HEL 8
The Rise of
Middle English
1066:
William the
Bastard of
Who are the
'Domesday Book' — reckoning, account
Written Records of ME
5 Major Dialects:
Directional
Northern
West Midland
East Midland
South(western)
Kentish
(Southeast)
The North is the
Craziest
--most
innovative: Scandinavian/Scots influence
The South(west) is the most conservative
East
Midland/Kentish gives us the
Literature:
Loss of
continuity with Old English traditions
English poetry
ceases to be Germanic?
Layamon’s
Brut (c. 1215)
Romance--French
influence (often trans from French)
1350-1400: the
flourishing
Chaucer, Gower,
Langland
Gawain Poet
15th
Century
Malory, Caxton
Orthographic Changes
*SPELLING* CHANGES
West Saxon Old English
spelling conventions were fairly consistent and generally represented the
(conservative) pronunciation of Old English
-- - - - -but- - - - -
After 1066, Wessex (=West Saxons) is significantly less important, and Frenchies are in charge of the monasteries, which even
affects the spelling of English
OE > ME
Consonants
wynn > uu or w
ð / þ
> th
(þ sticks around much longer, 15th c., even: “YE olde”)
hw > wh / w /
qu in North
c
/č/ > ch cese > cheese
/k/ > k cynn > kin
plus
c begins to be used for /s/ “circle”
cw > qu cwen > queen
cg > gg > dg edge
sc > sh ship, shoe, shadow
f
[f] > f fox, five
[v] > v oven,
over
ʒogh
appears as a distinct letter, separate from g
h
[x] or [ç] > ʒ riht > riʒt (later > silent “gh”)
g
[g] > g good
[j] > ʒ gear
> ʒeer (later > “y” year)
[ɣ] > ʒ
boga > boʒa
(later > “w” bow)
VOWELS
æ > e
long vowels > ee, oo, (u >) ou, ow
For
visual clarity:
o replaces u: wulf > wolf, sum
> some, luf > love
y replaces i: life,
nice
i /j and u/v distinctions
did not exist yet
two forms of the
same letter
Like
s and long s ( ʃ )
Sound Changes
Consonants
Consonant
sounds become unpredictable
because
of overlapping Old English, French, and Latin pronunciation and orthographic
rules
Phonemicization
Allophones
become phonemic
/f/
and /v/ : vase
vs. face
/s/
and /z/ : zeal vs. seal
/θ/
and /ð/: bath vs. bathe
Simplification
of consonant clusters
hr,
hn, hl > r, n, l
(loss of d): andswaru, godspell > answer, gospel
(loss of w): andswaru, sword, two
(loss of /č/ in unstressed position): -lic / lice > ly
Metathesis:
wæps > wasp
bridd > bird
ðridda > third
ðurh > through
Metathesis of
Juncture
a
næddre > an
adder
a
naperon > an
apron
an
eacanama > a
nickname
a
noumpere > an umpire
cf. nuncle
Vowels
“y” merges with ‘i’
diphthongs
are reduced to e
Middle English Lexicon
Massive influx of
French Loan words at (almost) every
level of the language
Borrowed from
both dialects of French (Central French later--less assimilated):
/k/ vs / č /
Norman: carry, carriage, cauldron
Central: charity, chair, charge
/w/ vs /g/
Norman: waste, warren
Central: garment, garrison
Doublets
cattle / chattel
warranty / guarantee
reward / regard
convey / convoy
wile / guile
Wawain / Gawain
Sound changes
reflect when a word was borrowed
Assimilation more
likely in older words
Which sound “more English?”
champion chandelier
chestnut chevron
gentle genre
germ rouge
chief chef
Shift in Stress
accent up the word
pilgramAge
> PILgramage
courAGE > COURage
Doublets
moral : morale
gentle : genteel
liquor : liqueur
Variable:
fillet, garage, ballet
Influence of
Latin
Fourth Period of
Latin Borrowing
Least assimilation of
Forms
take
oblique form of word, drop inflectional ending:
informatio, information-is > information
consecratio > consecration
Often difficult
to tell if a word is a French of Latin borrowing
nature (> F
nature or L natura?)
scripture
Results of all
this Lexical Influx: Synonyms!
Modern English
has a massive vocabulary
ENGLISH FRENCH LATIN
rise mount ascend
fire flame conflagration
kingly royal regal
hearty courageous cordial
ENGLISH: cow, sow, calf, sheep, deer
cf.
FRENCH: beef, pork, veal, mutton, venison
