English Language Evolution: From Old to Early Modern
Similarities and Differences in English
Some differences between Old English (OE), Middle English (ME), and Present-Day English (PDE) are quite obvious. For example, the use of certain symbols no longer used in later stages of the language. The use of þ (thorn) (OE and ME) and ð (eth) (OE) > th (PDE), for example. Other characteristics include the use of __ and ȝ (yogh).
There are other differences which are more subtle, such as the inflectional system used in OE to indicate the relationships between words. In comparison, the inflectional system has tended to simplify in the later stages of the language and become more restricted, as Horobin and Smith portray. In PDE, for example, the only inflection used in most nouns is the -s morpheme to indicate plurality or possession. Of course, there are exceptions in cases of irregular nouns, such as the -en morpheme in children. Another important difference is the vocabulary used. In ME, for example, there are words derived from French and Latin, such as substaunce, dettes, temptaciouns, delyuere. The final difference depicted by Horobin and Smith is the use of u in ME, which in later stages of English corresponds to v in medial position, where OE uses f, as in forȝiue instead of forȝief.
Early Modern English
Auxiliary Verb “do”
All the uses of do are generalized in Early Modern English.
There is evidence that do was used in affirmative sentences which were not necessarily emphatic.
The use of do first spread to negative questions. Then, in affirmative questions and negative statements, and was less used in affirmative sentences.
In negative statements, the process was slower, reaching frequency at the end of the 17th century in most verbs (there were certain verbs that took even longer to accept do, such as know, doubt, mistake, etc.)
Noun Phrases (NP)
The basic NP structure is the same for Early Modern and Present-day English.
Changing Pronunciation in Early Modern English
- The Early Modern English consonant system remained relatively stable.
- The General dialect gained two new consonants: the nasal /ŋ/ in final position in -ng combinations (sing) and the sibilant /ʒ/ for French-derived words ending in -sion (vision). It lost the palatal [ç] and velar [x] realisations of /h/ in words like light and thought.
- In short vowels, a new contrast was created when /u/ split into /ʊ/ (put) and /ʌ/ (cut).
- The most radical changes occurred in the long vowel system as a result of the Great Vowel Shift.
- Great Vowel Shift (GVS): a series of events which began in the fifteenth century and came to completion in the eighteenth century, with the bulk of the changes working their way through the sound system in the Early Modern period. It was not a uniform process leading to the standard RP system, but rather a series of local developments that only looks like an orderly chain shift when approached at a higher level of abstraction.
Borrowing in Early Modern English
Borrowing had a great impact on Early Modern English vocabulary in general.
The Renaissance promoted borrowing from Latin and the revival of classical learning also intensified borrowing from Greek. Many Greek loans were filtered through Latin or French, and Latin loans through French, to the extent that the term Latinate could be used to cover all three.
- About 60% of the new words recorded for 1604 come from Latin and French, whereas native Germanic patterns of word-formation only cover some 20% of the new words.
Chaucerian Transmission of Middle English Sounds
Chaucer’s works are one of the ME systems of transmission that could help us to know how ME sounded. It is also believed that most of the first encounters of readers with ME were through the Ellesmere work. This sound system could be divided into three categories:
Vowels in Stressed Syllables
OE had runic þ > ‘thorn’, which was retained in many ME written varieties to reflect dental fricatives (voiced and voiceless, ð, θ), but it was replaced by th by ME. It is only found in some determiners þe, þat (The, that).
OE scribes used <ᵹ> as the figure for /j, x, g/. Modern editors tend to replace it with y. In the transition from OE to ME, <ᵹ> was used for /j,x/ while <g> was used for /g/ ᵹ>ᵹ>
In many varieties of ME, <oo>, <ee> and sometimes <aa> could be doubled to indicate ‘length’ → good: Good, taak TAKE.