Middle English
1100-1500
1
A.D. 1100-1500 is considered to be the Middle
English Period
2
Stages of development of English
The documented stages of development of the English
language are conventionally reckoned as follows:
Old English (ca.500 -- ca.1100) Middle English (ca.1100 --
ca.1500) Early Modern English (ca.1500 -- ca.1800) Modern
English (ca.1800 -- the present).
There are no sharp boundaries between the periods
because language change is gradual and changes affect only
small parts of the language structure at any given time, so
that there's a great deal of continuity.
The standard dates given here are used for the following
reasons.
3
Historical markers
Our earliest surviving documents in English date from about 700; thus
Old English is reckoned from that date.
After the Norman Conquest (1066) writing in English declined rapidly,
most official documents being written in French or Latin.
Until about 1150, documents in English were still in the official Anglo-
Saxon court dialect that had been developed before the Norman
Conquest.
In around 1150, the documents shift to colloquial dialects and the Anglo-
Saxon court dialect disappears.
1500 is chosen as the end of the Middle English period because printing
had been introduced into England in 1476, so that the conditions of
survival of literary texts become very different from about 1500 on.
From about 1700, documents in English are recognizable as fully modern
in grammar.
4
English has come into contact with many languages.
In the early OE period, English co-existed with Latin.
Eventually, Latin usage was restricted to monasteries
only.
In the second half of the OE period, English came into
contact with Old Norse, the language of the
Scandinavians. This language was brought in by the
Vikings.
In the ME period, English came into contact with French
which was brought in by the Normans.
5
Middle English
Middle English is the name given by historical
linguists to the diverse forms of the English
language spoken between the Norman invasion of
1066 and about 1470.
6
The Chancery Standard
The Chancery Standard was a written form of English used
by government bureaucracy and for other official purposes
from the late 14th century.
It is believed to have contributed in a significant way to the
development of the English language as spoken and written
today. Because of the differing dialects of English spoken
and written across the country at the time, the government
required a clear and unambiguous form for use in its official
documents.
The Chancery Standard was developed to meet this need.
7
History of the Chancery Standard
The Chancery Standard was developed during the
reign of King Henry V (1413 to 1422) in response to
his order for his chancery (government officials) to
use, like himself, English rather than Anglo-Norman
or Latin.
It had become broadly standardised by about the
1430s.
8
History of the Chancery Standard
It was largely based on the London and East
Midland dialects, because these areas were the
political and demographic centers of gravity.
However, it used other dialectical forms where they
made meanings more clear; for example, the
northern "they", "their" and "them" (derived from
Scandinavian forms) were used rather than the
London "hi/they", "hir" and "hem."
This was perhaps because the London forms could
be confused with words such as he, her, and him.
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10
The most important reason for this dialect to
become the basis for the novel standard was
the strong economic and cultural influence of
the East-Midlands triangle: London-Oxford-
Cambridge.
This centre attracted a great number of people
from all over England all of them contributing
to the development of the new standard.
11
Many texts were written in Chancery
Standard, which shows more Midland
features and very different from Chaucer’s
English.
This dialect eventually became the basis of
Modern Standard English.
12
A further important factor that supported the
standardization process was the introduction of
the printing press by William Caxton in 1476.
The writers of the royal administrative
documents, had their office at Westminster
very close to Caxton’s printing press. It is
possible that their spelling influenced the
written standard as well.
13
History of the Chancery Standard
In its early stages of development, the clerks that used Chancery Standard
(CS) would have been familiar with French and Latin.
The strict grammars of those languages influenced the construction of the
standard.
It was not the only influence on later forms of English—its level of
influence is disputed and a variety of spoken dialects continued to exist—
but it provided a core around which Early Modern English could
crystallize.
By the mid-15th century, CS was used for most official purposes except
the Church (which used Latin) and some legal matters (which used
French and some Latin).
It was disseminated around England by bureaucrats on official business,
and slowly gained prestige.
CS provided a widely intelligible form of English for the first English
printers, from the 1470s onwards.
14
The change from Old English to Middle English
The Middle English (ME) period lasted from about 1100-1500.
Major historical events influenced the language change.
In 1066, the Duke of Normandy, the famous William,
henceforth called "the Conqueror", sailed across the British
Channel.
He challenged King Harold of England in the struggle for the
English throne.
After winning the Battle of Hastings where he defeated Harold,
William was crowned King of England.
A Norman Kingdom was now established.
The Anglo-Saxon period was over.
15
The events at Hastings were woven into the
famous Bayeux tapestry - a unique and
extraordinary document to reflect this
episode of English history.
