Professor Seth Lerer is Avalon Foundation in Humanities and Professor of the University of Chicago, 23 publisied 10 books, inci English of the Lan Guidebook Contents Part 1 of 3 Lecture 12 Introduction tothe Study of Language Lecture 2: The Historical Study of Language Lecture 3: Indo-European and the Prehistory of Enlish Lecture &: Reconstructing Mearing and Sound Lecture 5: Historical Linguistics and Studying Culture Lecture 6: The Beginnings of English Lecture 7: The Old English Worldvlew Lecture 8: Did the Normans Really Conquer English? Lecture 9: What Old the Normans Do to English? Lecture 10: Chaucer's English Lecture 11: Dialect Representations in Middle English Lecture 12; Medieval Atitudes toward Language Ti Tescanye Company S151 Lafayette Center Drive Site 100 Chantilly, VA 2015-1 Phone: I-800-TEACH Fax 703-378381 ate gow TEACH com =a Literature & English Language The History of the English Language, 2 Edition Taught by: Professor Seth Lerer Stanford University Part 1 Course Guidebook Py @THE TEACHING COMPANYSeth Lerer, Ph.D. Avalon Foundation Professor in Humanities and Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Stanford University Seth Lereris the Avalon Foundation Professor in Humanities and Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Stanford University. He holds degrees, fom Wesleyan University (B.A., 1976), Oxford University (B.A., 1978). and the University of Chicago (Ph.D., 1981), and he taught at Princeton University from 1981 to 1990, when he moved to Stanford. Dr. Lerer has published 10 books, including Chaucer and His Readers (Princeton University Press, 1993) and Inventing English: A Portable History of the Language (Columbia University Press, 2007), and he is the author of more than 100 scholarly articles and reviews, Professor Lerer has received many awards for his scholarship and teaching ‘including fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Guggenheim Foundation, the Beatrice White Prize of the English Association of Great Britain, the Harry Levin Prize of the American Comparative Literature Associaton, and the Hoagland Prize for Undergraduate Teaching at Stanford 12008 The Teaching Company. iTable of Contents The History of the English Language, 2" Edition Professor Biography Course Seope Lecture One Lecture Two Lecture Three Lecture Four Lecture Five Lecture! Lecture Seven Lecture Fight Lecture Nine Lecture Ten Lecture Eleven Lecture Twelve Timeline Glossary Biggraphisal Notes... i raphy Part | pes ei Al Introduction othe Study OF Language enon 2 The Historia Saly of Langvaze 3 Indo-European andthe Peis OT Eng 2 Recorsrcting Meaning and Sound 16 isevea Linguistic nd Studying Cutan 21 The Resinnings of English 25 The Ol English Worle eonnnnn dL Dish Normans Really Conquer Eng ane 37 {What Did the Normans Dot English? 2 Chaucer's Enalish 7 Dialet Representations in Mile Engh 52 Medieval Atitudes toward Language 56 ‘The History of the English Language, 2" Edition Scope: This course of 36 lectures surveys the history of the English language, from its origins a a ialect of German-speaking peoples, through the literary and ‘cultural documents of is 1.300-yeae span, othe state of American speech ofthe preset day. In ation to surveying the spoken and writen forms of the Tanguaue ove time, the couse also focuses on larger socal eonecras about language use, varity, and cange: the relationship between spelling and pronunciation; the notion of dialect and variation across geographical and eliss boundaries the arguments conceming English as an oficial language and the status of standard English; the role ofthe dictionary in describing and Prescribing usage: and the ways in which words change meaning, aswell asthe ‘manne in whieh English speakers have coined and borrowed new words from ther languages ‘The course isin three parts, Prt focuses on the development of Enis i its earliest forms. We begin wit the study of Indo-European, the posited $,000- ‘year-old original from which the modern and classical European raian, and Tian languages emerged. From Indo-European, the lectures move tothe Germanic branch of languages and to the Alo-Saxons who settled the Betish [sles beginning inthe ¥ century. Ok English emerges as he literary vernacular ofthe Anglo-Saxons and flourishes uni the Norman Conquest in the mid-11" ‘sentry. The interplay of English, French and Latin From the 11" othe 1 ‘etree generates the forms of Middle English in which Chaucer, among ters, wrote, and gives us sense of a wrlingual medieval Bish cule. Par 1 Begins with he reemorgence of English a an oficial language after the decline of Fench inthe 15" century. Ths sct of lectures charts the changes in pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary that distinguish Middle English from Maden English ci particular the Great Vow! Shift) Itlooks closely atthe ris ofan English Hterary veraculr, especially in Shakespeare, Min, the ‘King James Bible, and the detonaryof Samuel Joison, and it suggests some ‘ways in which We can trace changes in word meanings by using the resources of historical dietionares, Par II Focuses on American English and the modes of studying the history of the language today, The lectares explore the rise of America dale, differences between American and Gris pronunciation and usage ad the emergence of distinctive American voees in iterate, social crtiism, and polities. The lnguises of Alrican-Americans and he plage of English 2s 0 ‘world language texture our appreciation of te varieties of what Enis has bocome, andthe course conclides with soe provocations onthe scenic study oF language, the rise a linguists as an aeaderie discipline, a he Possible fare of English in societyLecture One Introduction to the Study of Language Scope: The purpose of his course fs to tree the development of the English langtage from its earliest forms tothe present. To do so, we need a ‘working notion of what language is and how itehanges—we need io Know the subject of our study. We also ned to develop certain tools For stung tat subjeet—we need a method. And we need 1 know ‘what questions to ask about the English language, beth in its historical forms and in its eurren usages—we need a pont of view In this etre, we will defer forthe mornent he lrg questions of subject and method and concenateon point of view. Many af are ners in the isto f language Because it nay hep us answer uetons ve have about anguge and soit ody. Questions about ‘he aandariaton of English, about English as an fal angung, nd abot the relationship among sping, pronunciation, grammar and sie areal anes we may have aed since made school This lsete surveys the coment and approaches ofthe course asa whole by Framing these questions historically. It anticipates mary of the iss we will explore in detail in inter lectures. It so provides a se of reference poins fr recognizing that even inthe welter of | ‘echnical deal sometimes necessary tthe historia study of Fgh, issues of langage and behavior vital to our lives are always behind this study, Outline ‘What is English? Where didi come fom? Where i it going? In hese lectures, we wll look at some ofthe ways in whic the English language developed fro OM! to Middle to Modern English and how the study of langnage inthe 1-21" centuries has affected the ways in which we tink ‘of ourselves as speakers ofthe language. [Ac Among the many questions we mus ask inthis stdy is: Precisely what isthe English language? Lets begin by looking at some passages fom aitferenc periods in English 1. The fist selection we hear inthe Nethumbriandialet of Old Enlish, the pet of Caedmon, from about the Year 680 2. The second selection i the famous opening lines trem Cheer" Canterbury Tales, sien in Middle English athe end of the 14 century Finally, we hear Hants famous solloguy, writen by Shakespeare in the late 16" century e BB. In this course, we will not simpy trace how the language change from ‘Old to Middle to Modern Enalish, but ve will explore metiods forthe study of language, We will ao look a problems that motivate the historia! stay of English, as well as texts and comets tat may help us understand the origins of English, is Herary and cular amis, and the Fate of the language 1 Many dobats inthe sudy of E pst. The ist of thes js: Should theo be a*stondard En ‘A. Ascariys the 10" century, teachers in the church schools of Anglo- ‘Saxon England argued about this sare issue. Some claimed that rules shouldbe established fo spelling, pronuneaton, dialect and usage. B,_ Inthe later medieval ptiod, from the 38 t0 the 15" centuries, ‘questions arose about shat constitued a standard. Should it be the speech of London oF another region? Should it include French wards? Inthe 16° and 17" centuries, pedagngues and pda dbated whether «standard shouldbe grounded in university education, D, Inthe 18% and 19" centuries, these debates were played out inthe courts, soos, and official loc of royal administration, E. American English also invites us o ask questions about a standards ‘Should we use regional standard as a model of should we take standards from learning and education? IML, Questions abou standards lead vs to another central question ofthis course: ‘Should the study of language be preserptve or descptive? [A.A itionary ostensibly records conan aspects of a languaze, such as spelling, mesning, pronunciation, and usage. But by recording such Aspirated stop th 1 Aspirated stop 4 k Aspirated stop 1V. What do these correspondences mean in practical fms? [AL We ean see historical elationships by comparing, for example, eerain English and Latin words lip labia, tooth dents, heartcardia: sllicholeri,kneo/genuflec, fou pedal BB, We can also use Grimm’s Law, and other sound relationships, t0 recover something ofthe world ofthe Indo-Europeans. 1. All the surviving Indo-European languages havea word, foe {meaning a certain amount of money), that cortespondsf ant word in Germanic languages and a “pe” word in non-Germanic languages. 2. InModem Gennan, Vich means cae ot cow: This eomresponds in Latin to pecos or pecuniary, words for money. What do these cognates (one meaning cow and one meaning money) tl us about 3. Scholars hypothesize that weal was measured in terms of| livestock in te early Indo-European word, The reconstruction of| sound here leads @ reconstruction of society 4. Another example found inte Latin word cara, which means dear one, The “ko sound at he begining ofthis word should correspon 0a “h-” sound a the beginning ofa Germanic word {and it does —avhore. In Old English, the word whore meant dear ‘ne. I later eae to mean ane who is dear thai, expensive C._ When we look st historical relationships among languages, we see how othe languages. 1. The Greek word Mos means fone shat has heen iransported by son or song, The Greek “Kl” sound originally corresponded to ‘Gonnanle “bi” sound. This sound cluster has been lost 00.u, b10 fens in our words fésten and ‘we retain the early relation: Tod. 2. Thename ofthe Greek hero Herakles (whom we call Hercules) s ‘made up of Hera, the goddess and hieos: dus, he is someone who has fame on aecount of Hera. 1D. About 25 years ago, Calvert Watkins, perhaps the greatest Indo- Europeanist of our time, as able to apply these techniques of language study toa tablet nseribed in Hite. According o Dr. ‘Watkins this tablet vas a Trojan version of Homer's Mad the epic tale {old from the point of view ofthe losers Reading: John Algeo, Problems i the Origins and Development ofthe English Language Albert C. Baugh and Thomas Cable, 4 History ofthe English Lanenege Emile Benveniste, Indo-European Language an Society. Calvert Watkins, Dhe American Heritage Diuionay of Indo-European Rooks, Questions to Consider: 1 What sth historical relationship btyeen English and the Germanic 2. Give examples of how Grimm's Law aecounts for diferenes in pronunciation among certain Indo-European languages, 20 {2008 The Teaching Company Lecture Five Historical Linguistics and Studying Culture ‘Scope: This lecture explores the way in which we may resonstruct sounds an meanings ofthe older Indo-European languages and, in the process, eam something about the shared ultural and historical contests fom hich the Genmanic languages and ulinaely English emerged. Indo-European resonstrction involves conducting statistical comparison of the sound relationships of cognate words in surviving Iamauaees, then proceeding back 1o reconsiueteriginal Indo-European Forms (In this couse, forms are identified as reconstructions by a preceding asterisk.) The semante values 0 meanings, ofthe survivin words are then compared to attempt toreconstuc a ld of menings for references forthe original er, Outline In this lecture, we'll extend our use ofthe technigues of comparative and historical philology to understand the socil and imaginative world ofthe Indo-European peoples. In particular, we'll see how the relationship between the real and the imagined in Indo-European eultue informs some ‘ofthe grea themes and genres of the Westem literary adition Schoars have reconstructed a belief system fr the Indo-Europeans based ‘ona pantheon, aealecton of many gods A. ‘The word pantheon itsell s made up of Indo-European roots, The word ‘hoo in Greek comes from the same reeonsiructed Indo-European root as deus or Zens: *aveu, This root means light oF shine, Overtime. this toot lso gave us the Latin word dies, meaning dy 1. Thus, scholars assume thatthe eiet deities ofthe Indo-European peoples were gods of sky sun, or lg 2. The pan in pantheon means al, but is also the Indo-Earopean root for fe. Scholars draw a connection here between the five fingers on one hand (ll he fingers) and the whole number or sum ‘of something. BL Atthe top of the pantheon would be the “henep estat, dens, sou, and pater, jarher This suggests a paternalistic structure othe ‘pandheon, and indeed the idea oF god the father appears in several Indo-European languages, inluding Latin, Spoken quickly together the words des pater Became Jupiter. The scholar Calvert Watkins found another “father god" inthe Hite langage. ©The word cre (in Latin, the verb meaning / alive) comes from the Indo-European rot redid Cred or kerd isthe rot fo hear. anddhcis the root for to pul, to donate, or fo give. Thus. credo comes from ‘am aneiont Indo-European expression that means 1 place Di defeat The Indo-European rot for to buris *sep-lo, which i elated to a \erb meaning to versrate th deal. ln Latin, this root became sepelie to bur, which became in English, sepulcher, IIL In ation to theological terns, he Indo-European languages are rch with legaltems, [AL Our words fa and legal come from the same words that give us to lin, A la practice or custo that links or binds the 1B, As mentioned in previous eeture, among the earliest correspondences identified in languages that descended from Indo-European rots were ‘words for rule ncerestingly, such words also survive in languages on the geographical peripheries of Indo-European culture, such ss ri in ‘Celie and rain Inc. This suggests that the Indo-Europeans caried their motions of rulership with them in thei aration. C. Indo-European peoples were also bound by habits of exchange, thats, _il-giving and hosting, However, Indo-European roots forgiving and ‘aking often descend into later languages with opposite meanings. 