Middle English
Cnut’s Danish-English Empire 1014-1035
Harold GodwinEarl of Wessex
William of Normandy
The Norman Invasion
1066
Battle of Hastings
• Harold Godwin dies
• Normans pillage southern England
• Christmas 1066: Enthronement of William of Normandy
After the Norman Conquest 1066-1204
William replaces the old English nobility by a new Norman nobility.
Soon, every important position in government, church and at universities was held by a Norman.
Norman property in England and France
1204 Loss of Normandy
English in the 13th century
King Henry III
1216-1272
After loss of Normandy:
French remains the dominant language of the upper classes.
At the end of the 13th century, English is used more commonly by the upper classes.
The growing importance of English
1.Upper classes need to communicate with their people.
2.After the loss of the Normandy, French was no longer needed.
3.Speaking French was fashionable in the 13th century, but Norman French had much lower prestige than the French spoken in Paris.
Early French loan words (1066-1250)
baronnobleservantmessengerfeast
French loan words: nouns
action adventure numberage air pairbucket calendar personcarpenter city powdercoast comfort rivercost country signcourage coward opinion
French loan words: nouns
ease envy poverty
error face reason
noise fault season
flower force sound
Honor hour use
manner task honor
damage debt people
French loan words: verbs
advise aim allow
approach arrange arrive
betray change chase
serve comfort complain
conceal consider continue
count deceive destroy
declare defeat delay
desire enjoy enter
French loan words: verbs
force form increase
inform join suppose
marry obey observe
pay wait please
praise prefer propose
prove push receive
refuse relieve remember
waste satisfy save
French loan words: adjectives
able active actual
brief calm certain
clear common contrary
courageous cruel curious
eager easy faint
fierce final firm
foreign gentle hasty
French loan words: adjectives
honest horrible innocent
large natural nice
original perfect poor
precious pure real
rude safe scarce
second simple single
special stable usual
Government and administration
government crown state
empire realm authority
court parliament assembly
traitor treason exile
liberty office mayor
prince baron duke
sir madam mistress
Church and religion
religion sermon confess
prayer lesson passion
chant sacrifice chapter
abbey cloister virgin
saint miracle mystery
faith mercy pity
virtue preach pray
Law
justice equity judgmentcrime judge attorneybill petition complaintevidence proof bailransom verdict sentenceaward fine punishmentprison accuse indictblame arrest seizepledge condemn convictacquit fraud perjuryproperty estate heirentail just innocent
Army and navy
army navy pace
enemy battle combat
siege defense ambush
retreat soldier guard
spy captain besiege
Fashion
dress habit fashion
robe coat collar
veil mitten adorn
embellish blue brown
fur jewel ivory
Meals and food
dinner supper boiltaste appetite salmonbeef veal porksausage bacon gravycream sugar saladfruits orange roastlemon cherry peachspice mustard vinegar
Furniture, social life
couch chair screen
lamp blanket wardrobe
recreation leisure dance
fool music chess
stable retrieve falcon
forest park tournament
Art, learning, medicine
art painting beautycolor figure imagetone cathedral ceilingtower porch baycolumn vase poetrime story paperpen study logicgeometry grammar nounclause copy medicinestomach ointment poison
Loss of Germanic words
French borrowing Lost English word
poor earmpeople leodguilty scyldigarmy herewarrior cempaair lyftconfess andettanpraise hearian
Semantic differentiation
French loan English word
judgment doomjudge deemcordial heartypower mightdemand askdesire wishbeef oxpork swineveal calfmutton cheep
Old English verbal prefixes
for- (German ver-) forget, forbear, forbid
with- (German mit-) withdraw, withhold
to- (German zu-) ---
English derivational morphemes
-hoodchildhood, likelihood, manhood
-shipfriendship, kinship, hardship
-domfreedom, wisdom, kingdom
Romans verbal affixes
Verbal prefixesinter–, counter–, re–, trans–, anti–, dis–,
Verbal suffixes–able, –ible, –ent, –al, –ous, –ive
The 100 Year’s War 1337-1453
Rise of new middle class
Craftsmen Merchants
Black Death 1349
Loan words from Latin
adjacent conspiracy contempt
custody distract frustrate
genius gesture history
homicide include incredible
individual infancy suppress
infinite innate intellect
Loan words from Latin
interrupt legal magnify
minor moderate private
necessary nervous picture
polite popular prevent
project submit prosody
reject summary substitute
Loan words from Flemish, Dutch, Low German
deck dock freight
rover booze gin
easel etching landscape
Middle English Grammar
Old English is a highly inflectional language. Middle English has very little morphology.
The structure of Middle English is radically different from the structure of Old English.
