Middle English
Background Information:
Middle English is the second age of English lasting approximately from the Norman Invasion (1066 AD) to the 1500's. The Norman Invasion, led by Duke William II of Normandy, later heralded William the Conqueror, resulted in the occupation of England by a ruling class speaking an early form of French. This occupation changed Old English into a more French and Latin based language, drawing it away from its traditional Germanic heritage.
When Normans conquered, the language of art, academics and politics became Norman French for a time. After the loss of Normandy in 1204 AD and by the time of the Hundred Years' War (1337 AD), French had lost its popularity in England, and attention once again shifted to Middle English, which had developed significantly from the previous Old English while under the influence of French. It is in this latter form of Middle English that the famous works from this period of English history are written, such as Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" published in 1475 and his other works, and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," written in the late 14th century.
Middle English is the second age of English lasting approximately from the Norman Invasion (1066 AD) to the 1500's. The Norman Invasion, led by Duke William II of Normandy, later heralded William the Conqueror, resulted in the occupation of England by a ruling class speaking an early form of French. This occupation changed Old English into a more French and Latin based language, drawing it away from its traditional Germanic heritage.
When Normans conquered, the language of art, academics and politics became Norman French for a time. After the loss of Normandy in 1204 AD and by the time of the Hundred Years' War (1337 AD), French had lost its popularity in England, and attention once again shifted to Middle English, which had developed significantly from the previous Old English while under the influence of French. It is in this latter form of Middle English that the famous works from this period of English history are written, such as Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" published in 1475 and his other works, and "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," written in the late 14th century.
A large piece of the change from Old English to Middle English was the borrowing of words from Norman French, especially words related to law and the church. Sometimes a French word would be borrowed, but the the Old English word would remain as well. Below are derived words from both languages as used today.
From the Frenchcordial
beef mutton pork veal mansion |
From the Old Englishhearty
ox sheep swine calf house |
These words, though they refer to the same idea, are used in different contexts and often hold slightly different meanings. Because French was the language of the ruling class, the French words often were used to describe the luxurious, leaving the Old English to describe the inferior or lower class words, such as mansion versus house.
Even though French was a major influence on Middle English, its Germanic roots still are strong in its lexicon, or word bank. This is especially true for verbs. Consider the charts below:
Even though French was a major influence on Middle English, its Germanic roots still are strong in its lexicon, or word bank. This is especially true for verbs. Consider the charts below:
As shown above, the words are similar in both their meanings and in the way they look, showing the strong Germanic nature still present in Middle English.
For some basic information on Middle English Grammar, visit: http://www.haverford.edu/engl/chaucer/grammar.htm
For some basic information on Middle English Grammar, visit: http://www.haverford.edu/engl/chaucer/grammar.htm
Pronunciation
Much like with Old English, just because Middle English has the same letters and if the word looks the same, this doesn't mean that the word sounds the same. Here are some youtube videos by Thatoneguyinlitclass explaining the features of Middle English pronunciation.
VowelsSpecial Characters |
ConsonantsTranslating to Modern English |
Now that the major aspects of Middle English have been discussed, here is the prologue of Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," spoken in Middle English.