1. Forexample, the Indo-European root Ydhdbecame dorare caning fo ive, in Latin bul do, meaning 1 tobe oF fo receive, in| Hitite. 2. The root "nom, giving, became Nemesis in Gree. the god who retest justice, but italso became German nefines, meaning 20 ke. 13. The root “ghost descends into words meaning beth hos and ges, suggesting a shared social ritual. This root gives us xenas, surager, in Greek and bath hosus (ost, asin “host of enemies”) and stile in Latin, We see here a constellation of concepts relating wo strangers as bo potential fiends and enemies. IV, Reconstruction also gives us information about the physical environment and the economy ofthe Indo-Europeans, A. Many ofthe surviving Indo-European languages have roocvord pairs that el us they eultivated grain: "gréno, gra: *rughna, ye *bhares, art 'B, The Indo-Europeans also domesticated animals, as evidenced by such rotiwort pais as "gwon, con: swine: “agwhno, sheep; von Hog "ks, horse, Ierestinaly, all Indo-European languages share a word for dog or hound, but they do not share a word for ea. C. The reconsinited root *peku descends tothe oder languages: Latin, poennia reat) Sanskrit, pas (hese) (Old English, foo (cate) Od Norse, (nassessions) "Modem German, Viel (com) Modem English, fee 1, These words give ns evidence that livestock was form of wealth in Indo-European culture 2, The fact that many ofthe descendant Indo-European langunges share a word for yoke aso tells us that the Indo-European ‘economic system was based on domesticated animal agriculiane losing words in DD. As you recall, the” sound in Germanie languages corresponds fo an sound in non-Germanie Indo-European languages. 1 Germanic languages have a set of words, including flo. and ‘Feather tat seen o ggest maverent through a medi. These ‘ean be iaced 10 a reconstructed Indo-European toot, *pluo from ‘which the French phrase peu s raining is descended 2. Plo, the name ofthe ancient god ofthe underworld also comes from the same eoot a low. The underworld would have been associated with mining and smelting ore. and whem metal becomes mokon, it floss, Thus, Plato iste god of sueh wealth buried in the underworld ‘V._ The literary imagination fa point of considerable inerest. Scholars have reconsiriced shard words for poet and poeiy and for evan literary ‘anceps ‘A. The Latin word yates (seer) is cognate witha set of oer Indo~ European words: Old Irish faidh Chard, Old English wod (era). and the name ofthe Old Norse god Woden or Ocin, who was a master of runes, The Indo-European foot for these words is *iek, which relates to the image of crazed seer, a figure who is both a poet anda ‘madman, [B. The Indo-European roots we and *eks also mean weaving. In Latin, the verb serere means both fo weave with words, which wives us fst, and to eave with droads, which gives us ravi. Many works of literature inthe Wester tradition use the image of poss as weavers of ‘words C._ The Indo-European oot “deh means fo build fron mad or ele The 001 fpara means arowrd: hus, para degh means ro onerele witha ‘mud wall. From this derives the word paradise, which is simply an ‘enclosed space or garden,D, As mentioned earlier, eos is the Greck word for spokem fare, and from this word we gt te name ofthe hero erates. which means redownding tothe prose of Hera, 9s well ashe name Sophocles, who ‘was famous for wisdom. E._ Selo in the 19" century discovered thatthe Greek phrase kfeas “plnitn Candin fame) was an exact cognate withthe Sanskit ‘hase srs asim, and that bath phrases scanned poetically inthe Same a), This discovery led tothe ide of formulae in Indo-European poety and is descendants, 8 we sein such Homeric phrases as “wine-dark sea,” “cow-eyed Penelope.” and “rosy-fingered dawn.” F. Theconcep of the secret or the prophetic as ental to Indo- European literary and religious thought as isthe idea of fame or 1. The Grook word kalyprein means hide tis cognate with English fad, meaning a shell ora eovering, In um, Calypso i the Figure in the Osssey whois a sorceress, one wt hides or conceals, 2. Apocalypse fs the Greek forsaking vay the covering: Latin Uransates this as revelare, which means fo remove the caver or io revel bene, ealy biblical translators used revelation for ‘the fst apocalyptic book ofthe Bible Rea Eile Benveniste, Indo-European Langnge aml Soetey Colin Renfrew, Archaeology and Language: The Paczle of Indo-Enropean Origins Calvert Watkins, The American Heritage Dictionary’ of Indo-Earepean Rots. Questions to Consider: 1, How does the aet of reciprocal git-siving reveal itself in Indo-European Foot words? 2. What are some Indo-European cognates from the world of agreulture that have been passed down into English? Lecture Six The Beginnings of English Scope: English emerged out of mix of Germanic languages and dialects in the period roughly around the 6" and 7" centres. Our earliest recorded documents ine Brits sles are fram te late 7™ and early ‘centuries, but they give us insight into the kindof language spoken and rien up tox century ear. This Form of English, whi ve know as Old English, was spoken and writen by setts fom the Continent: he Angles, the Saxons, and the utes. Their eulture eame 10 this lecture, we explore the linguistic relationships of Old Enis to its earlier Germanie matrix, We look at key vocabulary terms, many of ‘which are sill in our own language, to trace pattems of migration, Social contact, and intellectual change. We also see how Old English was written down, what survives inthe language, and How the study of these writinas can help us reconstruct the woriview of the Anlo= Saxon peoples. ou 1. The language knovn as Old English canbe defined in four ways |A. Geographically—as a language spoken bythe Germanic settlers inthe Barish Isles 1B, Historically asa language spoken fom the time ofthe Germanic seitement inthe S* century until the Norman Conquest in 1066, G. Genetically as a Lowlands branch ofthe West Germanic group of Finguages. In other words, isa brane ofthe Germanic languages that emerged from languages spoken in what are now Holland nomthern Germany, and Dennark.) 1D. Typologically-asa language with a particular sound systern (phonology), grammatical endings (morgholog), word order patems (ymtax), and vocabulary (ess). ML, Old English is bounded by geography. |A. ‘The carist inhabitants ofthe Brtsh Iles were a group of Paleolithic peoples whe constroted Stonchenge and ther stoneeircle monuments, However, we have no ings, Iterary or verbal remnants oF thee lives 1H. “The caristinhabitans whose language we can recunsiruct wete Cec speakers wiho migrated fraoy Europe sometime inthe second half of the Pillans B.C:1, Modern Celtic languages include Irish or Gaelic; Wel: ‘Mans, the language of tie Isle of Man; and Erse, a language of the Scots. 12, The Celtic speakers brought with them an Indo-European pantheon, along with skills inion working and certain key ‘vocabulary terms. “The Romans colonized England under Julius Caesar and kept it as a colony until the mid ofthe S" century A.D. 1 Latin became the prestige language of adm and socal ite 2, Some Celie words seem to have entered Roman Latin during the ‘eupaion, especially words for gzokraphieal places and ‘Phenomena. The fact that England hs tre rivers named Avon, for example can be traced hack to the Celtic word for river. ‘During the lst decades of Roman colonia rule in te 5* century A.D. rou of Gemanie-speaking tribes and raiders began to sete portions ofthe British ses. 1 By the middle of the 5" century. raids and settlements became more frequent, and by end ofthe century, settlements began (0 spread from the south and southeastem coast into the southwest {in the area known now as Wessex). 2. By the year 547, a kingdom was established inthe north of England, north ofthe Humber River, by groups descended from the Angles, Germanie ribo tha: became known as Anglian, tration, education, By the middle of the 7* century, small kingdoms were being established throughout England, Some ofthese were minor outposts Tile more than extended farmstead or small villages, Others were larger, established on the ste of oer Roman fortified camps. The sword camp, infact, eomes from the Latin campos, meaning a forified enclosure As these setlements developed, Olt Enalish emerged as a distinctive language, but it alo developed four major dialects. Each dialect had both natural and manmade borders. 1. North ofthe Huber River in England was Northumbria, the fist real eemer of English speaking, writing, leaming literature, and colt. Inthe central part of England were the Kingdoms of Mercia and “Anglia inthe southeast was Kent: and inthe southwest was Wessex ‘The cenal pat of England, fom the Roman perio tothe present, was bifreated by the Old Roman Road, which ran from wht is today London to York. Different cultures and dialects doveloped 1 the west. and eas ofthe road ML Just as the OL English language may be divided into seo ‘Northumbria was the first area of Anglo-Saxon efflorescence, The historian knav as the Venerable Bede sho completed his Ecclesiastical History of the English Chur ard Peoples in 731. syas.a Northurbrian (hough he wrote in Latin), So, t00, was Caedon, perhaps the fist known poet inthe English lnguae. ‘a. The ateat Bibles and Gospels of erly English life were produced in Nonhumbyia, enormous hand-made manusrips Fich with illumination and olor b, The earliest written records we have in Old English are ferlnear glosses of translations of these Latin tests writen inthe Northumbrian dialer. 2. As we sti, in the mide ofthe country was Mercia, a loose collection ofselements and kingdoms, but the rel feat of later Anglo-Saxon culture was Wessex. ‘The most important dialect of Old English was West Saxon, the form ofthe language spoken and written inthe Southwestern part of the country. This was the dialect of King Alfred (4.899), who established schools and courts of translation wo teach the elasis in O1U English b, The influence of King Aired was so great that both Latin tests and Old English works in other dialects were translated nto West Saxon, & Inpublishing works on Old Enalish, scholars ofthe 19" and 20 centuries edited diem into West Saxon forms even if those ems were not the original hounded dale, othe Old English pri may be demarcated slags A. Aswe've noted the prod from the 7 shrough she early 9 centuries ‘eo the em of Norhtmbrian efferescenc, marked by 8 gh religious and iterary ctr, The monasteries of Nothumbris produced taut manuserips ofthe Bible and the ierary texts During the 0 and cari 10 eens, Wessex became the set of ‘Anglo-Saxon imellectul literary, and political ie During the so-aled enedietine Revival nthe 11 century, new schools were established fo educating stent in Enlish a Latin By the end ofthe 11" century, however, within a generation oro of the Norman Conquest, mich ofthis itera and intellectual ety had dlsappeaced. Anglo-Saxon bishops and priests were replaced by ‘Noman French ons. By the middle ofthe century, Od ‘vas Winall gone ishIV, Let's now turn to some of the major linguistic features of Old Enalish A Ina earlier lecture, we saw that Indo-European aban, of vowel _tadation (changes in the roo: vowel ofa word), was used to indicate ‘hanges in tense of aspect. In the Germanie languages, this inherited Indo-European phenomenon came to be used inthe development of the verbal system, 1. Strong verbs ar those that signal change in fese trough a change inthe root vowel ofthe word. Examples of strong verbs ae dink, hank, drunk: ry, rar and ink, dhonght O18 English is istnctive among the Germanic languages forthe number and class organization ofits strong verbs. 2. Weak verbs are those tha signal the past tense with a sufTis ending in “a? ord.” Theie rot vowels donot change. Thus: we walked love, loved eae, cared ‘Any new ver thot enters the English language will ener as a weak vet for example, felevise, televised. 4, Further, many stong verbs have been changed, overtime into ‘weak verbs For example, the word meaning fo grow, wus, was ‘once a sirong ver; not it has become war, waved. ‘5. Some verbs remain strong (shine, shone; hang, ng), bat weak forms have developed along with them (shine, shined hag hanged indicate differen aspects or differen roatonships. For ‘esample, yu might say," shined my shoes,” bu "The sun shone” Like al the Germanic languages, Old English had noun declension. ‘Nouns wer in diffrent groups or classes, To signal relationships ina sentence subject, direct objec, indirect object, instrument of ation — endings were added othe words, These are known a5 ease endings. 