The Bayeux Tapestry is a 0.5 by 68.38 metres (1.6 by 224.3 ft) long embroidered cloth — which depicts the events
leading up to the Norman conquest of England as well as the events of the invasion itself. The Bayeux Tapestry is
annotated in Latin.
16
NORMAN INFLUENCES ON
ENGLISH CULTURE
AND LIFE
17
NORMAN INFLUENCES ON
ENGLISH CULTURE
AND LIFE
18
During the period of their invasion which
was about 200 years, the Normans have
made tremendous impacts on the life of
the English politically, linguistically and
culturally
The Normans left behind their political
system (feudal system) and religious
influence for the English adoption
19
Since many of the Anglo-Saxon nobility were wiped
out at Hastings, the English ruling class was replaced
by Norman noblemen.
The Normans imported the feudal system and lordship
by taking the key positions in the state and church.
These positions correspond to the high ranks of power
in the medieval social order.
At that time, there were three strata of society which
were the nobles, the clergy, and peasants.
20
Since the schools also lay
in the hands of the church
in the Middle Ages, the
Normans also controlled
education.
In a nutshell, they
established the new
upper-class.
21
So why did the language change?
There are a number of reasons, but a major factor was the Norman
invasion of Britain in 1066.
The Normans spoke an early form of French, which quickly became the
‘official’ language of England, overtaking the native language for
governmental administration and legal matters.
But the Normans and the English had to communicate somehow, and
their struggles to speak changed the English language.
New French vocabulary was introduced to Old English, and the English
grammar gradually became simplified as the Normans struggled with it.
As well as French and English, Latin was also an important language in
the Middle Ages. It was used for some government business, for
education and during religious worship in church.
22
So why did the language change?
The Norman invasion naturally had a profound
effect on England's institutions and its language.
The Norman French spoken by the invaders became
the language of England's ruling class.
The lower classes, while remaining English-
speaking, were influenced nevertheless by the new
vocabulary.
French became the language of the affairs of
government, court, the church, the army, and
education where the newly adopted French words
often substituted their former English counterparts.
23
So why did the language change?
The linguistic influence of Norman French
continued for as long as the Kings ruled both
Normandy and England.
When King John lost Normandy in the years
following 1200, the links to the French-
speaking community subsided.
English then slowly started to gain more
weight as a common tongue within England
again.
24
So why did the language change?
A hundred years later, English was again spoken by
representatives of all social classes, this new version
of the English language being strikingly different, of
course, from the Old English used prior to the
Norman invasion.
The English spoken at this turn of events is called
Middle English.
25
Did you know?
For 150 years after the Norman Conquest,
most of the kings of England spoke no
English at all - although it’s thought that
some of them could swear in English.
26
MIDDLE
ENGLISH
DIALECTS
27
Traditionally, there are five major dialects of
ME. They are:
Middle English dialect Old English antecedent
1. Northern Northumbrian
2. Midland Mercian
3. East Anglian
4. South-eastern Kentish
5. South-western West Saxon
28
Middle English texts reveal that English went
through considerable internal developments
irrespective of the language contact situation
with French: The Old English dialects
evolved and became ME dialects.
29
30
Among many other features, the
Scandinavian influence can be seen in the
use of the plural 3rd person personal
pronoun they, which was first used in the
North and East Midlands and then spread
to the other dialects from there.
31
The Norman Conquest and Middle English
William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy, invaded and conquered
England and the Anglo-Saxons in 1066 A.D. The new overlords spoke a
dialect of Old French known as Anglo-Norman.
The Normans were also of Germanic stock; "Norman" comes from
"Norseman", and Anglo-Norman was a French dialect that had
considerable Germanic influences in addition to the basic Latin roots.
Prior to the Norman Conquest, Latin had been only a minor influence on
the English language, mainly through vestiges of the Roman occupation
and from the conversion of Britain to Christianity in the seventh century
(ecclesiastical terms such as priest, vicar, and mass came into the
language this way), but now there was a wholesale infusion of Romance
(Anglo-Norman) words.
32
The Norman Conquest and Middle English
The influence of the Normans can be illustrated by looking at
two words, "beef" and "cow". Beef, commonly eaten by the
aristocracy, derives from the Anglo-Norman, while the
Anglo-Saxon commoners, who tended the cattle, retained the
Germanic cow.
Many legal terms, such as indict, jury, and verdict have
Anglo-Norman roots because the Normans ran the courts.
This split, where words commonly used by the aristocracy
have Romantic roots and words frequently used by the
Anglo-Saxon commoners have Germanic roots, can be seen
in many instances.
33
The Norman Conquest and Middle English
Sometimes French words replaced Old English
words; "crime" replaced firen and "uncle" replaced
eam.
