Spelling and pronunciation
There were major changes in the way the language was spelled. The Norman scribes listened to the English they heard around them, and began to spell it according to the conventions they had previously used for French, such as qu for cw (queen for cwen) or ch for c (see p. 78). The distinctive Old English letters, þ, ð, ρ, and æ, also fell out of use. Thorn was the last to be lost, being found until around 1400 before it was finally replaced by th.
Changes affected pronunciation too. The /h/ which appeared at the
In writing Middle English, þ was often confused with y – a confusion which is commemorated still in such signs as ‘Ye’ Olde Tea Shoppe, where the originator misread the first letter of þe as if it were a y.
beginning of many Old English words, such as hring (ring) and hnecca (neck), was dropped early on in the Middle English period. The /v/ sound became much more important, because of its use in French loan words, and began to distinguish pairs of words, as it still does today (fan v. van, etc.) The ng sound /ŋ/ at the end of a word also began to distinguish word meanings at this time (thing v. thin, etc.). And the vowel qualities which originally distinguished the word endings – such as stanas (stone’s) and stanas (stones) – no longer did so. The e ending of words was still sounded until around 1400 – words like tunge (tongue) were thus pronounced with two syllables, the final e having the sound /ə/ (as in the last syllable of butter).
‘Classical’ Middle English
The many linguistic developments which identify the period of Middle English are most clearly in evidence in the poetry and prose of the second half of the fourteenth century. There are several surviving prose texts, especially on religious themes, notably the Bible inspired by (and perhaps also translated by) John Wyclif – the first complete translation of this work into English. The passage overleaf, dating from around 1380, illustrates the state of the language at the time. It comes from one of Wyclif’s treatises, where he defends the need for a new translation. There is no need for a full translation, but as an aid to better reading, the manuscript symbol þ has been changed to th, and Ʒ to y or gh.
Naturally enough, most attention has been paid to the major poetic creations of the time. Among the best-known are the poems Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight (written some time after 1350), the Pearl (about 1375), both by unknown authors, and William Langland’s Piers Plowman (in manuscripts dating from around 1360). The universally recognized pinnacle of poetic achievement in Middle English, however, is the work of Geoffrey Chaucer, which – in addition to its creative brilliance – provides a wealth of information about medieval attitudes and society, and about contemporary linguistic structure and style.
The poetic language of The Canterbury Tales is not of course a guide to the spoken language of the time: it is a variety of written language which has been carefully crafted, and constrained by the metrical pattern of the verse. It contains many variations in word order, especially, which
From Wyclif’s Treatise, De Officio Pastorali (Chapter 15)
Also the worthy reume [realm] of Fraunse, notwithstondinge alle lettingis [hindrances], hath translated the Bible and the Gospels, with othere trewe sentensis [writings] of doctours, out of Lateyn into Freynsch. Why shulden [should] not Engliyschemen do so? As lordis of Englond han [have] the Bible in Freynsch, so it were not aghenus resoun [against reason] that they hadden the same sentense in Engliysch; for thus Goddis lawe wolde be betere knowun, and more trowid [believed], for onehed [unity] of wit [understanding], and more acord be bitwixe [between] reumes.
And herfore [therefore] freris [friars] han taught in Englond the Paternoster in Engliysch tunge, as men seyen [say] in the pley of York, and in many othere cuntreys. Sithen [since] the Paternoster is part of Matheus Gospel, as clerkis knowen, why may not al be turnyd to Engliysch trewely, as is this part? Specialy sithen alle Cristen men, lerid and lewid [educated and uneducated], that shulen [shall] be sauyd [saved], moten algatis sue [must continually follow] Crist, and knowe His lore [teaching] and His lif. But the comyns [commoners] of Engliyschmen knowen it best in ther modir tunge; and thus it were al oon [all one] to lette siche [such] knowing of the Gospel and to lette Engliyschmen to sue [follow] Crist and come to heuene [heaven].
are dictated by the rhythm of the lines, and many literary allusions and turns of phrase, which often make the language difficult to follow. It is no more typical of everyday Middle English than contemporary poetry would be of modern English. None the less, it provides a major source of information about medieval grammar, vocabulary, and (thanks to the rhymes used in the verse) sounds. And the opening lines of the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales, written, in the 1390s, undoubtedly contain the most widely recognized words in the whole of Middle English.