1. All he Indo-European languages hod such case endings: We see ther, for example in Latin and Greek and in masculine, feminine and neuter nouns ia many modern European langusees. ‘Note that this is prammatical gender, noc natural gender. The Old [English word for yoman, wf became our modern word nf, but it \vas. grammatically neuter noun i Ol English 3. Allconcept nouns (those ending in =ness”) were feminine in O18 English The wonderfil Old English word witherweardrese meaning stress, exhastion iain, sa feminine concept noun 4. Old English often signaled the plural of nouns with final". ‘we sil do today, but O1 English also had mutated paras; these ‘are nuns whose rot vowels changed between singular and pra: am, men: goose, geese foot, fe ae These nouns ate te result ofa complicated sound change that took plae in the early German pie, that is, while the Germanic-speaking peoples were still on the Continent and had not yet come tothe British Isles bb. The sounds in certain suffixes influenced preceding vowel. For example, the word dom mean doom: is vet fmm, 10 Judge ts domain, Over ine, thee" sound in the verd innuenced the preceding “o." changing the pronunciation of the wou to cemean oF deem This sound change shows ws how words entered the language primarily trom Roman Latin, when the Germanic wibes were Sil iving onthe Continent an had na yet broken up. Words that came int the language that early would change asthe Germanic languages split wp, and words thot eame that early into English would change according wo this sound chang 44. Forexsmple, Latin had the word amit for money: the place where money vas miade was 8 moneroram. With the sound change inthe Germanic Knguages, the “o-" in monetarun ‘vas altered to give us the word we have today a The Latin word monestarim (the place where a monk lives) gives us another example, With dhe sound change, this word evertally became miaisr. The Latin word amici (mean ‘one-twelfth of something) changed pronunciation in Old English vo become finch C. The OMd English vocabulary is immensely rich in compounds, new wards coined by combining existing words 1. Old English erated words by combining words, by ating preites, and by bringing tozeter oun and sulixes. In this way: (Old English speakers sansformed the Latin of the church andthe Latin ofthe Reman govemment into thai os form 2. When we look at the Ok English vocabulary, we're looking ata tension between words that are borrowed and words that are coined between words that come ffom outside and words that are used fo express foreign concepts in native ways, ‘3. In our nest lecture, we'll look at an extended example of perhaps ‘he most sublime case of sueh word formation —"Caedmon’s iyin" the calles surviving poem in any form of English Reading Albert C. Baugh and Thomas Cable, A History ofthe English Lamguage. FG, Cassidy and Richard N. Ringler, Brigh’s Old English Grammar nd Reader Richard M. Hogg, ed, The Cambridge History ofthe English Lamguage, Vol. The Beginnings to 1066‘Questions to Consider: 1. What were the major Old English dlets, and where were they spoken’? 22 Explain some ofthe typical characterises of noun and er forms in Germanic languages. Lecture Seven The Old English Worldview ‘Scope: We lef the Gemmanic peoples in our lst leture having separated from the Indo-Faropeanrotxteck of nage, moving nor and wes, and ‘inate spliting off ein ito varios elon groups. One such ‘fup came the Bria nein the Sand 6 cenies. The history ft people—and, ths, of te earliest speakers of what kan now ‘allthe English language writen in the words they we and the prety and prose they wrt. his leet, wel ook at fan words that eae note German language inthe cntinetal and instar pets of brow ing. and we'll se how th ist known poet in Faglsh,Caedmon sed he resources of his vocabulary an his erry inertance to give vemaclr expeession one Chiston concep Outline In our las leture, we saw how the geography and history ofthe British Isles helped shape O1J English asa language. In ths lecture, we enter the social and iiaginative world ofthe Anglo-Saxon peoples. A. We also noted the importance of dalect in the lst lecture parcels the emergence of the West Saxon dialect as national standard in the British Isles. "Cacdinon’s Hymn,” which ve will tum roa the end of this lecture, was originally writen inthe Northumbrian dalet ard Inter translated into West Saxon, The relationship between dialect and power and between dialect and culture will become oe ofthe central themes ofthis course down to the modern age ‘When we look at Anglo-Saxon culture, we're looking primarily at verbal anifaca: we need to explore how these arias built structures the mind, ‘A. The Anglo-Saxon speakers of Old Enalish tended to resist importing ‘words in favor of coining words based on their own roo stock. However, scholars have identified tw broad periods of borrowing in (Old English known a continental and insula. 1. The continental period of boring took place during the first cetries A.D. while the Germanic peoples were sil situated on the European continent and had contact witha living Reman linperia an eulturl presence. Words tha came into the Germanic Ioneuages a his point survive in Modern English 2. Ase know, the Romans were famous for their roads, and the Latin word stra, meaning sireet, appears in virally every Tanguige tha the Romans came into contact with. We might hink that seh words a8 srt, siasse, san and svado ae cognates(that is, they all descended from an original shared Indo-European oot but in fae, they descend froma Latin word that was consciously borrowed into he Germanic and oer European languages. 3. The Romans built roads to move their armies, and thus words for war ae among the earliest borrowings from Latin int the Germanic languages. These include such words as eamp, wall iil, ad pi 4 Latin words for trade also entered the Gomanic languages. For example, the Latin word campo means a seal! radesmny this entered the Germanic languages as cheap in English or Rauf in German, In Scandinavian languages, a tradesman was -ypmann, and his haven or pot was a kuypmannhofan, This ‘would later become the name forthe ity of Copenhagen, ‘Such words as wine, poe, and min were also Latin loan words that entered the Germanic languages during the continental period, along with words for specialty foods (cheese, pepper, bute, plum ‘prune, pea) and words fo architecture (chalk copper, pitch, le), {6 The Latin Caesar gave words for political contol in many languages, such as German Kaiser and Russian 0: 1B. By thetime the Anglo-Saxons eame to the British Isls, the Roman Etnpre ad been Christian for about a century anda half, During the 6 and 7 centuries, missionaries from Rome were sent o northern europe an the British Isls to conver the Gemanie peoples. During this insular period, Latin loan words for newer religious concepts, older Celtic teams from the indigenous Cehie peoples living in the British Isles and words from the Scandinavian languages of Viking and Danish raiders in England eame into the Germanie languages 1. Words from Celi and Latin Christianity borowed inthe 6®7 centuries include eros, pies shrine, rule, school master, and pol. ‘Words from Scandinavian Germanic languages were borrowed after contact wit the Vikings and the Danes during thet reds on England inthe 8°-9* centuries These words were distinguished by spectal sound inthe Scandinavian languages in particular, the sounds “sk” and 5" which coresponded tothe sounds "sh" and “eh-" in Old English, Thus, Scandinavian ski, knk skip, and dike have ‘Germanic family cognates in Old English shirt, church, sup, and lich, Scandinavian mnguages also had a hard “g” sound that was ot preset in Old English; the words muggy, nal. egg, and rugged are Seandinavian borrowings: certain words with the “I sound sich asf, were also borrowed UL, Old English also made sew words with distin ‘compounding, A. Delerminative compounding is common to all he Germanic languages 3. Inthe 10° und 11" centuries, during the period of the Benedictine Reform, mare elaborate an leamed Lain words care into Old Enalish, including Artois, qposte, cane, demon, fort ocr, Sabbath sya, dcr, Msn) paper a 800. ve approaches to and involves forming new words by yoking together ovo normally independent nuns or noun and an adjective 1, Examples of determinative compounding with to nouns include cearhring (carving) oF hoes (booksafl, meaning “leer” Examples with an adjective and a noun inelude middangeard (idde-yard, Earth"), federhoma (feather coat, plumage”), and bonlocan (bone focker, “body” 2, Many ofthese words make up the unique poetic voeabulary of Old English literature especially in metaphorical constructions known as kennings. A kenning is @ noun mtaphor that expresses 2 faniliar object in unfamiliar ways. The sea fr example, could be known asthe hromrad, whale road. Repetitive eompounding brings together words that are mary dential ‘or that complement and rsinfore each other for speifi effect. Thus, Fotos meant, essentially, wood-ood, in Old English r forest, _gangeliezre meant the go!ng-abour weaver or the swift-moving ome, that i, a spider. Noun-adjective formations constitute anther approach to compounding, giving us gresgrene (grass green, lofgeorn(praise- ‘eager, of eager for praise), and goldiroden (gold-adorned). In Modern English, ths form of compounding is revived in such phrases as kng- emperor oF fighter-bomber. Prix formations were the most common way of ereating new words in Old English and other Germanic languages. Old English had many prefixes that derived from preposiions and altered the meanings of ‘words in special ways, 1 Forexample, the prefix “and.” meant hack or response 10, Thus, ‘one could swear in OL English or undswar, meaning to answer 2. The prefix "with" meant against. One could stand or withstand Something in Old English, meaning to stand agains. 1, Old English poets and seholars used the resources of thei angus, in pri 3 it ability to make nouns through compounds and prefixes (0 an elaborate metaphorical and literary language. Most of the words mentioned in his leeture are nouns, and most ofthe ‘words that survive into Modern English from Od English are nouns and pronouns. ciinan vicheedin Came;1. Old English seems to havea tendency to develo lange clases of runs." groups of synonyms for clarifying concepts through Tepetition and restatement, ater than (25 we do now ts progressively nor distinctive adjectives or adverbs. 2, Dkk Enelish iterary diction i primarily msi fon forms of repetition and restatement, sine 83 fogather various connotations of thing or an en weed an Old Enis poem, wind he ‘ ‘metaphorical or imaginative aspects of it in the nouns and eect an ie moder (actives anda.) th The eet Engl poem and he ft example we hav fhe ature stSuataph ponte vocabulary "Carron Ht” composed cree er uur680, Belews the sory of Caden, aeouherd PSingin Nonhuria his Feet! M07 ie vn to Bee, Cavdnon os enburased case He 1 ae an hs cule pan soiling amore the sea Ome evening hes iste yan ngs ase hin sean the ereator’ and meas be sang hs Nu sculon herigean——_ heofonrices Weant, Meotoies meabte cond his modgebans, vweore Wablorfnder swale mundrapehoas ce Drihten, ‘or onsteade Hrearest sccop cofban bearnum of to hroe Sag Sormed Ju mildangeard moneys Wear, ‘ee Drie, alerted, Fir flan, rea aii re al abe encrking do's Ourdian L___| rcs mia is mindshow th sts othe Gna how be, each of os vos the somal Lod eased the begining Me Se shaped ocr’ in heaven asa ok the bly Creat Fons mila ais Cura, thecal Loses area theatre role the Lod nis 2 Ae ae aiut ip pen 8a alive. OF st re eal oem prety ealiesion Che ae a consonat roe sam), re ea phi tanto v, The poem is also formulaic: that is, it elies on set Formulae or sek phrases to drive home its meaning and eft. is profoundly repetitive and fill of synonyms Intemns of vocabulary, “Caedmon's Hy the divine &. God, for example, is he heofonrices Weard, the warden of the sich kingdom) of heaven He is also the Meotodes, the ‘meter-ont (one who delivers judgments) the I addocder father of glory: Drihten a secular or political lord (here adapted 10a religious sense; the Sexppend, shaper, creator: and Fre elie, Atmighy Freya. ‘aedmon’s Hymn” takes ase of words for divinity, -uletship, control, and authority and applies them to God. There is only one God, but many linguistic resoures for amin hi Caedon adapts the older pagan words fr ruership 1 a newer Christian purpose. The idea that Ciodereated the world by putting a roof on leaven, for example, is drawn from Old ‘Norse creation mths of building a roof for Valhalla, 4 In this way, “Caedmon's Hymn” gives ws a seas ofthe newness of Christianity. The Anglo-Saxon peoples had been converted for only few generations when this poem was composed, 'S “Caedmon's Hymn isthe fist example we have ofan attempt to ‘express Christan conceptions ofereation in native Germanie fon. suse of language tells us mich about the intereelatonships between English and Latin and between deteie and poety {6 The poem appears in marginal annotations (writen in Old English), to Bede's Latin manuscript ofthe Ecclesiastical Histon’ and in ‘West Saxon translation ofthe Misoras whole. This fact tll ws that it was imporant in Anglo-Saxon eulture as document of ©. We leam thee things from studying “Caedmon's Hymn.” 1. Caedmon transates Christian concepts into the older vocabulary of bright arrived in England? 'D. The stam of making meaning was changing atthe same time that indies tas plas fol expectant phenomenon Ve. Ler'selose again with poetry ‘A. As we sey when we looked atCaedmon’s Hymn." Old English po ‘was constueted with a certain numberof strong aliteatve siesses in eh line. The number of total syllables in the line was no relevant, nor ‘vas hyming importantScopes " Inthe last lecture, we saw some ways in which Old English, Lecture Nine What Did the Normans Do to English? The Normans brought a whole new vocabulary tothe English language, and in the process ey changed radically the ways in whieh words were formed, stress pattems were made in sentences and verbal cconsnictons and idioms were produced. But its also important to note thatthe Normans only initiated a series of borrowing periods from French This lecture looks closely atthe changes wrought by French in Frglsh during the perio fom he 1° through the 14 centuries In the process, it raises questions about what we might call he sociology of language change and contac Outline he language of| the Anglo-Saxons, was changing even before the infix of the Norman French, a For example, grammatical gender and case endings thet signaled relationships among nouns in sentences were beginning to disappear before the Norman Conquest, However. the Normans did bring new words, concep, and social and institutional structures othe British Isles that had an impact on the language and literature, Why do new words enter language? What happens when two languages cone into contact? A. Words are borowed mainly fortwo reasons 1. The first reason for borrowing is thatthe donor language is of _reater prestige. ler the Norman Conquest, French tems for ‘government, political organization, high cule (especially cookery), and educated discourse eame to be preferred, 2. The second reason for borrowing is that a vacant slot for borrowed word exists i the receiving language; in other words, iF there is no native word fora concept or hing andthe new language community brings that thing or concep in, then it With the new werd, But some languages, including both ancent and modem Germanic languages resist ringing in loan words and prefer to coin ther own. One Modern German word for reevsion, for example isa bit-by-bit translation ofthat word that means Jar seer: Fernseher win teleglbdnes A. The Nomnan French lonns came inthe 11"=12" ce 'b. In altering the vocabulary structure of English, the Norman Conquest di not simply increase the raw number of words, butt changed the vemacular inthe British Isls from one that resisted the acceptance of loan words to ane that accepted them almost voracioush: B, New words brought into language ean affect word stress. Inthe Germanic languages and Old English, in paricular, word stress was fixed on the rot syllable ofa word, bu this was not true forthe Romance languages, including French and Norman Frene, The idea o le word sires ean be seen in Modern English. 