In other times, French and Old English components
combined to form a new word; such as, the French
"gentle" and the Germanic "man" formed gentleman.
It is useful to compare various versions of a familiar
text to see the differences between Old, Middle, and
Modern English.
34
Take for instance this sample:
French English
close shut
reply answer
odour smell
annual yearly
demand ask
chamber room
desire wish
35
Because the English underclass cooked for the Norman upper
class, the words for most domestic animals are English (ox,
cow, calf, sheep, swine, deer) while the words for the meats
derived from them are French (beef, veal, mutton, pork,
bacon, venison).
The Germanic form of plurals (house, housen; shoe, shoen)
was eventually displaced by the French method of making
plurals: adding an "s" (house, houses; shoe, shoes).
Only a few words have retained their Germanic plurals: men,
oxen, feet, teeth, children.
French also affected spelling so that the cw sound became qu;
for example, cween became "queen".
36
FUNDAMENTAL LINGUISTIC
CHANGES FROM OLD
ENGLISH TO MIDDLE
ENGLISH
37
o The contact with French had a
striking effect on English language. Contact
with French resulted in the vast amount of
French loan words that flooded the English
language and transformed its lexicon.
Example:
38
r
39
o A very similar process of code borrowing
happened in the Middle English period.
The French dominated the domains of
courtly life, government, administration,
the law court, and church. These are the
domains where most loan words came
from.
40
o Coming from the language of the upper social
classes, French loan words penetrated the English
language socially downwards from the prestige
language to the vernacular.
o In contrast, Scandinavian loan words entered the
Northern and Mid-Eastern dialects and from there
spread socially upwards.
o The high social status of French loan words can
still be perceived in Modern English.
41
o Words that entered the language from
French have nobler and more formal
connotations than their near-synonyms
of Germanic origin: e.g., mansion,
palace vs. house, home.
42
LEVELLING AND LOSS OF
INFLECTIONS
43
1200-1500: The Re-establishment of English took place
In the early 1200's, England had a trilingual
composition. French was the literary and
courtly language; Latin was the language of
the church and legal documents; English was
the language of communication among the
common people.
44
45
A series of events accelerated the spread of English during the 12th to 14th
centuries
During the thirteenth century certain events of history
combined to lift the English language from its humble estate
as the vernacular of a conquered people and to impel it on its
slow climb back to ascendancy as the national tongue.
By mid-century a large proportion of the nobility no longer
thought of themselves as Normans but essentially, and
politically, as English.
The slogan was "England for the English" and the outcome
was a linguistic, as well as a political, victory for the English
because Henry III was forced to agree to the appointment of a
commission for reform of the government whose proposals
were embodied in the "Provisions of Oxford".
46
Provisions of Oxford, 1258
The king accepted the provisions in a historic
proclamation issued in English, French, and
Latin; the first official document to include
the English language since the Norman
Conquest.
47
48
Devotion to England and its ancient
vernacular now developed such strength that
Henry's son, the great and energetic Edward I,
was able to rally the support of Parliament in
1295 for war against France by declaring that
it was Philip's "detestable purpose, which God
forbid, to wipe out the English tongue."
49
In 1337-1453, during the Hundred Years'
War, French became the language of
England's enemy.
50
Hundred Years' War, 1337-1453
51
The Hundred Years War
The Hundred Years War, lasting from 1337 until 1453, was a
defining time for the history of both England and France. The
war started in May 1337 when King Philip VI of France
attempted to confiscate the English territories in the duchy of
Aquitaine (located in Southwestern France).
It ended in July 1453 when the French finally expelled the
English from the continent (except for Calais).
The Hundred Years War was a series of chevauchees
(plundering raids) seiges and naval battles interspersed with
truces and uneasy peace.
52
The Black Death, 1348-1350
53
In 1348-1350, the Black Death cut the population of
England by almost half, causing serious labor
shortages. As a consequence, the importance of the
working classes, of artisans and craftsmen, was
greatly enhanced; and wages increased
54
Hundreds of Latin and French teachers and scholars died during the
Black Death plague
55
Faced with a lack of academicians versed in French and Latin, many
schools resorted to English as a common medium of instruction.
By 1385, the practice became general, and even universities and monastic
institutions started to conduct their curricula, or academic courses, in
English.
The emergency action induced by the Black Death engendered an
educational reaction.
Alarmed by the decline in what today would be called "language skills",
school-masters prepared and published manuals and workbooks of French
grammar.
Oxford and Cambridge enacted statutes (legal decisions) requiring
students to construe, or to interpret, and compose in both English and
French "lest the French language be entirely disused."
56
Concerned with the new insularity, or isolation, of English education;
Parliament decreed that all "lords, barons, knights, and honest men of
good towns," should teach their children French.