Whan that Aprille with hise shoures soote
When April with its sweet showers
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote
has pierced the drought of March to the root
Geoffrey Chaucer
The opening lines of the Squire’s Tale, as recorded in the Ellesmere manuscript
And bathed euery veyne in swich licour
and bathed every vein in such liquid
Of which vertu engendred is the flour
from which strength the flower is engendered;
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth
When Zephirus also with his sweet breath
Inspired hath in euery holt and heeth
has breathed upon in every woodland and heath
The tendre croppes and the yonge sonne
the tender shoots, and the young sun
Hath in the Ram his half cours yronne
has run his half-course in the Ram,
And smale fowles maken melodye
and small birds make melody
That slepen al the nyght with open eye
that sleep all night with open eyes
So priketh hem nature in hir corages
(so nature pricks them in their hearts);
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages…
then long folk to go on pilgrimages…
Middle English does not stop suddenly in 1400, but major changes do take place in the language after this date. By the end of the fifteenth century, the advent of printing (see Chapter 12) had fundamentally altered the character and quantity of written texts. And the pronunciation of the language had radically changed. Soon after 1400, the six long vowels began to vary their sounds, in a series of changes known cumulatively as the ‘Great Vowel Shift’. Chaucer would have pronounced the vowel in the middle of the word time like that in modern team; see would have sounded more like say; fame like farm (without the ‘r’); so like saw; do like doe; and now like noo. These changes took place very quickly – within a couple of generations – and they amounted to a completely fresh ‘sound’ being given to the language. To get an impression of the cumulative effect of these changes, we need to ‘translate’ the long vowels of a sentence into their medieval equivalents. For example, the sentence
so it is time to see the shoes on the same feet now
would have sounded more like this, in Middle English:
saw it is team to say the shows on the sarm fate noo.
The loss of immediate intelligibility is striking.
The Great Vowel Shift – it may actually have been a series of changes rather than a single ‘shift’ – marks the last major barrier between early English and the standard language of the present day. Once it was complete, there seems to be a lull in the pace of linguistic change. Sounds continue to change, but less dramatically. The grammar continues to develop, but in ways which do not affect the language’s basic structure. Only in vocabulary are there further major developments, and these, when they come, are on a grand scale.
The Origins of Modern Standard English
The main dialect divisions of Middle English broadly correspond to those found in Old English (p. 174), but scholars have given different names to
some of the dialects, and there has been one important development. Kentish remains the same, but West Saxon is now referred to as ‘Southern’, and Northumbrian as ‘Northern’. Also, the Mercian dialect area has split in two: there is now an eastern dialect (‘East Midland’) and a western one (‘West Midland’).
How do we know these dialects existed? The evidence lies in the distinctive words, grammar, and spellings of the manuscript texts. For example, the spelling (and presumably the pronunciation) of several verb endings changed from area to area.
The -ing ending (as in running) appears as -and(e) in Northern English; as -end(e) in parts of the East Midlands; as -ind(e) in parts of the West Midlands; and as -ing elsewhere.
The -th ending (as in goeth) appears as -s in Northern English and the northern part of Midland dialects – a form that ultimately became standard.
The verb ending used in the present tense with such forms as we and they also varied: it was -es in Northern English and the northern parts of the East Midlands; -eth in Southern, Kentish, and the southern parts of the West Midlands; and -en elsewhere. (None of these endings survived in modern English.)
There were several other reliable indicators, apart from verbs. They, their and them are found in Northern and West Midland English, but they appear as hi, here and hem in the south. Shall, should, and other such words appear without an h in Northern English (as sal, etc.), but keep the h elsewhere. And there were several distinctive uses of individual vowels and consonants. Stane in the north corresponded to stone in the south; for in the north Midlands to vor in the south; kirk in the north to church in the south, and so on. Sometimes, sounds from different dialects survived into modern English: fox has an f, reflecting its Northern/
The dialects of Middle English
Midlands origins; whereas vixen has a v, reflecting its origins as a Southern word.
Based on these criteria alone, it is possible to get a sense of the kind of linguistic detective work carried on by Middle English dialectologists. For example, this sentence is taken from ‘Love is life’, a poem probably written by Richard Rolle about 1400. Which dialect does it represent?
Bot fleschly lufe sal fare as dose þe flowre in May
And lastand be na mare þan ane houre of a day…
But carnal love shall fare as does the flower in May
And lasting be no more than one hour of a day…
We find sal, dose, ane and lastand. It must be Northern. On the other hand, there are many manuscripts where the solution is not at all obvious. Sometimes, a text seems to reflect a mixture of dialects, perhaps because an author lived in a boundary area, or had moved about the country. Quite often, the author is not particularly consistent – as would be likely to happen in a period when sounds and spellings were changing. Sometimes, most of the forms reflect one dialect, and there is a scattering of forms from another – suggesting that the person who was copying the manuscript came from a different part of the country from the original author. And analysts must always beware of the possibility that a form in a manuscript never had any linguistic existence at all – in other words, the copyist made a mistake!
Which of these dialects produced modern standard English? The modern language is in fact something of a mixture, but by far the most dominant influence was the dialect of the East Midlands. The map suggests why. The East Midland area was the largest of the dialect areas, and contained more of the population. In particular, it contained London, Cambridge, and (on the borders with Southern) Oxford – the main social and political centre, and the main seats of learning. The presence of the Court in London was a compelling attraction for those who wished for social prestige or career opportunities. The East Midlands ‘triangle’ was a wealthy agricultural area, and the centre of the growing wool trade. And it was also conveniently positioned between the Northern and Southern dialects, acting as a kind of communication ‘bridge’ between them. This last point was even recognized at the time. Here is a contemporary writer, the translator John of Trevisa, writing about 1387, and pointing out that
men of myddel Engelond, as hyt were parteners of the endes, vnderstondeth betre the syde longages, Northeron and Southeron, than Northeron and Southeron vnderstondeth eyther other.