1 For example, the word record (pronounced "re-CORD’) isa verb, but record (with the accent on the frst syabl) is & noun. Here, diferent stress patterns on different syllables change the meaning ‘and grammatical function ofthe word 2, We see another example in canon (an accepted set of texts, values, or individuals, pronounced “CA-non,” and canonization (the aet of making a canon), with the stress on the “a” before “tion.” Changes also occurred in poetry. Old English poetry was aliteatve in siructure; hats the prineple of organization was the repetition of un inal consonant or vowel inthe words, combined withthe number of strong stresses in line 1 Recall from our last lecture the poem known as “The Owl and the Nightingale.” This poem was probably composed around the year 1200, and it seems tobe the frst sustained poem in English written in ectosyllabie rhymed couples (rhymed verse in which each fine has eight sabes and four stresses) Eventhough the structure is continental, however, the vocabulary is largely Old English 2. The fifth ine ofthis poem is as follows. plat was stif and sare and sing. The word plait, used 1a deserbe the debate between the owl and nightingale is from Norman French and is atthe hear ‘of our wont complaint. t's a technical tem fom French rhetoric meaning discussion oF argumeru 3. Theend ofthe lin, stand stare and strane, however, almost seems to be Old Enaishaliterative poetry stuguing to release ‘sel from the consraning French ootosyllabie line, 4. In this one line of poetry, we se the way’ in which contact changes the texture, stress, and literary structure of languages, in addition totheir vocabulary The borrowings from French into Middle English came during two periods, ‘ne associated directly withthe Normans; the eer, wit late Parisian or Central French loans, jes from the original group of conquerors, heir families, and their lineal sescendants,Both religious terms, suc as prophet, sant, Bast, miracle, paradise, and sacrament, and words of aca and pola contol Suchas prince, dame, master, our, rent, poor righ, prison, «crown, pape, and prov, entered the English guage. 2. Terms fom archiectie aso came it the fnguage, in particular the word eave 2 The Anglo-Saxons did not bul monumental in dessa ston: large sirictares were hui of timber o in int cab As soon 35 the Normans ried, however they ult east. 1. The word enue comes from Lain, meaning an enclosed or fortified encampment tn the Pterhoough Chronicle, the Hint line fa poem onthe death of Wiliam the Conqueror 1087) is "Calas he et wrcea" “Ho had castes uit” This ine sias linguistically the imposition of a new struecre onthe English landscape 4. The poem about Wiliam th Congueroraso makes an aswhward tempt at rhymed couplets. probaly the fist ich attempt in English The Anglo-Saxon writer tes 0 evoke not int the arehitctral change tothe andcape ba the posed change inthe language. Cancels he let wyrcean, Se cyng ues sa swibe state, 7 bena of his underpeoddan manig mare goles 7 ma hundred puda soles svibe swencean, Te ad ates ui _and [poor] men terribly oppressed. B. AfertheNoman | The king as ery severe Congues ane | and he took fom his ndeings wave of speakers | any marks of gol and hundecs came othe Bish | Seyi afar Is, bringing wih BL The Harley Lyrics, 3. Norman French initial “w-” (a glide) corresponds to Central French initial “gue” a stop): warden-guardian; ward- guard: wile- suis war-guerre; Willam-Cuillanne: Jv are easy to spot 1 coy, jay. 2 ‘extension, retention 3. Endings in “ment”: enolument, condiment 4 5 Endings in “ence” or “-aunce’ existence Endings in of" or *-our": eolur, honor. 6. In Central French, words that end in "-0us" are adjectives; words that end in us" are nouns, Thus, elfous isan adjective, while callus is noun. This spelling eouvention still works in Modern English The influence of French is especially apparent in matters of cuisine, itself French word, Sie Walter Seott noted in his novel vane that, ‘words for animals are Old English and words for meats are French, 1, We might imagine an Anglo-Saxon peasant raising a cow on his and, but when tha cow appeared as meat ona Nox Freachma’s table, it became hoeuf (bv) 2. Tho same ansfarmation i seen in calfveat, deer-venison, and sheep-inution, ‘3. Those kinds of pairings show us how French became the language of high culture, while English remained the language ofthe land. IV, Medieval England was a trilingual culture, A Latin had become the language ofthe church, education, and philosophy. French was the language of administration, culture, and couriership. English was the language of popular expression, regional dialect, and personal reflection collection of literature written probably inthe 1330s in Hercordshie, gives us clear evidence of writers and readers ‘who were, ina broad sense, trilingual. One poem in dhe manuscript (#2283) ends with this quatain them what is knows as Central or Parisian Freneh, inthe 13"14® centuries. 1. Note thatthe Normans (*Northmen") were originally a Germanic people from Seandinavia. Thus, the pronunciation of Nor French has some similarities to tha ofthe Germanic languages whereas the pronunciation of Central French has sounds that are far closer to those of the Romance languages, 2 Norman French words that begin with the “k=” sound (writen as *€") correspond to Central French words that begin withthe “sh-" sound (writen as cf} casile-chateaus catle-chatel cap-chopeat Scripsi hee carmina i wabulis Mon ostel cs em mil vile de Pais, May sugge namor, so wel me is sethi dese for loue of hite ducl hit ys have written these verses on my tablets ‘My duelling isin the middle of the city of Paris: Let me say no more, so things ae fine; But i die for love of her, it would bea pity. 2008 The Teens Compa ‘|The first line here is in Latin, the second isin French, and the third Lecture Ten and fourth ae in Middle English. This poem shows us the Chaucer's English brilliance of medieval lingual eukure, to be found inthe stratifieaton of languages. Se chia teed ot Lepios Scope: This sure prses the eel ees of Chaer’s English gos! 2A Eg shoo would re on hi tet in he nue of Testeay wares tpetenuspeial tte eaey otic veld wo Pars an aed tench st when he wanted to el a Neeser es mre ‘express himself and his love, he would have done so in his own Sores Ghats syle ste] npatelanc iy coe isi sins depayet ofthe enous of he na angunee ! ; atthe tine. Chaicers pty wor atthe velo guise choices Se eee ‘nd the history ofthe English language has his writing, and his age, 2s stand the npn oe French Ign dan pet on See thesis speling and west of Engl a wel soo the meanative world fhe ish se next ees, We ‘ont ar exploration o his mezhatve world y tring the Outline ety of Cher rer who was dsp lng thy pot of The rey ys. eu 1. aswonotd into last che aging of Latin, French, an Coexied in medieval Eland nals of verbal expression and ae experience Alert C Baugh an Tomas Cable, 4 Hii ofthe El Langage A ois i eiceer g oe cite eae eames A.W, Bemet an G.V. Smith ary Mile Eh arse and Pras, erent and LG GigE PAIL Eee ESRI Ee eed Noman Bisse, The Cambridge ory of the Engh Lnguage, Vo. > the ante ngage of esol expesion and nine 1066-476 conimunicton. 1B, These three languages coexisted for more than 200 yeas, and in her ‘Questions to Consider: coexistence ge ib 0 form of the vere that reshod ts 1. Why doesa perfectly heathy language adopt loan words am another Terry apogee the wings of Geary Chawer. langue : (Chaucer dhs major workin English, though eto, was 1 2. What are some of the major endings or clusters of letters that identify a ina sense. He had close contact with French and Latin, and his English sora as French in origin? Spmhesizcs several regional dialects D. Inti lecture, we'll explore the history ofthe language as Chaucer ‘experienced it and how he developed, out of that mati of English, French, and Latin, a supple poetic frm, vocabulary, and idiom, We'll also look atthe ways in Which Chaucer's language reflects the culture and experience ofits time. 4H. Chaucer was bom probably around the year 1340. Asa young man, he ‘entered aristocratic service sing high in the circles of court and the cy of London. He served in Parliament, and in the 13805-13905 he was lerk of the King’s Works, withthe job of staging events for King Richard I A. Chaucer's English, therefore, was te language of an educated public ‘servant in late 14"-century London, He od probably been sehaoled in ind familiarity with French in his service to the court. We Know that he made some diplomatic forays into Italy in the 1370s, Where he may have met the great Ialian poets Petrarch and Boccaccio,1B. Note tht in this ritingual world, there wore Some authors who wroKe in all tree languages, notably Join Gower, Chaucer's fiend and lay: InChaucer himself. we nda writer who knows oter languages and cultures and who synthesizes vocabulary, syntax. fonn and idiom into 8 unique literary expression ofthe cosmopolitan life of his time. Te central features of Chaveer’s language ae its pronunciation ‘vocabulary, syntax and grammar, and atitude toward language. |A. In looking athe first ofthese fearure, pronunciation, we know that ‘Chaucer’s language was a dialect of Middle English made up of elements drawn from East Midland! daletst help form what would become a Landon standard 1. The vowel system Chaucer used would have been very much ike the southern Old English vowel system and sinilar tothe vowels ‘of the modem spoken European languages. 2, The characteristic consonant clusters of Old English were lsappearing in Chaucer's ime. For example, Old English hing became rng: sa became whet 3. There were no silent letters in words, Finale" was usually ‘ranouneed a were al the syllables in a word such as marriage mariage”). 1B. Chaucer's vocabulary deploys forthe frst time a whole range of new ‘words from French and Latin 1. He draws onthe eared vocabularies ofthe universities, cout guilds, and European literary tradition. 2, Bute also relies onthe native Old Eng language, often, as we will see, for striking effect. (C._ Under the heading of syntax and grammar, Chaucer's word ord is often influenced by the metre of his poetry 1. The Camerbury Tales is writen in iambic pentameter(fve-be losyllable tines) andthe lines rhyme in couplets: abviously these constraints sometimes affected the poet's choices in word order. [Nonetheless far to say tht Chaucer's word order pattems seem to stand midway between the inflected forms of Old English an the Full uninfected patterns of Modem Enalish 8 Chaueor used the standard subject verb-objeet word order pattem fora declarative sentence. To aska question in Mie Enalish, however, the order of subject and verb was inverted (We do not see the addition of the Word do atthe beginning of sentence to ask a question unl he mid-16" century) Similarly, word order could be reversed for command, in lain of negation, or for emphasis: Gav you the Bull? Gave the hall, you? 1. te ball gave. ‘€ Itis important to note that negation, in Old, Middle, and even Early Moder English, was cumulative, Double negatives sh resources of his ‘didn’t cancel each other out; they reinforced each other. ‘Chaucer's description ofthe knight, or example, in the ‘Genera Prologue of The Canterbury Tales i follows: He novere yer newplanse ne Said um no maner wight, Wte never yet, 30 way, said anything bad, nolo, to nobody. 