The historical significance of these developments lay in the fact that by
the fifteenth century, the ability to speak French had come to be regarded
as an accomplishment.
In schools and universities, French was taught, like Latin, as an ancillary
(unimportant) language requisite to the cultural wardrobe of the properly
educated person.
Government officials who lacked this accessory had to retain on their
staffs a "secretary in the French Language".
The linguistic balance had shifted forever.
57
Middle English is often characterized
as ….
Vernacular spoken and written in England c. 1100 – 1500, the
descendant of Old English and the ancestor of Modern
English.
It can be divided into three periods: Early, Central, and Late.
The Central period was marked by the borrowing of many
Anglo-Norman words and the rise of the London dialect,
used by such poets as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer in a
14th-century flowering of English literature.
The dialects of Middle English are usually divided into four
groups: Southern, East Midland, West Midland, and
Northern.
58
Background of Middle English
The Norman conquest of England in 1066 traditionally signifies the
beginning of 200 years of the domination of French in English letters.
French cultural dominance, moreover, was general in Europe at this time.
French language and culture replaced English in polite court society and
had lasting effects on English culture.
But the native tradition survived, although little 13th-century, and even
less 12th-century, vernacular literature is extant, since most of it was
transmitted orally.
Anglo-Saxon fragmented into several dialects and gradually evolved into
Middle English, which, despite an admixture of French, is unquestionably
English.
By the mid-14th cent., Middle English had become the literary as well as
the spoken language of England.
59
Middle English
The period of Middle English covers the period between the
twelfth and the first half of the fifteenth century – the time
when Britain was under the Norman rule.
The French kings who ruled England at that time spoke no, or
very little English and only some of them, as for example
Henry II understood it, but did not speak it.
As the French introduced their laws the predominant external
influence on the Middle English was French.
Moreover, many bishops, craftsmen and merchants arrived to
Britain which increased the influence of the French language.
60
Middle English
There were many intermarriages between people arriving to
Britain and natives and in the 12 th century English was used
by the upper class of the society.
At the end of that century children of the nobility spoke
English as their mother tongue and learned French at schools.
Although there are not many documents produced in the 12th
century stating the role of the English language it is known
that French was the language of law, administration,
literature and government, while Latin was used in education,
worship and administration.
61
A.D. 1350-1400 was a period of great literary
production in Britain
62
In 1384, John Wycliffe made an important translation of the Bible into English
Latin words continued to be absorbed by such writers as John
Wycliffe (also: Wyclif, Wiclif, et al.), an ardent reformer of
the Church, who insisted that Holy Writ should be available
in the vernacular, and produced his translation of the Bible.
Wycliffe and his associates are credited with more than a
thousand Latin words not previously found in English.
Since many of them occur in the so-called Wycliffe
translation of the Bible and have been retained in subsequent
translations, they have passed into common use.
63
Caxton helped to stabilize the language by standardizing
spelling and using East Midland (London) dialect as the
literary form which became the standard modern English of
Britain.
Wycliffe's translation of the Bible has such words as
"generation" and "persecution", which did not appear in the
earlier Anglo-Saxon version. Anglo-Saxon compounds like
"handbook" and "foreword" were dropped from the language
in favor of the foreign "manual" and "preface" (many
centuries later, they were reintroduced as neologisms, and
objected to by purists unskilled in linguistic history).
64
Wycliffe is credited with making English a competitor with
French and Latin; his sermons were written when London
usage was coming together with the East Midlands dialect, to
form a standard language accessible to everyone
65
William Tyndale, the man who first printed the New Testament in
English
66
The Roman Catholic church in England had
forbidden vernacular English Bibles in 1408, after
handwritten copies of a translation by John Wycliffe
(an earlier Oxford scholar) had circulated beyond the
archbishop's control.
Some of the manuscripts survived and continued to
circulate, but they were officially off-limits.
67
William Tyndale was born into a well-connected family in
Gloucestershire, England, around 1494.
We don't know much about his early life, but we know that
he received an excellent education, studying from a young
age under Renaissance humanists at Oxford.
By the time he left Oxford, Tyndale had mastered Greek,
Latin, and several other languages (contemporary accounts
say he spoke eight).
He also had become an ordained priest and a dedicated
proponent of church reform; a "protestant", before that word
existed.
68
William Tyndale was executed
69
In 1340-1400, Geoffrey Chaucer helped make English the dominant language of
Britain
70
Chaucer
He is credited with combining the
vocabularies of Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian,
French, and Latin into an instrument of
precise and poetic expression.
71
William Caxton, in 1476, was the first to use Gutenberg's
invention in England
72
The End!
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