Spelling
<þ> and <ð> were gradually replaced by <th>
<k> for [k] <sh> for [S] <ch> for [tS]
Old Engl. Middle E. Old Engl. Middle E. Old Engl. Middle E.
cyssancneowcene
kisskneekeen
scamuscearp
shamesharp
cildceapcinn
childcheapchinn
Spelling
[u] <ou> or <ow>
OE MEhourround
hu howthu thouhus housebrun brown
[x] <gh>
OE MEþoht thoughtriht right
OE MEhwæt whathwil while
Consonants
Bilabial Labio-dental
Inter-dental
Alveolar
Alveola-palatal
Velar
Stop p b t d k gAffricate tS
dZFricative f v T D s z S Z hNasal m nLateral lRetroflex rGlide w y
Phonological changes
vine (Fr.) fine (Fr.)
view (Fr.) few (Engl.)
vile (Fr.) file (Engl.)
Phonological changes
[hu:zian] > [hu:zia] > [hu:z] ‘to house’ V
[hu:s] [hu:s] ‘a house’ N
life liveknife knives
bath bathebreath breathe
Vowels
Long vowels
i: u:
e: o:
a:
Short vowels
i u e @ o
a
Diphthongs
[iu] trewe ‘true’[Eu] fewe ‘few’[au] clawe ‘claw’[Ou] bowe ‘bow’[ai] dai ‘day’[Ui] point ‘point’[Oi] chois ‘choice’
Geoffrey Chaucer
(1340-1400)
Chaucer.aiff
Morphosyntactic changes
1.Simplification of inflection/morphology
2.Emergence of new grammatical devices:
a. analytical verb forms
b. rigid word order
Noun declension
Old English
SG SG
NOM stan stan-as
GEN stan-es stan-a
DAT stan-e stan-um
ACC stan stan-as
Noun declension
Old English Middle English
SG SG SG PL
NOM stan stan-as stan stan-es
GEN stan-es stan-a stan-es stan-es
DAT stan-e stan-um stan stan-es
ACC stan stan-as stan stan-es
Function of morphological case markers
(1) Peter’s car
(2) Der Mann gibt dem Jungen den Stift.
Noun declension
Old English Middle English
SG SG SG PL
NOM stan stan-as stan stan-es
GEN stan-es stan-a stan-es stan-es
DAT stan-e stan-um stan stan-es
ACC stan stan-as stan stan-es
Noun declension
South Old English Middle English
SG SG PL SG PL
NOM eag-a eag-an eye eye-n
GEN eag-an stan-ena eye-s eye-n
DAT eag-an stan-um eye eye-n
ACC eag-an stan-an eye eye-n
Relics of the -en plural in EME
EME PDEeyen ‘eyes’shoon ‘shoes’hosen ‘hose’housen ‘houses’peasen ‘peas’
Relics of the -en plural in ME
oxenchildrenbrethren
Gender
NEUT Þæt scip ‘that.N ship’
MASC se sta:n ‘that.M stone’
FEM seo giefu ‘that.F gift’
Demonstrativesthat/the Masc Neut
NOM se þæt
GEN þæs þæs
DAT þæm þæ:m
ACC þone þæt
INST þy: þy:
SG PL
proximal this these
distal that those
Third person pronouns
3SG M 3SG F 3 SG N 3 PL
SubjObjPoss
hehimhis
heo, schehire, herhir(e), her(e)
hit, ithit, it, himhis
he, hi, theihem, themhere, thair
First and second person pronouns
1. person 2. person
SG PL SG PL
SubjObjPoss
ich, Imemine, mi
weusure, our
þu, thouþe, theeþin(e), i
ye, yeyou, eu, youyur(e), your
Adjectives
OE SG
MASC NEUT FEM
NOMACCGENDATINSTR
tiltil-netil-estil-umtil-e
tiltiltil-estil-umtil-e
til-util-etil-retil-re
Verbal inflectionOE Present Past
Indicative
1. Sg sing-e sang
2. Sg sing-est sang-e
3. Sg sing-eð sang
Pl. sing-að sung-on
Subjunctive
Sg. sing-e sung-e
Pl. sing-en sung-en
Verbal inflection in Middle English
Person: -s (3rd person)
Number lost
Tense -ed / Ablaut
Mood lost
Grammatical innovations
Morphological cases were replaced by new word order patterns.
Tense and mood affixes were replaced by new analytical verb forms.
Word order in main clauses
Middle English(2) In the contre of Ethyop they slen here childeryn byforn here goddys.
‘In the country of Ethiopia they slay their children in front of their gods.’
Old English(1) Þa eode se biscop into þa oþaere cyrcanthen went the bishop into that other church
‘Then the bishop went into the other church.’
Word order in main clauses
Nowe haue ye herde þe vertues & þe significacouns.
‘Now have you heard the virtues and the meanings.’
(1) Never has Peter talked to him.(2) Under no circumstance would she talk to him.(3) Only on the weekend does he have time to cook
dinner.
Word order in subordinate clauses
(1) … þat ðu þis weork naht ne forlate.‘… that you this work not (not) neglect.’