2. Pronouns were also important in Chaucer's Middle English, In (Old, Mid, and Early Modern English, a in many modern European languages, vo sets of pronouns were use In Middle English, the second-porson singular and informal pronouns were show (nominative), shee (dative and accusative), and shy or shine (genitive); the corresponding plural and formal pronouns were ye, yo, and your respectively. The distinction beoween these two sets of pronouns was one of| class, not simply number. ‘We must suspend our intuition in realiing that dee and won were ane informal, not femal 1V. Tie opening semence ofthe General Prologue to The Camerbury Tales shows us how Chaucer makes meaning out ofthe linguistic resources of his tame and place. As. we think of this leu ‘Whan that Apsill with his shoures soote The droght of Mae hath peed tothe see room nematicaly. we | yng bathed every vey in swich Hour seethe camera ofthe | OF which vers emgendre isthe Dour ee's eve panning | Whan Zephicu ek wit his sweet Breet “8 Inspired hath in every holt and heeth imperium othe The tendzeeropes, and he yong sonne surface of te Eath, | gah the Ram his hall cours sone, and we move from | And smal foweles maken melodye, te sky “the zodiac, | That slepen alte nyuht with open ye the winds—to the | ¢so pike em natu in hi eoraes) frcetoys andthe land. | “Tham longen folk o 20 on perma, iself; Wethen move | nd palmeres foro sehen sraungestrondes, fromthe periphery | Ty fern has, owe in sony londes: oF England the |” And specaly from every shires ende focal poin in OF Enelon to Cauntebory they wende, Caner. The hooly bist marc For wo seke, These opening ines | That hem hath olpen whan tha thy were justaporenow words | seek. ‘of French sn Latin ‘ovigin with roots and forms of Old English or Anglo-Saxon origin, We sce French, for example, n perce, vee, teow, and flow lew, Hower), ‘2008 The Teasing Compu »ee When happens that Api wih is Lary D. Benson, The Riverside Eton o the Works of Goffey Chancr meaning man, here, we | SM8et showers, has pierced the drought ivitopher Cannon, The Moking of Chaucer's English. Combined with ‘ein in that fui rom whose over the Seth Lerer, ed, The Fale Companion to Chawce catnired wegeta | flower is given binhs when Zephye also, sense of the power of | Withhis sweet breath, has inspired the regeneration tn the tender crops in every Wood and heather, a eae and the young sun has run bal of his 2. What wows in Chaucer's vocabulary suggest hat he was a cosmopolitan nes course through the sign ofthe Ram, and writer? Reeringtw he wind | ie ds make melo who sep al scab ae naw ys oen Go Nate stimulates then inthe hear) then mythology. Noe, 00 i ae cee | ee er atinaes tea oes professional pilgrims desire 0 seek i a strange shores; and they wend their way, inp Thi is, | especial fom the endo every oun perhaps the Fe wseoF | in England to Canterbury, in order to impress ave | Seek oly bist are ho bad Hoe helped them when they were sick, E._ In addition to French and Latin words, Chaveer uses English vocabulary. Zephirus's breath for example, inspires into the oft and heeth F. ‘The smale foweles come fiom Old English, while melod i ultimately a Latin ter for music, Note, however. thatthe birds are sleeping with their eyes open (having sex) because nature has pricked their corages, from the French covur (heart). In Chaucer's time, asin our ow i seems that the language of love was French. Questions to Consider: 1, Could Chaucer have read “Caedmon's Hymn as it was originally writen? G. To summarize, the words in this poem for high-culture concepts — 1, sexuality courtlness, poetry, and imagination—are the words forthe landscape are English H. In the final couplet e see the French word marr (art) enter the English language as an imported cancept word, but te alliterative hem hath holpen seems tobe areassertion of English forms. The riyming of| the same word with two different meanings (see [seek] and secke [sick gives a sense of profound closure atthe end ofthis first semence of The Camerbury Tales In these opening lines, Chaucer has writen the history ofthe English trace it: Freneh and Eng reassering itself, and an ‘world together in a profound synthesis of landseape and culture.Lecture Eleven Dialect Representations in Middle English Scope: This lecture examines some of the majr differences in Middle English speech and writing. ts goals are threfold: 0 look briefly at some of the linguistic features ofthe dialects themselves; o illustrate some of the recent methodologies of dialect study (a project that will bear rut Intron inthe course when we look at American dialecology): and to appreciate the literary presentation of dialects in Middle English poet ‘and drama (project, to, that we will see again when we examine the literary representation of American dialets) We'll elose the lecture by looking at selections fram Chaucer's “Reeve's Tale” and fiom The Second Shepherd's Play to sce how modieval writers used spelling Gevices to evoke the sound and sensibilities of people fom ater regions, Outline “Middle English is, one scholar has written, “par excelfence the dialectical pitas of English, in the sense that while dialects have been spoken a all, periods, it was in Middle English tha divergent local usage was normaly indiated in writing” [A. Scribes in ie medieval pesiod in England invariably copied text in their own regional dialects, giving scholar today valuable indications of pronunciation BB. As we saw in earlier lectures, regional dialect variation inthe Anglo- ‘Saxon period provoked national standardization. The Nontumbrian dialeot of “Caedmon's Hymn,” for example, disappeared inthe West Saxon forms ofthe translators in King Alfred's cour C. Mile English had varieties of dialects, many of which ad their own literary traditions In ooking a dalet in the works of Chaueer and ‘other texts, we can see not simply how dalet is transribed but how it is evoked thats, the way in which dialect humor and representation ‘ean be used to express social satire oF philosophical claims. |. Middle English had five major regional dialects that roughly corresponded to the Old English dialect differenes. The islet boundaries were both natural and manmade. The major rivers of England made up boundaries of speech communities, 3s did the old Roman roads, which effectively divided the country and, well into the Middle Ages, were sil she central ines of transportation through the island, ‘A. ‘The Norther dialect of Middle English was the language spoken north of the Humber River, in Northumbria ts most distinctive reaures were B ‘a rich Scandinavian vocabulary and a set of sounds keyed to certain Scandinavian habits of pronunciation 1. The predominance of “sk-" und "k-" sounds in Scandinavian (sh * and che" in Old English) beeame distinctions hetween Norther and Southern English. Thus, in Northern English, we have Krk and slit instead of Southern English church and shit 12, Asetof vowel shifts as aso important in marking the diference bberween Norther English and the dialects spoken in he south and the Midlands. The Old English long “a-” vowel sound eventually ‘become along “o- sound in Souther and Midlands Middle English but was retained 35a long “a in dhe aon. This istinetive difference would have been noticed by all eaders and ‘The East Midland dialect was spoken in the castern-cenral part ofthe ‘country, broadly tothe east ofthe old Roman north-south road that linked Vork and London. It wasan importa dialect because many Londoners cae from the area This dalet formed the bass ofthe majo literary language of England atthe elose ofthe Middle Ages: much of Chaucer is written inthe East Midland dialect. Tho West Midland dialeet was spoken othe west of te old Roman road and tothe cast ofthe border withthe Celti-speaking area of| ‘Wales, Ineleetal and literary activites in this region were centered in ‘Chester, near modern-day Liverpool, and the Wirral Peninsula, 1. The West Midland dialect had both diferent sounds and different morphology. 2. One distinetive feature was that it used the Old English form for she a ha o hoo, rather than the emerging form of ve. Studying ‘uch technical details enables us to dra dialect boundaries, The Southern dialect was spoken inthe southwestem part of England roughly eoresponding to Wesses. Southern dalets sound moce ‘advanced from ou perspective: that is they undergo certain sound changes that pass into standard Modern English pronunciation 1 The dialer’sdistinetive feature was the pronunciation of any inti “5 and "as "2-" and "v" respectively 2. Thus, the Southern dialect preserves some distinctions that pass into Modem English: For example, the words forthe male and Female far were var and vise in Southern English; te later word iskept in Modern English The Kentish dialect spoken inthe southeast of England was a Aistinetive form of speech well into the early Renaissance, preserving ‘many Old English forms, sounds, and words, Documents in Kentish also preserve the Old English case endings mare thon any other Middle English dialect,These Middle English dialects would have been recognizable as such 2, HemmizeseiPrepeh sorts ah psp eovmce end reverent) inthe Middle Ages. ‘emphasize his connection to the court in London. : 8 ‘3. Ultimately, one ofthe northern shepherds els Mak, Now ake on How did literary writers represent regional variation in speech for purposes ‘that Sothren tothe/And set ina torde! (Now take out your of humor or social commentary? Let's explore Chaucer’s"Reeve's Tale” as Souherm toorhAmd stick tin turd) ‘an example ofa dialect joke 4. In using francophone vocabulary and recognizably Southern forms and pronunciations, Mak, the impersonator, serves as a |A. Chaucer's reeve,a medieval overseer of seignioral land, isa mean- spire, slender. choleric man, who is also a eanpemte. In The Canterbury Tales, be is responding toa story tld by the miller about 9 ‘carpenter. “The Reeve's Tale” is about two students from the noth of England sho goto Cambridge University. In Cambridge, they buy thee grain from a corrupt local miller and wind up sleeping with the ‘millers wife and dager. ‘commentary on southem pretense, as well asthe Southern dialect Keep in mind that these dialect renderings are not transcriptions of actual speech but evocations of what a given audience would expect ‘erin people to sound lke. They give ws as much evidenes about alludes as they give us about sound. We'll look further at attudes ‘toward language change and variation in the medieval world in our rest leeture B. Chaucer emphasizes the fit that hese schol are rom the noth nd speak inthe None dnt Tr Chaucerevokes what his London audience would have recognized Readings sora Engh wih christen oF a hr ‘AC. Bas we Tunis Cant enue at Ae epee eet insted of ert : Lary D. Benson The Riverside Eton ofthe Work of Getey Chance 2. The students se ofthe phrase nd ra foto and highlights I , ae James Miloy,° Middle EngtishDiaectology,” in Noman Blake, e, The deabes af woelcigeng-e slag") ne tole voy casino ala) Cite Hany fe Euh nga Vo Tot 176 BMH Simp 4 Pay of Ep 3. The cacophony of Jas i! a milere as or ye "Lam as bad a niller as you are") would have painted the students as bumpkins. 4. The Northem English dialect influenced standard English withthe Questions to Consider: ‘migration of people from the north to the universities of Oxford 1. Inthe absence of mass media, would dialect variation likely have been 1nd Cambridge and vo te great city of London. greater inthe Mile Ages than todsy”? One of Chaucer's contemporaries, John of Trevis, wote that 2. What kinds of accents are caricature in such Middle English texts as The Norther English was scharp, sfsuymg and fowyng, and unschape that, sharp sling. fronting (serarching’) kd shapely 6 The proverb spoken by one ofthe students in “The Reeve's Tale” emphasizes the sounds ofthe north once again: Fave herd sey, "Man sal 12a of twa thynges'Sik as he findes, or taa syk as he bringes." (have heard it said, "Of two things, ane should rake Such ashe finds, or take suc as he Brings. ") Note the long “ae” instead of lng "o-" and the “k= sound so charaeteristie ofthe north in sink (such). Camerbury Tales and The Second Shepherd's Play? IV. In The Second Shepherd's Play, we see that if the south could make fun of thet, the non could certainly make fin ofthe south A. This play’is the second of two about the shepherds who attended the birth of Jesus. Mak, a sheep-stealr, pretends to be a messenger from the king, using exagecrates Southern 1. n speaking fo the northern shepherds, Mak uses the Southern ff ‘be, rather than the Nontiem 1s, which would have been humorous to the northern English audienceScope: This lecture exa Lecture Twelve Medieval Attitudes toward Language some atiudes toward language change and ‘ataton in the Middle Ages to understand how witrs ofthe pst confronted many of the problems regarding Social status ond language that we still deal with today. Beginning with abet review of Old English educational toditions, the lecture moves through 0 ‘consideration of Middle English writes who vrote about problems of ialeet variation, the relationship of French and English and the social and class isves raised by languages and dislects in contact. This lecture is a history of attudes toward the history of language—a look atthe problems of dischronie change and synchronic variation in previous contexts. o provide a background for our own dehates onthe Socal function of language and language learning, the idea of a standard or official language, and the ways in which spoken and ‘written forms define class and educational bour aries. Outline ‘As we saw inthe last lecture, dialect variation inthe Middle English period hod many levels of effect and many strata of impact. In this lecture, we'll develop some ofthe isues raised in that lecture into a larger se of analyses tnd descriptions of medieval aitudes toward language variation and change. During the Old English period, the ental issues for writers and educators were the relationship of Latin tothe vemacular andthe problem of | ‘educating students and conducting the business of government and culture in either ofthese languages. Moreover, central issue in Anglo-Saxon schools was the way in which the vernacular was used asa vehicle for ‘A. Recall thatthe West Saxon dialect (the dialect of King Alfred's ime and place) came to be developed asa standard. Alfred launched a program of translating the Latin elasis into OW English, 1, “He imported writers and scholars from Europe and elsewhere in England to help withthe project. 2. He came up with a canon of ext to read and stu. 3+ Heals suyaested methods of schooling the young inthe study of the English language andthe Latin classics. B,_ While Aifed made no attempt o inspose his own West Saxon dialcet on other writers ish were rewritten or recast into th ‘West Savon dialect. English schooling may have been conducted in the West Saxon dialect. We should note, however, tha this dialect was not inherently better than any other: i just happened to be the dialect ofthe teachers ofthe area (Winchester) where schools were established C. Acltheiwold(d. 984, bishop of Winchester, established a school then in which English and Latin were the languages of instruction. 