saxon, a Germanic language that is difficult to read without specialized training An influx of Norman French and Latin vocabulary after the Normans conquered England resulted in rapid changes in spoken English Between 1400-1450, a phenomenon known as the Great Vowel Shift occurred, and the pronunciation of vowels changed in English, resulting in Modern English (See below) To avoid irritating your teacher, do not confuse Old English, Middle English, and Modern English
Historical variety of English spoken, written, and sung in England from 1100-1500 Major changes from OE are reduction of inflections and large borrowings in the lexicon from French and Latin