This is because creole languages tend to be less complex morphologically and syntactically than non-creoles, and have features that are also found in Middle English. They argue that the large amount of borrowed vocabulary from French, along with morphological simplification and a shift in syntactic structure, all show signs of creolisation. There are three key features that provide the evidence for this according to Bailey and Maroldt its lexicon, morphology, and syntax. They view the Norman invasion in 1066 as a catalyst for change from Old to Middle English, whereby Middle English emerged as a consequence of mixing between Old English and French. The authors claim, 'it cannot be doubted that it (Middle English) is a mixed language, or creole', and define a creole as a 'gradient mixture of two or more languages' (Bailey and Maroldt, 1977: 21-22). The Middle English Creole Hypothesis, first proposed by Bailey and Maroldt (1977) in their paper "The French Lineage of English", argues that Middle English is a creole language.
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