1. He made English a primary aspect of English schooling forthe first time, with pupils learning thet lessons in both English and Latin, 2. He esablished a seriptorium at Winchester, where he personally supervised the copying and writing of text. 3. He sought to regularize the spelling, vocabulary choice, ad style of Old English prose 1D. By the Late Old English period, there arose an awareness of dialectca variation in the language, and some institutions, such as Aelthehwald's School, were established for the impesition ofa standard prose for literate Anglo-Saxons, After he Noman Conquest, the teaching of language and literacy was ‘compounded by anew set of linguistic problems: the choice of French, English o Latin, useful text to examine here isthe mid-13®-century tteatise of Walter of Bibbesworth, ‘Ac Walter wrote for an English gentry desirous of betting their French, because French had become the prestige nguage of court and leaming. ‘Walter's treatise teaches some important distinetions in sound, sense, ‘and usage in English and rene He reeducates his English readers in the idea of grammatical gender, in certain sound differences, and in ceriain patterns of syntax C._Walter's treatise also serves co illusirat the idea that the study of language i an education in culture as well as grammar. He offers an education inthe social arts of conversation, courteship, and inellectual discourse, 1 Walter distinguishes among the French words for dhe fp (la levere), he hare (le levere), the pond (lator) and the book (le livre The lp surrounds the teth.The hare hides inthe ‘woods The pound is used in trae,’The book teaches us cerge.” Im these four words, he distill the primary worlds of social aspirations discourse, huming, commer, and knowledge. 2. Walter also gives his readers four words for red each of which ha different social valence or register,3. Interestingly, Walter intertneated his text with English words 0 enable his reader to build up ther vocabularies. 4. This text offers a fascinating case study’of teaching across languages and cultures, IV, What are the philosophical implications ofthis crossing of linguistic boundaries? |A.. Medieval scholasties and theologians believed °Man is a grammatical smans havea gift of spoken lang specfialy a spoken language with rules. These sclolars also believed that humans had, sof speak, “fallen” linguistically 1. In den, before the fl, there was a unique concord between word an object. The names Adam gave to the animals earred within them the essential idea ofeach particular erature. After the fal, there was a splic between word and thing, and words became arbitrary 2, Forattempting to build the Tower of Babel, humans were punished by being granted mutually incomprehensible languages. We get a sense of estrangement in these stories, In Eden, language is cesranged from the world: in Babel, we ae estranged from each other 3. ASSL Augustine wrote in his $*century text The City of God, “The diversity of languages alinates man from man." Elsewhere wwe live “ina land of unlikeines, in a place of cisimilar B. Forte medieval theological mind, the world i transitory, mutable, ‘and ambiguous, and the same is tue of human language. V. Chaucer explored the mutability of language, both diachroncally (across time) and synelroniealy (aeross space) |A. Inhis poem Troilus and Criseyd, he argued that languages change meaning over tine: “You kno, 00, that the forms of speech have changed over a thousand years, and words that had meaning then now see fo us remarkably odd and strange 'B. Chaucer feared the misiing and misreading of his own poetry by seribes and readers who didnot speak his dialect. He was worried that his text, once recopied, mit not rhyme or sean. C. Chaucer was something of linguistic relativst in hs understand that language changes overtime and varies across regions. ‘VI. Perhaps the greatest medieval commentator on the mutability of English was a contemporary of Chaucer’, the historian John of Trevisa |A. In 1385, John of Trevisa prepared a translation in English of @ ‘work of history called The Polrhionicon by Ranulf Higden. Included Db with the trae ation WANS Gierie-Se. FEPYiES 2 OIL CoemT\eMEares Of the state of Enalish life and language. Trevisa argues that English began with three kinds of speech, Southern, Norther, and Midale, but contact with te Danes and Normans had resulted in corruption ofthe naive language. The result was regional English that sounded, to edueated London eas, ike “ltfing, chyteryng hareemg and gerryng grsbing: Part ofthe reason for this corruption was that schoolchildren were compelled 0 ive up their native language and learn ther lessons in rench, Further, socially ambitious men taught their children to speak French and spoke it hemselves in an effort to enhance ther status. “Trovsa noes that here are many different regional dialects of English but only one form of French spoken in England. He further finds dat the Norther dialects “so sharp, cutting, seratching, and unshapely that we Souther men may searcely understand it.” 1. He believes the Northerers speak this way “because they live near strange people and aliens that speak strangely.” 2. The use ofthe word alien rerum us to St. Augustine's ie thet the diversity of languages alienates man from man, 3. Trevisa also says thatthe kings of Englund avoid the noth itis a td of linguistic and political othemess. “Treviso brings up issues that resonate with our own atitudes tow ard English today; the fact that dialect variation can bea source of humor: the philosophical speculation provoked by diversity of language over time and space: andthe idea that the challenges for deserbing language ane invariably the challenges of preseribing VIL Let's pause here, atthe end of Part 1 of this course, fora brief review of ‘lieve we have been and where we ae gi A ‘We began with an exploration ofthe methods of studying the English language by looking at Indo-European and the emergence of Old English from a mix of Germanic languages. We saw that Old English was a highly inflected language that gradually ‘became an uninfected one, and we looked at the changes brought by the Norman Conquest in vocabulary syntax, grammar, sound, and poetry Inthe world ofthe Middle Ages, we leamed that Enalish men nd ‘women ved mltlingually: thai, they lived in a word in which language had changed and in which there was great diversity of dialect and sina of speech. They lived as grammatical animals in an alien world Inthe coming lectures, we'll se how this sense of alienation ite brought on radical changes in pronuneation, the spread of Englishacross the globe, and the evocation by Renaissance and modem writers (of land of wolbelness on the ween page Reading: 4-3" milleniom. M.T.Clanchy, From Memory to Writen Record Femand Moss Handicok of Middle English Thorlac Turville Pete, England te Nation: Language, Literature and National emit, 1240-134. 1° millennium Questions to Consider: 1. Canyou ete any evamples of “omruption” in the English you speak, write, read, and hear? St centuries 2 What wore John of Trevisss principal elit regarding diet and native language? Late 7 centry Late 9" cenury Late 10*-« iy 1 cemures 1000 1066, 108 MS oe Tims Be. An agricultural people originating southeastern Europe is believed to have spoken language that scholars consider the origina Indo-European, The Germanic-speakin peoples separate ‘out othe Indo-European group AD. The groups known asthe Angles, Saxons, ‘and Jats make incursions and, ultimtely, ‘solements in the British ses, Foundation of monasteries in Northumbria innorthem England. Period of "Northumbrian religious and cultura celflorescence. Age of Cacdmon and Bde --Reign of King Aled (871-899). Establishment of West Saxon hegemony ‘over Anglo-Saxon England and the foundation of schools and septa forthe teaching and writing of Old English ‘Translations of classic Latin texts into the vernaculr Period of Benedictine monastic revival in Anglo-Saxon England. Production of sermons in Old English by Bishop Aeliie and oer, Teaching done in English and Latin in Anglo-Saxon schools. Date ofthe Beowulf manuscript tex ofthe alist major long poem in English ‘Norman Conquest. Invasion of England by ‘Norman French-speaking noblemen and soliirs, Death of Wiliam the Conguetr. Date of last enty’in the Peterboronglt ‘Chronicle, thus ening te sustained writing ‘of Old English prose in EnglandAlexander Gil's Logonomia Anglia i Published. Reflects on changes in E and the importation of new words from ©1200 Probable composition of earliest poetry in 1619) Middle English (eg, "The Ov andthe Nightingale” Layamon’s Brut short ites), eae TANT as sse - vow: Royal clerks use English for official writing. language, it offical language by formal action. Dictionary, setting out his goals for (pig aa: the Rudiments of English Grammar. are Sr Eos 1762. Robert Lowth publishes the first edition of ~ - “ : “Americanism” in his writings on the 1 Noah Webster publishes the first edition of Dor Ea i treatise Bie his Grammatical Institute of the English Caleuta, announcing his discovery of similarities among the Sanskrit, Greekass 1ss7 1863 ise 1883... L886 1888-1933... 190s 19 oat 1933 1940s, 1987 in, Germanic, and Celtic languages, thus inaugurating the study of Indo-Europe. ‘Jakob Grimm publishes the revised edition of his comparative grammar ofthe Germanic languages vodifying the consonant relationships ofthe Germanic and non-Germanic Indo-European languages. Tis set of retatonships came tobe known 8 Grimm's Law _ Noah Webster publishes the frst etion of his American Dictionary v= Publicaton of the frst etion of Melville's Moby Dick (as Moby-Dick Publication of the first etion of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Gras. Great Mutiny in Indi: establishment of dlivect imperial ul in India Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, Publication of the frst volume of Soe! ‘Chandler Harris's “Unele Remus” stores, Publication of Mark Twain's Adventures of ‘Huckleberry Finn Fist publication of Hobson-Jobson, a guide to AnglosIndian English Publication ofthe Oxford English Dictionary originally calle the New English Dictionary distinguish it fom Johnson's, Publication of Oto Fespersen's The Growth ‘and Strcture ofthe English Language First edition of H. L Mencken's The American Language. v= Publication of Edward Sapt’s Language. Publication of Leonard Bloomfields Language, -» Work of Benjamin Lee Who on Native [American languages and linguistic theory. Publication of Noam Chomsky’s Shtacic ‘Siractures. revel tonizing the theoretical and, ultimately. politcal study of language, culture, and ming,THE GREAT COURSES Literature & English Language Professor Seth Lerer is Professor in and Comparative Literate a Stanford U He holds a PhD. fom the University of Chien rable Hisor of the Langage Professor Lerer has received many awatds for his olrship and teaching, inciting the Hoagland Prize for Undergraduate Teaching a Stanford Guidebook Contents Part 2 of 3 Lecture 13: The Return of Enslish asa Standard Lecture 14: The Great Vowel Shift and Moder English Lecture 15: The Expanding English Vocabulary Lecture 16: Early Modern English Syntax and Grammar Lecture 17: Renaissance Atitudes toward Teaching English Lecture 18 Shakespeare—Drama, Grammar, Pronunciation Lecture 19: Shakespeare—Poetry, Sound, Sense Lecture 20: The Bible in English Lecture 21: Samuel Johnson and Hs Dietfonary Lecture 22: New Standards in English Lecture 23: Dletlonaries and Word Histories Lecture 2a: Values, Words, and Modernity The History of the English Language, 2™ Edition Taught by: Professor Seth Lerer Stanford University Part 2 The Pence Conran 4151 Lafayette Center Drive, Suite 100 Ceri -a entree) g wu TEACHI2 com ry B 2008 The Teeny Company Pau na CenINeR OnanTable of Contents ‘The History of the English Language, 2" Edition Professor Biography Course Scope Lecture Fourteen Lecture Fifteen Lecture Sisteen Lecture Seventee ‘Lecture Eighteen Lecture Nineteen Lecture Twenty Lecture Twenty-One Lecture Twenty-Two Three Timeline Glossary Biographical Notes [Bibliography Part The Retwmn of English asa Standard. ‘The Great Vowel Shit and Modern English nn... 6 The Expanding English Vocabulary al Early Modem English Syntax and Grammar Renaissance Anttudes toward Teaching English Shakespeare—Drama, Grammar, Pronunciation Shakespeare Posty. Sond, Sense. The Bible in English ‘Same! Jolinson and His Ditionary [New Standards in English Dictionaries and Word Histories. a Values, Wont, and Modes nS Part on 36 6 Pare th The History of the English Language, 2" Edition course of 36 lectures survey the history ofthe English language, from its in sa dialect of Germanie-speaking peoples. through the Hera and cultural documents of is, S00-year span, tothe sate of American speceh ofthe preset dy. In adition to Surveying the spoken and writen forms of the anguage over tine, the couse also facuses on larger social concerns about Janguage use, varcty, and change: the lationship benween spelling and pronunciation: the tion of dialect and variation across geographical and class boundaries the arguments concerning English a an offical language andthe status of stardard English the role of the ditionary in deserbing and peesribing usage and the way’ in which words change meaning, a wells the ‘manne in which English speakers have coined and bortowed new words fons oer languages. “The course i in tres parts, Part focuses onthe development of English ints eaulest forms. We begin withthe study of Indo-European. the posited .000- Yyearold orignal fom which the modem and clssieal European, ranian, and Indian guages emerged, Frm Indo-European the lectures move tothe Germanic brane of languages alto the Anglo-Saxons who settled the Britsh Isles begining in the 5 century, Old English emerges as the literary vernacular ofthe Anglo-Sexons and forishes uni the Norman Conguestin the midst" century, The interplay of English, French, and Lain fram the {1 tothe |S" entries generate the forms of idle Enelish in which Chavee. anions oes, rote, ad wives usa sense oF a ilngual medieval British Por fl begins with the remergenee of English as an oficial amguage alte the decline of French in the 15" century. This set of leetres chars the changes in [ronuncation, grammar, and vocabulary’ that distinguish Middle English fom “Modera English in particular the Great Vowel Shit) tTookselosely atthe rise ofan English literary vernacular, especialy in Shakespeare, Milton, he King James Bible, and te dictionary of Samwel Johnson, and it suggests some ‘ways in which we ean trace changes in word ineanings by sing the resourees of| Historie dictionaries, Par UI focuses on American English and the modes of studying the history of the language foday. The lectures explore the rso of American dae, dlfrences between Ameriean and British pronuneation and usage, and the “emergence of distinctive America voices i literatre social eis, and polities. The languages of Affican-Americans and the place of En ‘world kingwage texture our appreciation ofthe varieties of what E become, and the course conclides with some provocations onthe study of language, the se of Tingusties as an academic deipine ond the possible future of English in societyLecture Thirteen The Return of English as a Standard Scope: This lecture surveys the history of English from the late 14 tothe ceatly 16 centuries, to illstrarethe ways in whieh political and tudes returned it the status ofthe prestige vernacular (over French) also looks at some ofthe important instttions—the court, the lw, and comeeree, in patcular—that helped effes the return of English asa standard, Finally this leeture examines some aitudes of the time toward the taus of English in relationship to French, and toward the question of English regional dialets The importation ofthe printing press by William Caxton inthe 1470s had a significant effet ‘on what kindof English came tobe ead and written an, in tur, what the relationships were between literary English and “oficial” English Outline ‘As we've sen, throughout the Middle Ages, there were three languages ‘sed inthe British Isles, sith Latin and French asthe prestige languages of court and eukure,edveation, and economy. During the late 14 and early 15” centuries, however. English seemed to retum asa prestige language A. In this and the next Few lectures, we will discus how English reasserted itself fier the decline of French in the late Middle Ages, nd ‘whats diferent about English in its reemereene. 