MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD (XII-XV).
EARLY NEW ENGLISH PERIOD (XVI-XVII) .
NEW ENGLISH PERIOD (XVIII- …).
Contents
I. Middle English Dialects. Existence of three languages in England
II. Vocabulary of Middle English Period.
III. Raising of London dialect.
IV. Bookprinting.
V. Spreading of English outside England.
VI. Forming of national language (15-17 c.)
I. Middle English Dialects
Existence of three languages in England.
During the 11-12 centuries, the period of the Normans Conquering, there were three languages. The aboriginal population that lived in towns and villages spoke English or dialects of old English. The main old English dialects (Nothumbrian, Mercian, Kentish, West Saxon) continued being the main dialects in middle English period. But because of the fact that kingdoms of the Old English period did not already exist in the 11-th century, the old English dialects changed their names. The dialects were named according to their geographical position: Nothumbrian dialect was named as Northern dialect; Mercian dialect was named as Midland dialect. Later Midland dialect was divided into East Midland and West Midland. West-Saxon dialect was named as Southern and South-Western dialects. Only the Kentish dialect remained its name, because the Kingdom Kent still existed. But the leading dialect of Middle English period became East Midland dialect. All Midland English dialects were the dialect of so called Anglo-Saxon language or English. But English (or Anglo-Saxon) was not the only language spoken in England after the Normans Conquering. The Normans Conquerors spoke French, but to be more correct it was not French but the Northern dialect of French. So the Northern dialect of French dialect was a second dialect used in the Middle English Period. This dialect existed till the end of the 15 century. But during the 12 -13 centuries the Northern dialect of French was the state language of England because it was the language of the ruling class. Teaching, legal proceeding and clerky copying were done in Northern dialect of French. The third language of that period was Latin. Latin was used in religious, scientific fields of life.
II. Vocabulary of Middle English Period.
Because of the fact that ruling class of Middle English Period were the Normans, the Northern dialect of French ( later it was called Anglo-Norman dialect) influenced English vocabulary very much, but not English grammar. That’s why there were a lot of French borrowings in M.E. Period. These borrowings were connected with queen or king surrounding (“guard”, “prince”, “servant”, “court”). Other French borrowings were connected with religious life (confess, player, chapel, religion) and military life (victory, banner, soldier). The names of animals were English, but the meat of home animals was French (ox, cow- beef; sheep-mutton; pig-pork)
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III. Rising of London dialect.
At the beginning of the Middle English period there were 3 languages:
English, (Anglo-Saxon), French (or Anglo-Norman), Latin in 11-15 centuries.
The aborigines spoke different English dialects but none of English dialects was used as a state language. The state language was Anglo-Norman because it was language of nobility, parliament, king’s surroundings and so on. Latin was the language of church and science. From the middle of the 13-d cent. English widened the fields of its application. The first state document, written in English, was “Leaflet” by Henry III (1258). It was written in London dialect that was closer to the South-Western dialect, but had some elements from of East Midland dialect. Later (in 1362) London merchants petitioned to conduct legal proceeding in English. The Parliament adopted the petition. During that period, they began to use English at schools, very seldom it was used during Parliament’s debates. In the 14th century there still were three main groups of dialects in English: Northern, Midland and Southern. A special position among the dialects belonged to the dialect of London, which after the Norman Conquest became the capital of England. London is situated on the Thames thus it lies on the boundary line between the Midland and the Southern dialects. In the 13th century London dialectwas a mixture of Midland and Southern elements; with the latter prevailing. As time passed, Midland elements grew at the expense of Southern ones.
Towards theend of the14th century London dialect became influential in other parts of the country.This was due to the growth of the importance of London as an economic and political centre.
London's geographical position was extremely favorable for a quick growth of its political importance and its role as the birthplace of a national language. Many roads along which England's internal trader was conducted crossed in London. Owing to the great depth of the Thames, sea ships could easily reach London and it became a centre of the country's trade with the Europian continent. London's role as a trade centre attracted many people from different parts of the country and paved the way for elements of other dialects to penetrate into London English. Thus, London dialect, which became the base for the national English language, was a complex formation, reflecting various influences connected with social and political life of the period. It contained, alongside East Midland, also South-Eastern (Kentish) and partly South-Western elements. Towards the end of the 14th century London dialect became the base for the national language. By the later half of the 15th century London dialect had been already used in writing throughout the country except in the extreme north. The introduction of printing in 1476, with London as the publishing centre, greatly strengthened the influence of London dialect. Strong local differences in spoken English remain to this day, especially among less educated classes. But throughout the Modern period written English has been surprisingly uniform.
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But by the end of the 15-th сentury London dialect occupied the leading position, because it was the dialect of administrative and governmental centre.
The London dialect of the 15 с. involved the features of different dialects. But the base for London dialect was East-Midland dialect. There was no such linguistic conception as language (norm) standard at that period. That’s why there were a lot of variants used in the language.
In the 15 c., after the War between Red and White Roses, when absolute monarchy was established the dynasty of Tudors was established too. The absolute monarchy made state institutions more centralized. This fact enabled to separate state language from dialects. The dialects became as oral dialects.
IV. Book printing.
Book printing was invented by Gooteberg in 1438 (Germany). One of the first English book printers was William Caxton, who was born in kingdom Kent and spoke Kentish dialect of English or South Eastern dialect. But he served as a statesman in the Netherlands for several years. It was in Holland where he learned about the invention of book printing. His first book was printed Holland (“The Recuyell of the Histories of Troy” – “Сборник рассказов о Трое”). The book which he printed in England was “The Dictes and Sayings of Philosophers” (Афоризмы и высказывания философов). William Caxton was not sure how correct his English was, because there was no such linguistic conception as a language standard. So he asked the Princess Margaret (she spoke Lodon dialect) to read his work. The princess made some corrections. And of course her language was the language of royal society, her corrections were connected with the royal dialects. As for the spelling of words Caxton followed the traditional principles, that is, his spelling was the same as the clerks used. But the difference in spelling pronunciation has already existed at the period. So W. Caxton only made this difference between spelling and pronunciation more stable. He consolidated she difference between spelling and pronunciation.
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