(2) If a man will þe harme… ‘If a man wants (to) you harm… .’
Word order in questions
(1) Woot ye not where ther stanta litel toun …know you not where there stand a little town‘Don’t you know where the little town is?
(2) Why make ye youreself for to be lyk a fool?Why makeyou yourself for to be like a fool‘Why do you make a fool of yourself?’
Analytical verb forms
Future will catchPerfect have caughtPassive is caughtProgressive is catchingModal verbs can / may / must catch
Future
and swiche wolle have the kyngdom of helle, and not of hevene.
‘and such will have the kingdom of hell, and not of heaven’
Perfect
(1) Ic hæbbe [þo-ne fisc gefange-ne]I have the-ACC fish caught-ACC‘I have the fish caught’ (=I have the fish in a state of being caught)
Perfect
(1) thin geleafa hæfth the gehæled.your faith has you healed‘Your faith has healed you.’
(2) Ac hie hæfdon þa… hiora mete genotudne.but they had then… their food used-up‘But they had then used up their food.’
Perfect
(1) a. Peter has a fish caught. (Peter has a caught fish)
b. Peter has caught a fish.
Perfect
(1) þou hauest don oure kunne wo‘You have done our family woe.’
(2) I am com to myne ende.‘I have come to my end.’
Passive
Vorgangspassive: wesenZustandspassive weorthan
[men] that wol nat be governed by hir wyves.
‘[men] that will not be governed by their wives.’
Progressive
Participle
(1) For now is gode Gawayn goande ryght here.For now is good Gawain going right here.
Gerund
(2) I am yn beldyng of a pore hous.
‘I am in (the process of) building a poor house.’
(1) Below you see a summary of Grimm’s law. What does Grimm’s law describe?
*p t k > f D x/h*b d g > p t k*bh dh gh > b d g
(2) Explain how Latin influenced English in the OE period.(3) Characterize the basic word order of OE.(4) Characterize the vocabulary that English borrowed from
Old Norse.(5) What is the historical source of the present perfect in Modern English?(6) Characterize the major developmental changes in the English grammar during the ME period.
Perfect
(1) Ic hæbbe [þo-ne fisc gefange-ne]I have the-ACC fish caught-ACC‘I have the fish caught’ (=I have the fish in a state of being caught)
Grammatical innovations
Loss of inflectional morphology.
Development of rigid word order.
Development of analytical verb forms.
Word order in main clauses
Middle English(2) In the contre of Ethyop they slen here childeryn byforn here goddys.
‘In the country of Ethiopia they slay their children in front of their gods.’
Old English(1) Þa eode se biscop into þa oþaere cyrcanthen went the bishop into that other church
‘Then the bishop went into the other church.’
Word order in main clauses
Nowe haue ye herde þe vertues & þe significacouns.
‘Now have you heard the virtues and the meanings.’
(1) Never has Peter talked to him.(2) Under no circumstance would she talk to him.(3) Only on the weekend does he have time to cook
dinner.
Future
and swiche wolle have the kyngdom of helle, and not of hevene.
‘and such will have the kingdom of hell, and not of heaven’
Passive
Vorgangspassive: wesenZustandspassive weorthan
[men] that wol nat be governed by hir wyves.
‘[men] that will not be governed by their wives.’
Modal verbs
(1) þat y mowe riche be‘that I may rich be’
(1) *Do I may go home(2) *I do not may go home.(3) *I may to go.(4) *I am maying go home.
Was Middle English a creole?
(Baugh & Cable p.125)
Middle English was not a creole:
The development of Middle English was very different from the development of a creole language.
Although Middle English has very little morphology, it has complex syntactic structures and an intricate phonological system.
The discussion about the creolization of English demonstrates how radically English changed in Middle English:
1. different vocabulary
2. different grammar
What led to the grammatical changes?
The Norman Conquest had a significant effect on the English vocabulary, but did it also affect the English grammar?
Why did English grammar change so much?
• The stress pattern
• The contact with Old Norse
• The loss of an English standard
Middle English Dialects
And one of theym named Sheffelde, a mercer,
cam in-to an hows and axed for mete; and
specyaly he axyd after eggys. And the goode
wyf answered, that she coude speke no
frenshe. And the marchaunt was angry, for he
also coude speke no frenshe, but wolde have
hadde egges, and she understode hym not.
And thenne at laste a nother sayd that he
wolde have eyren.
Middle English Dialects
South eyr-enNorth egg-es
South –eth lovethNorth –es loves
South –inde lovindeNorth –ande lovande
South hi, here, hemNorth they
What distinguishes a language
from a dialect?
Languages and Dialects
Scandinavian languages
Chinese
Dialects
Dialects vs. Languages
The distinction between the terms language
and dialect is based on a variety of criteria: 1.
linguistic (mutual intelligibility), 2. political, 3.
social, 4. cultural.
Regional transitions are fluid