Middle English

1100-1500

Introduction

• Many changes happened to the English language during this transitional era.

• These changes include: sounds(pronunciation), meaning of words, and the

nature of its word stock.

• Many OE words were replaced by French ones.

• Many OE grammatical distinctions disappeared such as dual number.

• Structurally, English in that era became similar to our modern English.

The Norman Conquest

• Norman conquest was worse than the Scandinavians’ on the English people.

• The Normans are Scandinavians who settled in the north of France, hence the name Normans which is an Old French term for Northmen.

• It started after the death of Edward the Confessor, who was the last direct male descendant of Alfred the Great to become King. Harold was elicited to the Kingship then.

• William the Conqueror -duke of Normandy- fought and defeated King Haroldin the battle of Hastings 1066 .

• Norman French dialect developed in England into Anglo-Norman, a variety of French that was the object of amusement even among the English in later times.

Linguistic Influence of the Conquest

• French became the language of the governing classes in England while the

majority of the public spoke English.

• The use of French in England ended with the beginning of The Hundred Years’ War 1337 between France and England.

• English borrowed many words from French, such as: chef, café and

citeseyn(citizen).

• Many of these words replaced Old English words.

Middle EnglishOld EnglishMiddle EnglishOld English

Countre (country)rīcePerischid (perished)forwearð

Middle English Spelling (consonants)• Just as French words were borrowed, so to were French spelling conventions.

• Instead of Old English’s ( ð and Þ ), Middle English started using ( th ).

• Also they started writing ( w ) instead of ( uu ). Flower – flour

• Old English symbol ( ᵹ ) was replaced by ( g ).

• The sound (v )-which did not occur initially in Old English- was introduced. Old English used (f ) instead.

• All English words that starts with (v) are borrowed from Latin or French.

• French is responsible for the ME spelling qu cwen – queen - gg ME egg.

• sh spelling was an innovation of the Anglo-Normans. OE sceal – ME shall.

• Under French influence, Middle E c in French loanwords was pronounced ts citee –city

Middle English Spelling (vowels)

• Used double letters to indicate vowel length, particularly ( ee , oo ).

• Double o became commonly used in late Middle English to indicate the long low-back vowel (ɔ ̅ ). OE rad – ME rood “rode”

• Final unstressed e following a single consonant indicated vowel length in Middle English, as in fode (food) this corresponds to the (silent e) Modern English, as in rate and case.

• Short u was commonly written o during the late Middle English era. OE cuman – ME come

Geoffrey Chaucer

• He is the most well-known writer from the era of Middle English.

• His most famous work is Canterbury Tales which is still read to this day.

• His work is our main source of information about language and society in

that period.