The Middle English 1066 1500 The outline Introduction

The Middle English 1066 -1500

The outline Introduction The period Historical events Some linguistic aspects § pronunciation § Orthography § Lexicon Chancery standard conclusion

The period: Middle English : a name given by historical linguists to the English language used between the eleventh century and the sixteen century.

Historical Events 1066: The Normans led by William the Conqueror attacked and defeated the Britains at the battle of Hastings. A third language is introduced: French. Linguistic class division: ◦ Latin: church , school. ◦ French: court, castle. ◦ English: commoners. 1200 forward: French began to lose its prestige. Henry the 5 th : A great impact on national language policy. 14 th century: English became dominant again.

Some Linguistic Aspects: The Canterbury Tales Prologue in Middle English Whan that Aprille wt his shoures soote, The droghte of Marcħ, hath perced to the roote; And bathed euery veyne in swich lycour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan zephirus eek wt his sweete breeth, Inspired hath in euery holt and heeth; The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne, Hath in the Ram, his half cours yronne; And smale foweles, maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open iye; So priketh hem nature, in hir corages,

Pronunciation: French pronunciation of most vowels. Silent (e)was frequently a spoken syllable. Vowel pronunciation is as follows: Ø Ø Ø Ø /a: / as in modern<father> (name). /3: / as in French <bête> (mete). /e: / as in French <the> (sweet). /i: / as in modern <see> (fine). / כ : / as in modern <board> (holy). /o: / as in French <eau> (mone). /u: / as in modern <do> (hous). Unpronounced. consonants in modern english were Ø The initial consonnants: knight, Ø The medial consonnants: would, night. Ø The final consonnants: comb, damn. Gh/z: were pronounced /x/: knight; /knixt/. light: /lyzt/.

Orthography U and v : represent both the vowel [u] and the consonant [v]: (vpon) and (ouer). Long vowel /ou/ used for /u: /: grounde. (3) the yogh was used where modern english has (gh)medially or (y) initially: ly 3 tly; lightly. The Eth [ð] and the Thorn [θ] were replaced by [th]and sometimes with [y]as in ye meaning the.

Lexicon: Two main sources of loan words into english during ME period: French and Latin. Borrowing from Latin: § learned words carried over in the translation of Latin texts. e. g: testament. § Some administrative words: commit , deputate Borrowing from French language: § Although, the popularity of French was decreasing , several words were borrowed into english. § terms related to government (sovereign, empire), law (judge, jury, justice) and learning (poet, physician). § many other words related to social life were borrowed : e. g. : the names of the animals and their meat. ex: sheep mutton swine cow pork beef

Chancery Standard There were different dialects of english spoken and written at that time. The government needed a clear form for use in its official documents. A written form of english was developed to meet this need: the chancery standard. Based on London and east midland dialects.

Conclusion: Middle english is one of the different stages through which english language has undergone. the change is recognized in the various linguistic aspects. Many dialects were recognized at that time.

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