1H, Well also chart some changes from the English of Chaweer othe time oF Shakespeare, and we'll explore in detail how Modem English finaly emerged. English didnot, of course disappear after the Norman Conquest. Even though French became theofficial language of eourt and commerce and Latin vas used inthe church and wiversity, English remained the vehicle for imaginative expression, How did it rem asthe language of ffeil proclamation, eeaomie contol, and political and social order? A. The first “official” wse of English after the conquest was inthe proclamation of Henry Il from 18 October 1258, in which he swears to observe the dictates ofthe Magna Carta (1215) 1. This document was also ised in French and Latin, What is resting not jst dat Homey elt the nee to prepare atest in Enlis, but that the Enis text i obvieusly a translation ofthe ich one. French was Henrys language and sil he oficial language of the cour 2. comparison ofthe French and Middle English setsons ofthe locurent cal that the warsaordtiberately we arhaie sounding English words and phrases fr poll effet B._Pariament as not adds in English until 1362, ancl even attr tha, time the ects speeches were sil kept in French 1. Wekow iat some people spoke in English becasecerain -peeehs wor indice in the Rota Porfementornin (The Rls of Pactiamert with the pease Moire en Enos, "announced in Engl 2 Wecdon' know whether tansrotons ofthe speches were made in Enalish and then transsed to enc, of wheter he seribes ‘were bilingual and were able o take dition in French while English was boing spoken, C. Atte end af the f entny and the hesiming ofthe 15 cae to predominate athe ffl language of record 1. By 1423, Pariament’s rears were kee viral lin English, 2 Henry V(r. I413-142) established Enalish a a offi langue. 3 States us hase on patitions) wer inthe flowin languages in Latin to 1300; n French ut 485: n English and French from 1485 co 1489; and solely in English afer 1488, L._ The London Brewer's Gil adpeed English a its ft language of recordin 1422. 1307, the Earl of Kent made what we believe was the fist major noble English wil afer the Norman Congas. 438 the Countess of Stafford made he wll in Enis. The wills of kings Henry IV, Henry Ve and Henry VI were all Enis 6 Shakespeare Wea so fra present Henry Vas nt even conversant in French, an example ofthe rewting of histor. Some erties are that Chaucer's revival ne 1S* centr was isl the prodet ofa nationalistic movement De Aste esti of ih oe. Fehr dein By the early 1250s, the printer Wily Casto (1430-1852) ‘oul ite hate greatest numberof people the realm of England undersood neither Latin nor French body of evidence that bythe endothe 13° cenry reach became less and es the nage of cle and social presi. IIL & standord form of English accompanied the rise ofthe institution known as “Chancery.” ‘Ae Chancery comes from the word chancel, or chapel ofthe King, where tho chaplains ofthe court originally spent ther time between serves wating the king’ etersWV B._By the end ofthe 14" century, Chancery was the production louse for official govemment documents. By the mid-18 century, the term came to refer othe national bureaucracy as a witole (except forthe Exchequer, the economic side of administration. C. Chancery established special forms of speling and handwriting that were taught 0 sctbes forthe production of oficial documents ‘William Castom opened his print shop in Westminster, the site of Chancery and the administrative seat of government to establish the idea that hs documents were printed in “oficial” English (Chancery English). 1. Chancery English contributed to the development ofa form of writ that was a standard, respective ofthe speech or dalet of the writer 1. Spelling was standardized without reward for pronunciation, 2 The oficial language ecase to represent any living spoken dialect. 3. Writing became tuly conventional and abitrary Chancery was the first standard of writing inthe vernacular in England since Aethclwold’s school at Winchester 400 oso years before, E. Chancery English survives for us today in a set of petitions, such asthe ‘one fom the royal orator Williams Walsh writen to King Henry Vin 1S aking be pointed Den of ass Cte {In this petition, we se that some spellings such as those of berg and said, were regularized regardless of dialect 2. We also ste the emergence of you and your asthe standard second-person pronoun fotms, as opposed to the earlier use of WO sets of pronouns (informal and singular: rhe, show thine; formal snd plural ye, ye, you). By using Chaneery English, Wiliam Caxton established a national literary standard in prin based on the written standard of official documentation. ‘This was @ radical change inthe notion ofa standard and in he tandard’s relationship o regional dalet and oficial forms. 'A._ Let us veviow several myths that suround the early history of printing. 1 Printing did ot erete or inerease national literacy overnight 2. Printing did not democratize literacy across class boundaries. Early printed books were expensive, did not appear i large quantities, land were designed fra readership ofeerks and gentlemen. 3. Printed books at first looked no differen rem manuscripts the typetaces were based on handrting B._ Priming did, however, foster the rise of Chancery standard English 1. Because Casion based his press in Westminster and because he ‘established himself as a printer with royal, aristocratic, and gentle" patons his work had an oficial cast 2008 The Fencing Compan: 2. Caxton exhibited a self-consciousness about the kind of language that should be standard and, as we sui, adapted the standard of offical government writing wo the printing of literary tex. (© Caxton was aware ofthe problems associated with standards, whieh he sliscussed in a preface to his book Enevdes. a translation into English ‘off French version of Vigl's Aen (1490), Here. he reflects on| atitudes toward language ehange, dialect variation, nd te atitration ‘of English usage by the edueated and the elite 1. Canton telaies a story in which a merchant fom London knocks ‘on the door ofa Kentish farm and ask for egas. The farm wife ‘who answers the door doesn’t understand the merchant's request for eggs (the Norther or Scandinavian form of the word) rar than jem the Old English and Southern form) and tells him that she doesnt speak French, 2. “What sholle a man in tse dayes now wryte, ees or exrat? asks Caxton. It harde to plays cuery man by cause of dverste cand change of language.” 3. Caxion’s preface isan allegory of linguistic alienation that reminds us of St. Augustine and oer earlier commentators. The English Tenguage has become s0 mutable and diverse that ts not only "Norther harbarians but Keatish housewives, aswell, who est ‘understand what a Londoner is saying. 4.Atthe same time, Caxton reflects on the relationship berwoen Tangusge and the self. What i the English language? What makes someone “English”? Isa meteiant from London any more oc less “English” than a housewife from Kent? [Alber C. Baugh and Thomas Cable, 4 Misor ofthe English Language. John Hurt Fisher, The Emergence of Standard English John Hurt Fisher, eal, An Anthology of Chancery English ‘Questions to Consider: 1, Why was English o slow to be adopted as he oficial an after the Noman Conquest? 2 Did the rise of Chancery make English a more powerful language?Lecture Fourteen The Great Vowel Shift and Modern English Scope: In this lecture, we wil ook atthe major features ofthe Great Vowel Shif (GV). a systeratic change in the pronunciation of long stressed ‘vowels in English, The shift took place from about the middle ofthe 15" centry and contined unt about tbe end ofthe 16°. W changed radically the sound of spoken English, making is vowels unigue in pronunciation among Evropean languages. It also had an impact on ites toward dialect and wage, andi affected the way in wich English vere as sien (by ebanging radially the ring possibilities ofthe language) Finally. twas the key change nthe language tht transformed Middle English into Modern English. This lecre therefor, marks that important wansition. Study ofthe GYS ako gives us glimpse at some ofthe methods by which scholars ‘andertand language change. In potieulr, we ean look at writen documents whose unsure spelling gives us evidenee forthe GVS as it was happening, Outline The Great Vowel Shift (GVS) was relatively simple phenomenon, but it ‘nada significant impact on the sound and shape of the English language hetween the ime of Chaucer and ihe time of Shakespeare. A. Indeed it is because ofthe GVS that the language of Chaucer wis largely opaque by Shakespeare's time, Shakespeare's languag contrast, is til accessible to us berause no charge in pronunciation a8 systematic ot 3 radical asthe GV has taken place sine his ime. 1B, During the period of the GVS, from roughly the mide ofthe 15 ceri tothe end of the 16" century, cianges in vocabulary and word meanings syntax, and atituds toward language use sional ‘aration and public idiom took place fn Engi, Together wid the ‘ange in prosuneivion efscied bythe G'S, these features of the langiage tansformed Middle English into Early Modem English C. In this lecture, we'll work through the deals ofthe sound etanges that tok place during the GVS an look atthe ways in which scholars ate ble to use writen dociments to provide evidence for changes in Senin, Weill lsn see how the GVS has become something of myth in Enlish ings history 1. The GVS signals the single most important change fiom Middle to Modern nai, andi separates English fom ober European languages, ‘A. Only si vowels were affected. These are long, stressed -monophtiongs-— vowels in stressed postions io the word that were ‘hela Jong in pronunciation and that had a pure sound (hat is sere not ‘made up of groups of sounds). 1. Armonophitiong is a single sound made by keeping the mouth in ‘he same position. Examples include ("eh asin Bet), ee") fo! (oh) 00"), and’ ("ah a in mop) In speaking these sounds, the mouth stays inthe same position. n isa diphthong, 2 sound made up oF 140 sounds, and sour i spoken the mouth moves from one position to nother. Examples inelude the“ sound in mice andthe “au sound in hone. The sound affected by the GVS are shown in the flowing able, eae ial - ‘ame, “nahine” om C. The GVS can be deserted in terns of aticulatoy phonetis: as you may recall from one of our erly lectures atieulory phones is used to deserbe how vovsels and consonants are produced inthe mouth. Vowels are desrinedacconling to thei eight andthe pesition inthe mouth, Ths, they ean be low, middle, oF high, and back. mid oF fon 1. Keep in min that linguists do not use the terms “Iona” and “short” to deseribe a qualitative difference in vowel sound, 35 most people ar tught in School (bet versus Bi. Prom alingusie poimt of vie. the terms “long” and “short” relate to quantitative vowel lenath, thats, the period of time though which the vowel sound is held. This length of time made a difference in meaning in Old and Middle English 2. Forexample in Old English, the word god eould be pronounced “pode.” meaning God, or 'gooade:" meaning good. The length of the vowel Was held signaled a different meaning forthe Word lstinetion was lst to Modem English daring the GVS. no difference in meaning fst i pronouneed sat” o© The GVS can be summarized 2 follows:B |. Front vowels were raised and fronted Back vowels were rased and retracted, Sigh vowels were made into diphones. he following represents a scholarly reeonsirtion ofthe changes. The two high front vouels represented by the letters “-” GU, pronounced ee) and “u-"/, pronounced “o0") in Middle English became diphthongs. In other words, they were pronounced differently, each a a clusier of two sounds: i became pronounce “I" and became au pronounced “ow: 1. In Middle English, mice would have been pronounced “ees,” and cnse would have been pronounced “hoose. Byte end ofthe 16 century, these sounds probably would have been pronounced "moice” and “hause;"and by the end of the 17 cenury they would have boon close to our modern pronunciations 2 ‘The mid vowels represented by the ltrs “eel, pronounced ike thea” in“ace") and “0” (1, pronounced“ oh) were asst Thus “Midele Enalish et, proncunced “ate.” came tbe pronounced as ‘Moder English "fee” Middle English do, pronounced "dough cae tobe pronounced as Moder English “do 3. The low back vowel writen in Middle English as“s" pronounced “a rose til the place left by the older Middle lsh “e:” Thus, a word such as ame, pronounced in Middle English as “nahme,” became pronounced “nam.” 4. Finally the long, open” (3, pronounced ke the “0” in ens) as raised othe lng “o" Thus, the Middle English word so, pronounced saw.” cameo be pronounced 80.” 