A “Lighter” History of the English LanguageEnglish IV

English has gone through three phases

Old English Middle EnglishModern English

Old English

Mid 5th – Mid 11th Centuries Rooted in Germanic languages

Specifically Anglo and Saxon dialects Mixing of the dialects forms a new language – “Old English” Almost half of the most common Modern English words have a

Germanic root Examples – be, strong, water

Syntax is Germanic

BeowulfSide-by-Side translation of the first lines

HWÆT! WË GÄRDEna in geärdagum,þëodcyninga þrym gefrünon,hü ðä æþelingas ellen fremedon!Oft Scyld Scëfing sceaþena þrëatum,monegum mågþum, meodosetla oftëah,egsode eorl, syððan årest wearðfëasceaft funden. Hë þæs fröfre gebäd,wëox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þäh,oðþæt him åghwylc þära ymbsittendraofer hronräde hÿran scolde,gomban gyldan.

Listen! We have heard of the gloryof the Spear-Danes' people-kings in bygone days,how then the princes performed deeds of strength!Oft Scyld Scefing took mead-benches awayfrom troops of enemies, from many tribes;the warrior was terrifying, after he was firstfound helpless. He met with consolation for that,grew under the clouds; throve in honour, until each of the neighboursacross the whale-road had to obey him,pay tribute.

Important Old English Works & Authors

Beowulf (Author Unknown) Epic Anglo-Saxon poem

Middle English

Late 11th to Late 15th Centuries 1066 – William the Conquer invades England

William is French William replaces the Anglo-Saxon nobility with the French Nobility speaks French; peasants speak “Old English”

French and Old English merge in vocabulary and pronunciation Syntax maintains Germanic roots

The Canterbury TalesThe first 10 lines of the Prologue

1: Whan that aprill with his shoures soote2: The droghte of march hath perced to the roote,3: And bathed every veyne in swich licour4: Of which vertu engendred is the flour;5: Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth6: Inspired hath in every holt and heeth7: Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne8: Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne,9: And smale foweles maken melodye,10: That slepen al the nyght with open ye

When April with his showers sweet with fruitThe drought of March has pierced unto the rootAnd bathed each vein with liquor that has powerTo generate therein and sire the flower;When Zephyr also has, with his sweet breath,Quickened again, in every holt and heath,The tender shoots and buds, and the young sunInto the Ram one half his course has run,And many little birds make melodyThat sleep through all the night with open eye

Important Middle English Works & Authors

The Canterbury Tails (Geoffrey Chaucer) Narrative verse

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (Author Unknown) Narrative verse

Piers Plowman (William Langland) Narrative verse

Modern English

Late 15th Century – Present Two distinct periods:

Early Modern English – late 15th – late 17th Centuries Modern English – late 17th Century to Present

The Great Vowel Shift – change in pronunciation of vowels

Early Modern English

Begins in the late 15th Century with the Great Vowel Shift Further influenced by the dialect spoken in London

Increased travel from the city spreads the dialect Increased literacy

Pushes for standardization create “self-aware” words such as “accent” and “dialect”

Important Early Modern Works & Authors

The Works of “William Shakespeare” Le Morte d’Arthur (Thomas Malory)

Stories of King Arthur and the round table Considered an early novel

Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe) Renaissance and Restoration Drama

Modern English – What we speak

Late 17th Century to present Major difference between Early Modern and Modern is

vocabularyNumerous words added due to global colonization, industrial

revolution, and technological advances in general Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language (1755) first

full English dictionary Beginning in 1600s, efforts to standardize the grammar

Major Fails in Modern English Literature

The Twilight Series (and movies)