Post on 03-Apr-2018
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The Death of Chaucer at the close of the 15th century
marked the beginning of a new era in the English
language history which is known as Early Modern
English ( EMoE).
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH1500-1800
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EMoE was mainly marked by:
* A major change in the vowel system which is known as the
* The development of a single literary and administrative
variety of the language that was later to be
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-STANDARDENGLISH.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-STANDARDENGLISH.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-STANDARDENGLISH.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-GREATVOWELSHIFT.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-GREATVOWELSHIFT.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-GREATVOWELSHIFT.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-GREATVOWELSHIFT.htmlhttp://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O29-GREATVOWELSHIFT.html7/28/2019 Early Modern English-121
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During this period, a great interest in learning arouse in
England leading to the establishment of a group that is called
the inkhorn people. It refers to a group of educated people
who became more aware of the importance of language as
they studied the writings of the Latin and Greek languages.
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They called for the use of these two classic languages. Sir
Thomas Elyot and Sir Thomas More represented this group.
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ME with its many variations and dialects was
replaced by a new and more standardized language
with a richer lexicon and an established and original
literature.
What Aspects Differentiate ME from EMoE?
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3. The influence of the classical languages: Latin,
Greek and French remained strong and they
continued to be major sources of loanwords.
The Word Stock of English expandedgreatly for the following reasons:
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4. Spanish and Portuguese became new sources for
English to borrow from.
5. Many other languages as: Scandinavian, Italian,
German , Arabic and other Asian languagescontributed to the word stock of English.
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6. The British Colonization to America which started in
the 15th century. Native American languages began to
influence and supply English with many words, too.
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A standard language is the one that is widely spread over a
large area, and respected by its people and recognized for
its usefulness. English suffered once of inferiority from its
speakers, but suddenly during the fifteenth century it
gained a high status in the society and started developing as
the only standard language that should be dealt with.
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While Latin started to decline, English was studied,
described, codified in order to be given its legal status. In
order to gain standardization, English cared about two
aspect:
* Dictionaries
* Grammar Books
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I. The first dictionary appeared in
1604 by Robert Cowdrey. The
dictionary ( A table of Alphapeticall)contained 2500 rare and borrowed
words.
Early Modern English Dictionaries:
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II. John Bullokars Dictionary ( An English Expositor)appeared in 1616 for archaic words.
http://www.google.com.sa/imgres?q=john+bullokar+dictionary&hl=en&safe=active&tbo=d&biw=1024&bih=450&tbm=isch&tbnid=cYtqm0btrMnwNM:&imgrefurl=http://books.google.com/books/about/An_English_expositor_1616.html?id=qBwmAQAAMAAJ&docid=1AVMAcQuc6AuiM&imgurl=http://books.google.com/books?id=qBwmAQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&img=1&zoom=1&imgtk=AFLRE71dOu_0prgLJRmtoDBG2QeTRWLE0Ys52ie1NMT3RMCEkreDkzxDgHfmCtK5txsLlCOo0v2bF3KdvfhwmwEkRaO41rcDtmD_7Z9FnU6sMjTm9Y9l_HQ&w=128&h=206&ei=JVi3UM3xNamD4gS6vYHwDA&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=84&vpy=157&dur=1542&hovh=164&hovw=102&tx=100&ty=115&sig=102854347520975630079&page=1&tbnh=148&tbnw=83&start=0&ndsp=17&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:0,i:1057/28/2019 Early Modern English-121
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III. Henry Cockermans dictionary ( English Dictionarie )appeared in 1623 for refined and vulgar words.
IV. Thomas Blounts dictionary ( Glossographia)appeared in 1656. It contained 11000 entries with theetymology of words.
V. Edward Cockers dictionary ( EnglishDictionary) appeared in1704.
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VI. Nathan Baileys dictionary ( Universal EtymologicalEnglish Dictionary) in 1721 contained 48000 entries of ordinarywords with etymologies, cognate forms and stress placement.
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The most important dictionary was Dr. Jonsons Dictionary ( A
Dictionary of the English Language), an impressive academic
achievement in its own right, appeared in 1755. Dr. Johnsons
goal was not to reform but to register the language
It was significant for the following reasons:
1. It was the first English-English dictionary.
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2. It contained 43.000 words which helped to fix and stable the
spelling of English.
3. It contained illustrative quotations from famous works of
Shakespeare and Chaucer.
4. It was a model for OED which we use it today.
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It is called the Golden Age of English Literature dueto the extensive number of poets, writers play writers,
literary works produced and the number of words that were
coined and added to English at that time. The bible
translation from Latin into English continued.
Early Modern English Literature
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The most important poets are:
Edmund Spenser
EdmundSpenser was born in
East Smithfield, London around
the year 1552. As a young boy,
he was educated in London at
the Merchant Taylors' School and
Cambridge.
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Sir Philip Sidney:
was born in November 1554,
In Kent. He was the eldestson of
Lord Deputy of Ireland.
He studied at
at the age of ten. He didntcontinue his education due to
travelling all through the
continent. Among the places
he visited were Paris,Frankfurt, Venice, and Vienna.
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Edmund Spencers famous works are
Letter to Queen Elizabeth I
A dialogue Between Two Shepherds
Astrophel and Stel la
The Lady o f May
Certain Sonnets
Arcadia
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Christopher Marlow:He was a great Elizabethan
playwright. He was born
in Kentin February 1564.
His family was rich, so he
he was sent to the KingsSchool. His famous works
are :
* Tamburline the Great and
* Dr. Faustus.
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John Milton:
A great English writer
of the 17th Century.He
was also a great believer
in liberty. He studied at
St Paul's school. He
Attended CambridgeUniversity in 1625.
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He wrote the famous religious epic called Paradise Lost.Milton acquired a considerable reputation in his lifetime that
only grew after his death and he was considered the greatestof English poets in the Victorian era.
His other famous works are:
Sonnets
Paradise Regained
On Christian Doctrine
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