1 2 3 i 1 UL, More han one explanation exss forthe GVS. A ho 15" and 16* centuries were in conse in Dialets in England during 1 Migrations from the north and the midlands into Londoa brought speakers into contact 2. This mis of dialects creted social pressures to develop or select a se of pronunciations that would have new social stats or prestige 13. The sounds that were chosen or developed appear, in retrospect, 35 the sounds of he GVS. 44. Ofcourse, people did not consciously decide to change their pronanciation according tothe GV'. There were many ways of pronouncing vowels, some regional and some historical, bit ove tine, a particular system of pronunciation arose as an accepted stadad form. ‘An aditonal explanation fs that, vith the chang inthe social status in [English set and with the loss of French the prestige language, the ee! Felt Fll he social gap with anew form of speech W. vt Retuming fora moment tothe diphthongs, we noted that i and aw! rom ‘ivan did’ become fll diphthongs overight. A. The word my forexample, would nt have been pronounced 2s Midale English “me” but'moy”: te would be “boyte ght would be “oy. These interim pronunciations seem to be the origin of “pizate English B._ Inher words, we might say that pirate English sa forn ofthe language in which the GY hadn't filly rn its course, and the front monophthongs of Middle English hadn't ally diphthongized 1s ao ue that dhe GVS had no fully run its course a lat asthe early 18° comury [A. Alexander Pope, writing the 18 century. revels thatthe GVS ‘wasn't complete through his rhyming of such words a dn (joyn") and line loyn) [BL There also survives a large body of ltrs from the 15! and 16 centuries, mostly family correspondence, that provides evidence ofthe GVS in proces, 1 Inthis comespondence, we see people with varying degrees of education writing each ote. Some of them used Chaneery forms: some used older Middle English spellings; and some used spellings tht reflected their speech habits, 2 Old spelling conventions are often use in these lters toindicate new sounds. For example, meer woud have been pronounced “mayt” in Middle English but is spelled mye or mite in 15% and 16"-contry sting 0 reflect its new pronunciation, “meet.” 3. Other examples include those inthe Following table. Many of these created speling indicate changes in the vowels to diphthongs. Taampie | Mile English Spelling to Reflect, le | “Pronunckaion | Pronunctation after the GVS hear hare Tyee hie abide abeed abeyd | howe “eos hows ‘We nce to understand the GVS in andem withthe ise inthe sandant forms of written English being developed in Chancery and used by Caxton and his successors in print which we discussed in he ast eet, A. Weseca growing gap bersicen educatod writing and speech. As you recall Chancery had et upa system of spelling for official documents ‘hich could be leamed by sribes regardless of thir regionalbackgrounds. Ths, spelling was gradually becoming conventionalized and divorced fiom speech it longer presenta pronunciation, B, An added effet ofthis growing separation was a chang in punctuation. Inthe Midale Ages, pnetvation was in essence, eat punctuation —it signaled breaks in reading aloud. By Caston's time, punctuation was moving toward eve punctuation ‘Sesigned forthe silent reader signaling spntatc or clawsal units of a sentene, VILA smal group of words spelled with “a,” such s steak, grea, freak, and yuu did not undergo the GVS. they had they would have been ‘pronounced “seek, Aomaies, we have no explanation fr theft that these words did't ‘change while similar words did Reading: Albert C, Baugh and Thomas Cable, 4 History of dhe English Language “Matthew Gianealo, “The Rise and Fll ofthe Great Vowel Shift” in Represenations Roger Lass, "Phonology and Morphology.” in Roger Lass, ed, The Cambridge History ofthe English Language, Vol 3: 1476-1776. 1M, L. Samuels, Ling Evolution with Special Reference to English Questions to Consider 1 What are some of the reasons commonly given forthe occurrence ofthe avs? 22 How did the GVS contribute the gap between writing and speech? greet.” “reek,” and "yee." As with eter linguistic Lecture Fifteen The Expanding English Vocabulary ‘Scope: In the years 1500 through 1700, the vocabulary of English gw “amatcally. New words were borowed fom the disciplines of experimental science, classical scholarship, and practical technology [New words were coined from Latin and Greek to express technical concepts and wo enrich or beautify the English language. Imperial exploration aso brought with ia host of words fm new worlds This lecture shows how to organize this increase in lexical material according to disciplines of entry into the knnguage, It also illustrates how words, both new and old, were changing in meaning, and how the phenomenon of poysemy (the mutiple meanings or connotations of ‘words flected Enalish writing, Outline During the period ofthe GVS, the English language vocabulary was also ‘hanging dramatically wth words coming in from scene, colonial «exploration, and philosophy. and from all languages ofthe word, In this Teetre, we'll log at the raw increase in words inthe English vocabulary, aswell s how English eame to be omnivorous in its verbiage ‘A. Inthe mid-1S century, we see what are known 25 “inkhom terms coming into the language. These are words coined fom Latin or Greek or “educated feet and sonic power. 1 Such words were peteeived to come righ from the inkhosn, oF inkvell and thus were a mark of reading and writing rae than of spew Although inkhom terms also identified the user as educated they ‘were sometimes the objce of derision by those who felt they had litle rational basis inthe history ofthe language. 3. Some examples of inkhorn erms sil inthe langage inclnde ‘allwerient, anachronism, autograph, capsule, dexteronn disregard (first used by Milton), erat and meditate B._Inpoety, dhe coresponding concept for ikhor terms fs “aureate ition,” rem that depcis new or unusual coinaes as “glistening” or golden in thelr Latin. 1, As we've scen thas Ta, Chaucer, Caxton, and other vies a9 English as a mutable language; John of Trevisa went $0 Far as 10 say thatthe English language had been pared, tats, watered down or comupted, ‘Many early writers held the parallel view tht Lain or the Romane languages were somehow immutable and, thus, ofhigher level than English, For this reason, poets used an aureate diction that was highly polysllabic and offen relied on metapiors fof beauty visual splendor, sweetness, and purifeation Inthe 4 of Rhetori (1.853) Thomas Wilson uses terms from aurcate 1nd inkhom dition to mock te affectation of writes of his day, His parody ofa fete of application from a subordinate to a superior sounds like double, Some inkhor terms didnot remain in the language, ineding adepted (antained cunichilae (reduced to nothing), obstpefac (fo make tle), and tment (drank) Wonls also entered the language from travel, commercial contact nd |A. Commerce and contat with European countries brought new words into English, Examples include the following: 1. France: fly, bigor, Bombs, de, emrance,eguip, esas explore, mustache, progres, talisman, toma, volunteer. Tay: argosy (self an Malan coinage based on the Grek epic The Odsses), aleony. grant, stared, violin volcano. 3. Spain and Portugal: anchony, armada, hanana, canbe, cocod, cenbargo, maize, mult, potato, tobacco, yan. 4. Dutch: smuggler erase, jt, schooner, ree: walrus, bnderbuss, tutto, knapsack B,_ Notice how many of these words reflet colonial contact, especially in the Americas and A\fica, These are not jst words from dtferent languages, bur word that ener into the register of eolonization and tary engagement C. Word from non-European languaues entered through travel, trade, and cones Example te loving: “Arabic: sash, hashish, mohair, sherbet, sof, hema Tuthish:dodman, eve, caf, Kiosk. Chinese: herohup. Alican: zebra, [North American languages: raccoon, moo, shun, hickory, totem weeps , Words also rived from science and other intellectual puri, including: 1. Natural sciences: vrtebra torpor specimen, spectrum. mica, lens. 2 Mathematics: ior, liner, prism, calcul [3 Philosophy dogma, ert, carrie, crux, propaganda, al. The growth ofthe English vocabulary prompted several discussions about whether loan words o new coinages ofthese kinds were in keeping wit ‘sat was called the genius” of the English language In the 1618" centuries, many writers were concerned withthe question oF whether these new words were dilating the langage. English was known to bea Germanic language, and some scholars believed thatthe perceived encroachments from overt-leared Latin or from the afeeted (even effeminate French were changing the ‘overarching structure ofthe lng ‘Such questions were also par of understanding ofthe “excellence” of English: in oer words, the study foFlanguage became away of reinforcing cultural polities by other 1. English sehoolmasers ofthe I feflecte on the natre of English 2. Alexander Gil(1561-1635), headmaster of St, Paul's School and “Milton's teacher, was interested in pronunciation and developed a system of phonctie transription with an eye toward spelling reform. He also advocated the exclusion of new words and inkhom tens from the language 3. Inbis Logonomia Anglica (The English Language) of 1619. Gil rails against Chaucer a acotrupter of language, According to Gil, eral monsters of words” are being brought into English diy, so that the langage is no longer a peaccable Kingdom of Eden hut a horife 00 ofthe linguistie imagination 4. Note the degree to which Gi's language seems Mitonie. Gil writes of hored,evibsounding magpies,” while Milton speaks of Selan’s "hom erew” and the "hori silence ofthe fallen For Gil, English now represents a bastard tongue, and in Book I of Paradive Lost, Sala discovers his own bastard progeny, sin . The paradise that has ben lst For Gil fs aparaise of language, ‘while Milton sees the loss oF ethics and morality. larger tum in education toward an and 17*comures frequently 1, The changing vocabulary of English was alfecte not simply by this mew world of words but also bya plienomenion known as “polysen ‘Asnew ‘words entered the language and as seience and technology began to inform the discourses of poetry and prose, words began to change meaning and connotation, x During the 16 century he rise in eommereial vocabulary ood literary wer new possibities for metaphorical claonships: in esher words, socal elaionships and personal desir eae tobe expressed in ommeril ers. We wil se his lat, especial in Shakespeat 1 Asyowt may recall the word ee (meaning xchange. place of ommctce) origina as boron ing fo Latin int the ‘German languages daring the continental pred. Bat rng the 15-17 cetis, writers ao discovered thatthe word euld be used for punning or Wordly2, The same is true of such words as flagrant or ardent (original meaning on fre), hich gradually acquired emotional meanings associated with lve. '3.- Polysemy made possible grester ambiguities in voeabulry and ‘wider range of figurative or metaphorical diction in poetty and prose. 1B. We will se in the subsequent study of ditionaries how the problem of {he literal versus the metaphorical use ofa word comes to dominate the ‘organization of word definitions, and how our dictionaries relect not so much a record of actual speech as a system of definitional ‘organization worked out by 17" and 18 century schoolmaster Reading: Albert ©. Baugh and Thomas M. Cable, 4 Hisory ofthe English Languowe. E,1, Dobson, English Pronunciation, 1500-1700, Testu Nevalainen,“Farly Modetn English Lexis and Semantics." in Roger Lass, ed, The Cambridge Histor ofthe English Language, Vol. 3: 14T6~176. (MLL. Samuels, Lingusic Evolution, with Special Reference 0 English Questions to Consider: 13 2 What are “nkhorn terms.” andar they still popular today? Whats polysemy, and how did it enrich —or merely confuse—the vocabulary of English? u Lecture Sixteen Early Modern English Syntax and Grammar In 1500, English syntax and grammar, while recognizable, still reenand fll of features tht, tous, now sem odd and archaic. By 1700, the major patterns of word order and word endings, as wells the fll modem system of pronouns, had erystallized into what we can see a5 virtually indistingushable from our own. How did this happen? This lecture traces the specifies of syntax and grammar in the period of Early Modem English show how, in many ways, the shape of out modem language depends on some very snl elements in particular, tho rise ofthe verbs cand wil in new uses and the expansion of the forms of verbs and nouns ending ining.” We also look at changes in the system of modal (or helping) verbs and the second-and third: potson pronouns, Even such a small problem asthe dference between fteand i's say great deal about howe English speakers make ‘grammatical distnetios. We elose the lecture wth reading ofa seene fiom Shakespear's play Hem IV, Part 2 a pay about litle words, Outline (Our lst leture was essenvally the story of big words” in English: aurete and inkhom vocabulary terms: new words from the worlds a? science, technology, exploration, and colonization: and words fom European a non-European languages. In this lecture, We'll deal with two lithe words, ao and wif and asus, “ing that so radically changed thee Function and ‘meening jn the 16” and 17 conturies that we might say the very’ shape oF ‘modem spoken idiomatic English hinges on thei changes Although the GVS had changed pronunciation ffom Middle English and the influx of words inthe 16° and 17 cenures i il represented in out ‘vocabulary today, the Enlish ofthis period is not Modern English. That said, however, the highly idiomatic quay of Modern spoken English isa legacy fom the ime of Shakespeare, |A. The tern “idiom” relates to expressions that are ina sense, more than the sum of hee constituent pars For example, the ditionary meanings of ge, ver. unde, int, an oof wold not lw the meaning of sich expressions as ge over. er under, 1 im, ge OW of or ger pon B.A lara pat ofthe idiomatic quay of Emaish comes fom developents inthe 16" and 17 centuries, including changes in the seid.