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The English Language in the Middle English Period

The English Language in the Middle English Period. An Introduction. Middle English (1066-1500). Many more texts than OE period No standard variety of English Dates: 1066 Norman Conquest 1100 Round number! 1476 First printing in England (Caxton) 1485 Accession of Henry VII (Tudor)

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The English Language in the Middle English Period

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  1. The English Language in the Middle English Period An Introduction

  2. Middle English (1066-1500) • Many more texts than OE period • No standard variety of English • Dates: 1066 Norman Conquest 1100 Round number! 1476 First printing in England (Caxton) 1485 Accession of Henry VII (Tudor) • Germanic, highly inflected ☞ hybrid (many loans), lightly inflected

  3. Chaucer, Reeve’s Tale (late 14th c.): How fare thy fair daughter and thy wife? And John also, how now, what do ye here? Ælfric, Preface to Genesis (late 10th c., modernized characters): Tha wande he ongean to tham cynge. God gesceop us twa eagan and twa earan. • also, literary familiarity (Chaucer, Christmas carols, folk songs, lullabies, nursery rhymes) “30 days hath September”

  4. But! Continuity • OE texts copied in ME period: laws, Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, homilies, psalters, medicinal texts, etc. • early ME carol: Sumer is icumen in Spring has come in Lhude sing cuccu- Loudly sing, cuckoo! Groweþ sed and bloweþ med Seed grows and meadow blooms And springþ þe wude nu- And the forest springs up now. Sing cuccu Sing, cuckoo! Awe bleteþ after lomb- Ewe bleats after lamb, Lhouþ after calue cu- Cow lows after calf, Bulluc sterteþ bucke uerteþ Bullock leaps, buck farts, Murie sing cuccu- Merrily sing, cuckoo! Cuccu cuccu- Cuckoo, cuckoo, Wel singes þu cuccu You sing well, cuckoo. Ne swik þu nauer nu- Nor cease you never now! Sing cuccu nu sing cuccu- Sing cuckoo now, sing cuckoo! Sing cuccu sing cuccu nu- Sing cuckoo, sing cuckoo now!

  5. Why were OE texts updated? • Antiquarian interest • Religious texts of practical use for sermons, devotional reading • Ongoing oral tradition between OE and ME - formula, aphorism

  6. Why didn’t English die? • Political dominance usually accompanied by linguistic dominance • By Chaucer’s die, French was foreign again • By 1076, English rebellion crushed - French the language of power (barons, bishops, abbots) • Anglo-Norman French • Kings spent a lot of time in France • Richard I: 6 months in England • William I couldn’t learn English

  7. The Reasons: • Extensive written literature, strong oral tradition • Vibrant vernacular religious tradition • Anglo-Saxon texts in 11th c. manuscripts (Beowulf) • Political uncertainty, continuing French/English strife - brutal occupation in 11th c. ☞☞☞100 Years’ War (1337-1453) - French the • language of the enemy • Not enough Normans in England (10-15,000 of 1.5 million) 3 million by 1300 • Most had no contact with French • Bilingual class (aristocracy, senior clergy, merchants): small • Pressure to learn English: baronial staff, clergy • Few French women came to England - lots of intermarriage - bilingual kids

  8. Lots written in Latin, restricted sphere of French • French used in formal domains (law, literature, arts) but never the sole official language • Role of English sharply defined: second-class in speech, rare in writing • Triglossia: 1 low status, 2 competing high-status languages (cf. Tunisia: French, Classical Arabic, colloquial Arabic) ☞ diglossia (Latin/Eng) ☞ monoglossia • By 1200, noble children speak English, learn French • But by ca. 1350, still very little English writing

  9. The Impact of French • English had to adapt to new functions - no suitable English for many domains • Old English now archaic • Law, architecture, estate management, music, literature - specialized vocabulary • Loans: not individual, but clustered • New words change pronunciation • New spellings • Foreign compounds, idioms, formulas

  10. Expansion of Written English: From Memory to Written Record • Many new churches: more scriptoria, more scribes, more MSS • New monastic rules/guidelines • More preaching, pastoral work (English needed) • Writs/charters: 2,000 in OE period, hundreds of thousands in ME period • Records of apprenticeship, guild membership, military conscription, court records, parish registers, manorial records, tax records, accounts of royal income - mostly Latin, but soon in English

  11. 12th Century Renaissance • New language in theology, philosophy, logic, law, cosmology, medicine, mathematics • Renewal of interest in Classics (Latin, Arabic, Greek) • Translations into English • English secular music/lit: poet-musicians influenced by Continental traditions

  12. From Anglo-Norman to French • 13th c.: French an international language of culture/fashion, but Parisian French - learned as a foreign language • French replaced Latin in administrative settings (court, parliament, business) - persisted into 15th century

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