History of English:Middle English, Early Modern

English

Based on Crystal chapters 5 and 6Power Point presentation developed by

Alan Firth – adapted by Andrew Fish

Old English-Latin-Old Norse

436 Roman occupation ends 449 Angles, Saxons, Jutes begin colonisation (p. 6) Celtic language communities gradually pushed north and

westwards (Cornwall, Wales, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland)

Distinct A-S kingdoms and OE dialects emerge (p. 28) 597 Augustine arrives from Rome (Christianity spreads: in

Latin) 792 Viking raids begin

OE-ON

865 Danes occupy Northumbria (p. 25 and 26, influence of Old Norse)

871 Alfred becomes king of Wessex: promotion of and translations into English (OE)

886 Treaty of Wedmore (Danelaw) (p. 25) By C9th, ‘English’ (OE) already looking like a hybrid -

though clearly Germanic - language: OE, Latin, ON (see p. 26)

1066 Norman Conquest

Middle English

1066 marks beginning of new social and linguistic era in Britain: boundary of OE and ME

ME: ca 1100-1450 Early ME: the rise of French and Latin

(royalty, parliament, schools, courts, church), although English still used widely (p. 31)

England is a diglossic community 1362: English used for first time in parliament

Transitions

When languages come together, a process of simplification (grammatical) universally occurs

The process of creolisation and pidginisation (p. 32)

The decay of inflections

1384: The Lord’s Prayer

Oure fadir þat art in heuenes halwid be þi name; þi reume or kyngdom come to be. Be þi wille don in herþe as it is dounin heuene.yeue to us today oure eche dayes bred. And foryeue to us oure dettis þat is oure synnys as we foryeuen to oure dettouris þat is to men þat han synned in us.And lede us not into temptacion but delyuere us from euyl.

1611

Our father which art in heauen, hallowed be thy name. ﾊ Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heauen. ﾊ Giue us this day our daily bread. ﾊ And forgiue us our debts as we forgiue our debters. ﾊ And lead us not into temptation, but deliuer us from euill. Amen.

Lexical hybridisation

Three layers of formality Low: Anglo-Saxon, Medium: French High: Latin/Greek ask question interrogate folk people populace guts entrails intestines gift* present donation word term lexeme help aid assistance fair* (archaic) beautiful attractive foe enemy adversary rise mount ascend hearty cordial cardiac

Pronunciation: The Great Vowel Shift ca. 1400- 1600 English vowel sounds and vowel spellings

part ways ･ Affected the long vowels only. mis ( ﾔmees ﾕ ) mice, bite, time, night gees ( ﾔ gayss ﾕ ) geese, beet, feet leef ( ﾔ lehf ﾕ ) leaf, cheat, plead, meat loude ( ﾔ lood ﾕ ) loud, house, flower, tower,

about goos ( ﾔ gohs ﾕ ) goose, boot, pool, soon stoon ( ﾔ stawn ﾕ ) stone, no

Early Modern English Milestones: The English Reformation

Henry VIII desires to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, to marry Anne Boleyn

Divorce is not permitted in the Roman church Henry declares a separate Church of England, with himself and

the Archbishop of Canterbury at its head To emphasize the separation and the Englishness of this

church, Henry and his successors develop a canon of church documents in English:

The Book of Common Prayer 1549 ･ The King James Bible 1611

Previous to this, translating the Bible was a daring act in defiance of the Papacy in Rome

Early Modern English - ca. 1500-1800 A. D. Major changes in the language

･ Grammar: ･Most suffixes of OE and ME gone ･Norse-origin pronouns win: them, she replace hem, hie ･ Norse present-tense ending -(e)s replaces OE -(e)th

･ doth > does; saith > says ･ Emergence of modern verb forms such as ﾔ do ﾕ in negatives and questions; present progressive (e.g., is walking) ･Shakespeare: ･ "I doubt it not" and "I do not doubt you" ･ "What sayde he?" and "What do you see?"

Early ME

Shakespeare (1590-1610): hundreds of new words appear for the first time in his work:

addiction, assassination, comply, consign, denote,compulsive, discontent, domineering, exhale, generous, hostile,investment, luggage, obscene, pious, protester, retirement,survivor, supervise, tranquil, unreal, useful

Phrases from Shakespeare: breathe one’s last, cheer up, foregone

conclusion, good riddance,household name, salad days, seamy side, tower of strength, etc.

The effects of printing

Literacy spreads as books become cheap and accessible ･ Printing influences standardization: ･ Printed documents

originate in London, home of standard dialect ･ Practical need to print only one version of a book (not multiple

dialect versions) ･ Begins fixing of spellings (though inconsistency remanis for centuries) ･

The printed word gains authority over handwritten documents ･ Prestige of document content: religious, scientific, literary,

governmental ･ Power of elites to control what gets printed