James J Comerford

ENG G301 C364

History of English

Dr. Susanmarie Harrington

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Study Guide: Chapter 3 Pg. 117-132

3.5 Why did the Grammar of Old English Change?

• Change of individual words (spelling and pronunciation) as well as key features of grammar.
• Kind of language has changed - from inflectional to isolating.
• Two reasons for change
• External (nonlinguistic) - political/social
• Internal (grammar) - standardization/simplification

Internal causes of change Nineteenth-century philologists thought of language as an organism - mutating & developing. Over the centuries the stress in English speech began to fall more and more on the first syllable - called the schwa sound (as in 'sofa'). Modern linguists think of language as a system. Speakers themselves began to delete endings of words. (See drihten on pg. 116 and compare to hus on pg. 119)

External causes of change Sociolinguists study language in relation to society. People borrow language from more powerful or prestigious groups. Scandinavians had a strong influence on English language, reaching its peak in the twelfth-century. Old Norse & Old English were similar languages. Many speakers of these may have been bilingual.

3.6 The Norman Conquest and the Influence of French

• Two views of the Norman Conquest
• Favorable - "milestone on the road to civilization"
• Unfavorable - corrupted the English language.
• 'Norman Yoke'
• Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe.1815.
• The deepest impact made by the French upon English was through the written language of the Parisian court. This lasted until the late fourteenth-century.

French in England after 1066

Norman French was the language of honor in England. It was spoken in the king's court, the court of law, and by the nobles. For 300 years after the conquest, all the kings of England spoke French. By the fourteenth-century the kings were generally bilingual. Bilingualism (particularly in writing) was necessary to rise in power within the church.

The influence of French on English vocabulary

By the 14th century, 21% of English vocabulary was French in origin. However, most, if not all of these words already existed in English. The result was more than one word to describe the same thing, for example, 'pig' and 'pork'. The French words had a more effeminate connotation, as described by Sir Walter Scott.

3.7 Examples of Middle English

• Most linguists identify three stages of the English language.
• Old - highly inflected and stable
• Middle - period of inflectional breakdown and instability
• Modern - standardized language
• Instability of Middle English
• Winchestor scriptorium discontinued
• Variability of written texts (difference in places, times)
• Poetry: adoption of French verse (rhyme)
• Ancrene Wise - thought to be written at Herefordshire priory, in1230.
• Example of West Midlands dialect. Similar to Old English.
• D. Polychronicon - written in Latin in 1327 and translated by John Trevisa into English in 1384. Trevisa describes difference in speech between north & south England. Another translation was made in 1440 by Bokenham, in south-east Midland dialect. It was called Mappula Angliae.

3.8 English in the Later Middle Ages

• Two views on unity of England
• national identity - held together by common language
• patriotism - held together by hostility towards French.

English and the law

Preamble to Statute of Pleading (1362) - peasants can't speak French, thus do not understand the law. Therefore, the law is written in English. Statute of Pleading happens shortly after Black Death. Labour has become scarce, workers demand higher wages, Peasants' Revolt occurs in 1381.

English and the Church

The Lollards protest against corrupt church practices. Perhaps this is one reason for the English translation of the New Testament.

English Literature

Creative writing is still written anonymously. "Our modern habit of naming imaginative writers and remembering their work," begins with "Caxton's promotion of Chaucer as someone 'ornate and fayre'."

English and the court

The Hundred Years War began in 1337. Although French was used in the English court throughout the fourteenth-century, "language became an issue whenever anti-French patriotism was aroused."

English and Education

In the year 1380, one year after the Black Death, schoolmaster John of Cornwall introduces English as a language of schooling. He is advised to translate into Latin as well. Any child who had been educated before this knew French (and possibly Latin). The teaching of Latin and English in Medieval English schools was done through French.

English and Official Documents

A London variety of south-east Midlands dialect, known as Chancery English, became the most common written form of English for documents of the crown. The Chancery scribes eliminated variations in spelling. Chancery English is considered the precursor of Modern English.

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