| Early Modern English |
Article Index for Early Modern |
Limousines in Early |
Articles about Early Modern English |
Website Links For Early Modern |
Information AboutEarly Modern English |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT EARLY MODERN ENGLISH | |
| history of the english language | |
's writings are universally associated with Early Modern English]] Early Modern English refers to the stage of the English Language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 1400s ) to 1650 . Thus, the first edition of the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare both belong to the late phase of Early Modern English, although the King James Bible intentionally keeps some Archaism s that were not common even when it was published. Prior to and following the accession of James VI to the English throne the emerging English standard began to influence the spoken and written Middle Scots of Scotland . Current readers of English are generally able to understand Early Modern English, though occasionally with difficulties arising from grammar changes, changes in the meanings of some words, and Spelling differences. The standardization of English spelling falls within the Early Modern English period, and is influenced by conventions predating the Great Vowel Shift , explaining much of the non-phonetic spelling of contemporary Modern English . PRONOUNS In Early Modern English, there were two second-person personal pronouns: '' Thou '', the informal singular pronoun, and ''ye'', which was both the plural pronoun and the formal singular pronoun (like modern French ''tu'' and ''vous'' or the German ''du'' and ''Sie''). (''Thou'' was already falling out of use in the Early Modern English period, but remained customary for addressing God and certain other solemn occasions, and sometimes for addressing inferiors.) Like other personal pronouns, ''thou'' and ''ye'' had different forms depending on their Grammatical Case ; specifically, ''thou'''s objective form was ''thee'', its possessive forms were ''thy'' and ''thine'', and its reflexive or emphatic form was ''thyself'', while ''ye'''s objective form was ''you'', its possessive forms were ''your'' and ''yours'', and its reflexive or emphatic forms were ''yourself'' and ''yourselves''. In other respects, the pronouns were much the same as today. One difference is that, much as ''a'' becomes ''an'' before a vowel, ''my'' and ''thy'' became ''mine'' and ''thine'' before vowels as well; hence, ''mine eyes'', ''thine uncle'', and so on. ORTHOGRAPHIC CONVENTIONS The Orthography in Early Modern English was fairly similar to that of today, but spelling was phonetic and unstable; for example, the word ''acuity'' could be spelled either <acuity> or <acuitie>. Further, there were a number of features of spelling that have not been retained:
VERBS Verb Conjugations in the "thou" form (second person informal singular) end in -(e)st (e.g. "thou takest"). In Early Modern English, third person singular conjugations end in -(e)th instead of -s (e.g. "he taketh"). Both the second person informal singular and third person singular lost their endings in the Subjunctive , which utilizes the bare stem of the verb. FROM MIDDLE ENGLISH TO EARLY MODERN ENGLISH The change from Middle English to Early Modern English was not just a matter of vocabulary or pronunciation changing: it was the beginning of a new era in the history of English. The introduction of printing meant that more books were produced, and more people would have had access to books. People who already read books would have read a greater number of ''different books'', and the average literate person's vocabulary would have been enlarged. Greater political stability and prosperity led to a flowering of lasting literature, which would have helped to stabilise the language and broaden its vocabulary. Greater prosperity would also have led to more trade, with people from different parts of England coming into contact with each other. English was used in church services, making the general population more familiar with a standard version of the language, rather than the liturgy being in Latin , which was completely incomprehensible to most people. The great differences between the Middle English dialects would have started to be ironed out to some extent. An era of linguistic change in a language with large variations in dialect was replaced by a new era of a more standardised language with a richer lexicon and an established (and lasting) literature. Shakespeare 's plays are familiar and comprehensible today, 400 years after they were written, but the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland , written only 200 years earlier, are considerably more difficult for the average reader. TIMELINE: EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
FROM EARLY MODERN TO MODERN ENGLISH The 17th century was a time of political and social upheaval in England, particularly the period from about 1640 to 1660. Certain forms of pronunciation or vocabulary may have lost or gained prestige, as parts of the upper echelons of society were replaced by people from lower classes. The increase in trade around the world meant that the English port towns (and their forms of speech) would have gained in influence over the old county towns. England experienced a new period of internal peace and relative stability, encouraging the arts including literature, from around the 1690s onwards. Another important episode in the development of the English language started around 1600: the British settlement of America . SEE ALSO |
|
|