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The influence of the Norman conquest on English
Short note on Geoffrey Chaucer
The influence of Norman Conquest on the english language
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The final shift towards their evolution, and the big culture bomb, started with the Norman invasion of Britain; this battle caused an influx of culture into a mainly homogenous society. It started in 1066 when William the Conqueror won at the Battle of Hastings (Delahoyde 1), took the British crown by force, and brought French language and its influence into the quaint British countryside (McIntyre 12). This French influence gave the final shove and created the next step towards a modern language; it provided a stepping-stone into becoming a more advanced society with a more advanced language. Without the French, there would be no evolution from Old English to Middle English. The differences between Old English and Middle English were drastic …show more content…
Geoffey Chaucer lived from 1343-1400, and during that time wrote multiple works (Smith 7). Chaucer’s language soon became the new standard for writing, for which it differed from Modern English by the pronunciation of long vowels (Weiner 1). “For example, Middle English’s “long e” in Chaucer’s “sheep” had the value of the Latin “e”, which sounded like the Modern English’s “Shape”” (Weiner 1). And while his writing poses multiple similarities to the English spoken today, it still provides enough difference to see the change with the years in between. Without his work, many linguists would not have a clear understanding of how the linguistics shifts within Middle English itself …show more content…
The duration of Early Modern English took place during the English Renaissance, and hence the amazing evolutions that occurred within it (Myers 166). After the Renaissance came the Age of Reason, and it is during this time that the language becomes recognizable to today (Smith 9). The most common example of Early Modern English is the fact that Shakespeare wrote in it, and it poses the most similarities to Modern day; the language moved from a synthetic one to a more analytical one, and relied less on inflectional endings and more with word order to convey information (Durkin 1). Early Modern English is the premise for the ever-evolving language that millions speak
Since it’s been a predominant topic of our discussion, let us talk about the infamous English language. We can be sure that it has painstakingly progressed throughout generations of reevaluation and modernization, and has thus become what it is today. It has gone in several directions to try and mesh with the various epochs of language, from the Shakespearean era to the common English slang we use now, we can all agree that English is a language that has been transcending and will continue to transcend into many
Boardman, Phillip C. "Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1343-1400)." Enduring Legacies: Ancient and Medieval Cultures. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson Custom Pub., 2000. 430-54. Print.
Herman, John P. and John J. Burke, Jr., ed. Signs and Symbols in Chaucer's Poetry. University, Alabama: University of Alabama Press, 1981.
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.
Tatlock, John S.P., and Arthur G. Kennedy. A Concordance to the Complete Work of Geoffrey Chaucer. Gloucester: Peter Smith, 1963.
how the English language has changed in the many years from then until now. The
In Johnson’s preface to A Dictionary of the English Language, Johnson argues the importance of preserving language. Other dialects had a produced their own dictionaries, such as the French and Italians. Various writers of the eighteenth century were alarmed at the fact that there was no standard for the English language, since there was no standard it could easily become extinct. Johnson explored many points, such as how and why languages change as well as how many words are formed.
As you can see, there are many differences and similarities between these distinctive periods in literary history. The Anglo-Saxon period was the time of heroism. The Medieval period was the time of chivalry and courtly love. The Renaissance period was the time of a rebirth and humanism. Lastly, the seventeenth century was a time of the Puritans and the Cavaliers. Each period revolved a new topic, theme and writing style. However, no matter what differences our literature goes through, we always go back into our roots and pull out our beginnings and use them efficiently. The English language has surely evolved through each stage of time and it will continue to grow to new heights because of its predominant history.
Bibliography GRADDOL, D., LEITH, D., and SWANN, J., (eds) (1996) English: history, diversity and change, Routledge in association with The Open University (course book) University College of London Phonetics department website (www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/estuary/queen2.htm) entered on 23/3/03
It is important to note that during this renaissance period it was predominantly only lexical changes that occurred, the great grammatical development in English language had occurred before the renaissance, of course grammatical developments also occurred after this period too right up to recent times. The reason for these lexical changes, I will look at in greater detail later. So when we look at linguistic development during the period c 1550-1700 we generally only look at the addition of new words.
Orthographical differences form the height of difference between the medieval English (Chaucer’s south east midland dialect) and modern English. (Duc – Duke; Wysdom – Wisdom). They in turn produce difference in the sound value, by removing what is authentically original. i.e., the pronunciation that imbibed in it the old eloquence (affected by French speaking English noblemen) that pleased the ear. The significant phoneme lost being the [x] as in bach, lock (Scottish English). Nevill’s translation does not have the richness of schwa used extensively in the original work of Chaucer.
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 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.
It was this Chancery standard, the normal language for all official written communication by the time Caxton set up his Printing Press in West-minster (1476), which became the direct ancestor of Modern Standard English. As a result of these developments, the use of regional dialects in writing receded more and more in the course of the fifteenth century until, in the Early Modern English period, writing came to be exclusively done in the standard literary language. The language of Chaucer's late fourteenth century and of the fifteenth were often described as Late Middle English. It could as well be called Early Modern English. Ich and I ran side by side in Chaucer's language, and the distinction between ye and you was still that of nominative versus accusative.
The development of the English language was a combination of cultural, political, social and religious events that each playing their own part shaping the modern English language spoken today as a first language by 400 million people . As Baugh and Cable convey to us in A History of the English Language; ‘It understates matters to say that political, economic, and social forces influence a language’. Although it cannot be identified exactly when the inhabitants of Britain began to speak English, there are some sources that give an insight into the nature of the forces that played a role in its foundation such as: the four medieval manuscripts;
Have you ever wondered where the names of the different items you use daily came from? Or listened to people talk and find a particular word interesting or odd and wonder why it has become part of our English language? The English language that we speak today has developed as a result of many different influences and changes over thousands of years. The resulting changes to the English language can be split into three time periods that include, Old English or Anglo-Saxon, Middle English and Modern English which is commonly used today