The clinching factor was William Caxton, who in 1476 set up his printing press in Westminster, and chose to use the speech of the London area as the basis for his translations and spelling. By the end of the fifteenth century, the distinction between ‘central’ and ‘provincial’ life was firmly established. It was reflected in the distinction between ‘standard’ and ‘regional’ speech – the former thought of as correct, proper, and educated, the latter as incorrect, careless, and inferior – which is still with us today.
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Early Modern English
The pace of English language history quickens after William Caxton introduced the technology of printing into England in 1476, or so it seems. Apart from its role in helping to develop a standard form of English spelling and punctuation (p. 78), the new invention provided more opportunities for people to write, and gave their works much wider circulation. As a result, more texts of the period have survived. Within
‘Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? The Easter bonnet thing didn’t work.’
Punch, 2 May 1984
the following 150 years, nearly 20,000 English books appeared. The story of English thus becomes more definite in the sixteenth century, with more evidence available about the way the language was developing, both in the texts themselves, and in a growing number of observations dealing with the grammar, vocabulary, and writing system. In this century, scholars seriously got down to talking about the English language – at least, in its standard form.
Caxton himself was not a linguist or a literary scholar, but a merchant, who had lived abroad (in Belgium) for nearly thirty years. A large number of his first publications were translations from French or Dutch, and here he found himself faced with several major problems.
Should he use foreign loan words in his translation or replace these by native English words? Some people wanted the former; some the latter.
Which variety of English should be followed, given the great differences in regional dialect that existed?
Which literary style should be used as a model? Chaucer? Thomas Malory (who wrote around 1470) ? Something derived from the Latin authors?
How should the language be spelled and punctuated, given the enormous scribal variations of the previous centuries?
In publishing native writers, should he change their language to make it more widely understood?
If the books were to sell, the language they contained had to be understandable throughout the country – but, as he complained, although he wanted to satisfy everyone, how was this to be done? A famous extract from one of his Prefaces (see p. 209) gives a vivid account of the size of the problem. If even a simple little word like eggs couldn’t be understood by everyone, what hope was there?
Caxton made his decisions, as did other publishers of the time, and gradually a consensus arose, based on the speech of the London area (see p. 205). The distinction between what was standard and what was non-standard became more clear-cut. Within 100 years, there was remarkable uniformity in the appearance of printed texts, though some matters of spelling and punctuation (such as the use of the apostrophe) were not finally settled until the seventeenth century.
In 1490, Caxton decided to translate a classical work, Eneydos, from a French original, and in his Preface he talks about the kind of problem he was having to face (punctuation has been modernized):
And certaynly our langage now vsed varyeth ferre [far] from that whiche was vsed and spoken whan I was borne. For we Englysshe men ben [be] borne vnder the domynacyon of the mone [moon], which is never stedfaste but euer wauerynge [wavering], wexynge one season and waneth & dyscreaseth another season. And that comyn [common] Englysshe that is spoken in one shyre varyeth from a nother. In so moche that in my dayes happened that
certayn marchauntes were in a shippe in Tamyse [Thames] for to have sayled ouer the see into Zelande [Zeeland], and for lacke of wynde thei taryed atte forlond [Foreland], and wente to lande for to refreshe them. And one of theym named Sheffelde, a mercer, cam in to an hows and axed for mete, and specyally he axyd after ‘eggys’. And the good wyf answerde that she coude speke no Frenshe. And the marchaunt was angry, for he also coude speke no Frenshe, but wold haue hadde egges, and she vnderstode hym not. And thenne at last a nother sayd that he wolde haue ‘eyren’. Then the good wyf sayd that she vnderstod hym wel. Loo! What sholde a man in thyse dayes now wryte, ‘egges’ or ‘eyren’? Certaynly, it is harde to playse euery man by cause of dyuersite [diversity] & chaunge of langage. For in these dayes euery man that is in ony reputacyon in his countre wyll vtter his commynycacyon and maters in such maners & termes that fewe men shall vnderstonde theym. And som honest and grete clerkes haue ben wyth me and desired me to wryte the moste curyous termes that I coude fynde. And thus betwene playne rude & curyous I stande abasshed. But in my iudgemente the comyn termes that be dayli vsed ben lyghter to be vnderstonde than the olde and auncyent englysshe.
The Renaissance
The main factor promoting the flood of new publications in the sixteenth century was the renewed interest in the classical languages and literatures, and in the rapidly developing fields of science, medicine, and the arts – a period, lasting from the time of Caxton until around 1650, which later came to be called the ‘Renaissance’. This was also the age of the Reformation, of Copernicus, and the discovery of America. The effects of these fresh perspectives on the English language were immediate, controversial, and far-reaching.
The English Language: A Guided Tour of the Language Page 21