Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Role of irony in canterbury tales
The middle English period
Summary middle english period 1066-1485
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Role of irony in canterbury tales
For my essay I will be analysing the grammatical aspects that are shown in Machyn’s diary. I will specifically look at the present day translation of the diary and focus on the changes that are within the extract and whether they show forms and structures that have now disappeared. The Diary of Henry Machyn is an eyewitness account of proceedings in London in the 17th century, in the form of a diary entry.
The Middle English period is characterised by the difference in grammar and vocabulary. The term Middle English describes the stage in the progression of the English language between 1100 and 1500. However, critics differ with regards to the actual time in which the Middle English period began and ended. The Middle English period falls between
…show more content…
As the English language was beginning to develop, words were being borrowed from the French, Latin, and Scandinavian. Majority of the words used in the diary entry are words from each of these countries. For example, the lexis ‘Admerall’ was of a French origin. The lexis ‘gunnes’ was of a Scandinavian orgin and finally the lexis ‘nobull’ was of a Latin origin. All these words are commonly used in Present Day English, however, the spelling of the words are dissimilar. Large-scale borrowing of new words often had serious consequences for the meanings and the stylistic register of those words, but, various new stylistic layers emerged in the lexicon, which could be employed for a variety of different …show more content…
You may still find the word order is somewhat less inflexible than in the current tongue. During that period tenses were introduced and then became common. The use of auxiliaries and verb phrases ‘be’ in ‘Now thank be unto God’. Tenses were introduced, with 'be ' as auxiliary. Future tenses are also located within the diary entry such as, ‘with’ and ‘will’ auxiliaries. However, this wasn’t something I had to alter when translating the text because the tenses in the diary entry were clear and weren’t forms or constructions that have disappeared.
Furthermore, I didn’t have to adjust the pronouns of the diary because it was a recount of events that took place, therefore it would be written in 3rd person. The fact that this wasn’t something I had to amend connotes that this isn’t a construction that was
Raffel, Burton. and Alexandra H. Olsen Poems and Prose from the Old English, (Yale University Press)Robert Bjork and John Niles,
Upham, A. H. (1913). English "femmes savantes" at the end of the seventeenth century. The Journal of English and Germanic Philology, 12(2), 262-276.
*All primary documents from this text come with this preface in mind (especially that which I have bolded): In this volume, as in its predecessor, I have tried to keep both footnotes and editorial comment to a minimum, the only real problem occurring with documents written in the emerging literary English of the period. With most of these I have used modern versions, but one or two I have left in the original, to instance the spelling and form of the language. With these some notes have been necessary, but by and large they are intelligible with a little effort, and should be interesting to read. Such mistakes, as exist are of course, mine.
The English language has been in constant transition throughout its history, but the most significant transformation in modern English can be credited to William Shakespeare. With Shakespeare’s invention of commonly used expressions, his creation of new words, and his use of iambic pentameter, he was able to affect the language in a way that no person since has. Shakespeare’s influence on modern English is not only visible in everyday speech, but also in the fact that his work has survived over four hundred years and it continues to be performed and read worldwide.
Cerjak ,The English Journal, Vol. 76, No. 5 (Sep., 1987), pp. 55-57 Published by: National Council of Teachers of English
Crook, Susan, Pirkko Koppinen, Jennifer Neville, Jane Page, and Hilary Thorn. Judith. OERG: The Old English Reading Group (June 2003). Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
Mitchell, Bruce and Robinson, Michael A Guide To Old English, fifth edition 1992 , Blackwell Publishers , Oxford .
Indeed, the crudity of the early novel has attracted the interest of several modern readers who associate with Arthur Machen’s name (Lovatt 25). In spite of the narrative’s over-reliance on the coincidences, the author introduces many of the themes and the methods of the author to make the story a gripping reading experience. Essentially, the tale is told from several perspectives but expresses the unconventional operation of the
22 of Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. Rpt. in Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900. N.p.: n.p., n.d. N. pag.
During the 16th century, developments in the arts, literature, medicine, science and renewed interest in classical languages, flooded the English language with new words. According to The British Library Board (2015), Cawdrey described that well-to-do gentleman decorated sentences with fancy phrases and complicated words from abroad. As a result, Cawdrey felt that by creating and publishing the ‘A Table Alphabeticall’, the English language would be better organised and help readers understand challenging
The ‘Thank Goodness That’s Over’ argument by Arthur Prior (1959), illustrates that our language fundamentally uses tenses, and not ‘space-time’ tenseless talk. In this essay I shall explain prior’s argument, along with a potential critique for it.
Llinàs i Grau and Reeves observe that “Old English was an inflecting language, in which grammatical information about the functions and relationships of words in a sentence was carried by the endings (mainly suffixes but for some prefixes) of the words” (1998, p. 90). The old English declension was the same as those of Latin, Greek, Sanskrit, Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon, and Old High German (Moore and Knott, 2007).
...an see, when reading a work such as The Canterbury Tales, there are many advantages and disadvantages to the work being in both middle and modern English. Before reading such a work, one must realize his or her own purpose for reading the work and then decide on which version to read. It is the opinion of many that it is beneficial to read both versions in order to educate one self about both languages as well as to experience the evolution of the English language. The English language has changed greatly over the many centuries since the time this work was written. However, this work helps create a bridge between the languages of the middle and modern English worlds. This was a work that transcended any work previously written and one that will continue to have an important place in the history of English literature and the English language as a whole.
The writer also displays an understanding of temporal relationships with her use of tenses. For example, in the first paragraph, she uses past tense to indicate actions from the past and present tense to indicate past conditions that still exist.
The settlement of the British Isles by north Europeans followed by Norman French paints the backdrop to this essay which will focus on the period between the early 15th and 17th centuries, when a'standard' English language evolved. It will show that modern-day English is very different to that first introduced to the British Isles, but by identifying changes through time, its continuity can be demonstrated. Finally, it will suggest that present day English is in a position analogous to that which existed before the Norman invasion, when there were many varieties and dialects, and that this may lead to its decline as a global language, due to decreasing intelligibility. The beginnings of English can be found in the occupation of England from the 5th century by north and west German ethnic groups who brought their 'indigenous dialects' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 1). The Oxford English Dictionary defines English as 'Of or related to the West Germanic language spoken in England and used in many varieties throughout the world' (Seargeant, P. 2012, p. 7).