Early Modern English - Revision history

Nick: /* References */

Nick — Thu, 17 Dec 2020 13:20:13 GMT

References

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	* 14. Cercignani, Fausto, Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1981.		* 14. Cercignani, Fausto, Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1981.
	* 15. Stephen L. White, "The Book of Common Prayer and the Standardization of the English Language" The Anglican, 32:2(4-11), April, 2003		* 15. Stephen L. White, "The Book of Common Prayer and the Standardization of the English Language" The Anglican, 32:2(4-11), April, 2003
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	== External links ==		== External links ==

Beza 1598 at 12:53, 8 March 2016

Beza 1598 — Tue, 08 Mar 2016 12:53:45 GMT

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	[[Category:History of the English language]]		[[Category:History of the English language]]
	[[Category:Early Modern languages\|English]]		[[Category:Early Modern languages\|English]]
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		+	{{Donate}}

Nick at 16:02, 31 January 2011

Nick — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:02:04 GMT

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-	'''Early Modern English''' (often abbreviated '''EModE''') is the stage of the [[English language]] used from about the end of the [[Middle English]] period (the latter half of the 15th century) 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 I of England\|James I]] to the English throne the emerging English standard began to influence the spoken and written [[Middle Scots]] of [[Scotland]].	+	'''Early Modern English''' (often abbreviated '''EModE'''<sup>[1]</sup>) is the stage of the [[English language]] used from about the end of the [[Middle English]] period (the latter half of the 15th century) 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. Prior to and following the accession of [[James I of England\|James I]] 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 [[English spelling\|spelling]] differences. The standardisation 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]].	+	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 [[English spelling\|spelling]] differences. The standardisation of English spelling falls within the Early Modern English period and is influenced by conventions predating the [[Great Vowel Shift]], thus explaining much of the non-phonetic spelling of contemporary [[Modern English]].

	==Pronouns==		==Pronouns==

Nick: /* External Links */

Nick — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:00:51 GMT

External Links

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	* 15. Stephen L. White, "The Book of Common Prayer and the Standardization of the English Language" The Anglican, 32:2(4-11), April, 2003		* 15. Stephen L. White, "The Book of Common Prayer and the Standardization of the English Language" The Anglican, 32:2(4-11), April, 2003

-	~~==External Links==~~	+

	== External links ==		== External links ==

Nick: /* References */

Nick — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 16:00:43 GMT

References

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	* 14. Cercignani, Fausto, Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1981.		* 14. Cercignani, Fausto, Shakespeare's Works and Elizabethan Pronunciation, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1981.
	* 15. Stephen L. White, "The Book of Common Prayer and the Standardization of the English Language" The Anglican, 32:2(4-11), April, 2003		* 15. Stephen L. White, "The Book of Common Prayer and the Standardization of the English Language" The Anglican, 32:2(4-11), April, 2003
		+
		+	==External Links==
		+
		+	== External links ==
		+	* [http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digitallibrary/paleography.html English Paleography] Examples for the study of English handwriting from the 16th-18th centuries from the [http://www.library.yale.edu/beinecke/ Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University]
		+
		+	[[Category:Early Modern English\| ]]
		+	[[Category:History of the English language]]
		+	[[Category:Early Modern languages\|English]]

Nick: /* Pronouns */

Nick — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:58:21 GMT

Pronouns

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	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.{{Early Modern English personal pronouns (table)}}		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.{{Early Modern English personal pronouns (table)}}
-	~~[[Image:Shakespeare.jpg\|thumb\|250px\|right\|[[William Shakespeare\|Shakespeare]]'s writings are universally associated with Early Modern English]]~~

	==Orthographic conventions==		==Orthographic conventions==

Nick: /* Orthographic conventions */

Nick — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:57:25 GMT

Orthographic conventions

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	==Orthographic conventions==		==Orthographic conventions==
		+	[[Image:Shakespeare.jpg\|thumb\|200px\|right\|[[William Shakespeare\|Shakespeare]]'s writings are universally associated with Early Modern English]]
	The [[orthography]] in Early Modern English was fairly similar to that of today, but spelling was unphonetic 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:		The [[orthography]] in Early Modern English was fairly similar to that of today, but spelling was unphonetic 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:

-	*The letter <S> had two distinct lowercase forms: <s> as today, and <ſ> (''[[long s]]''). The former was used at the end of a word, and the latter everywhere else, except that double-lowercase-''S'' was variously written <ſſ> or <ſs>.<~~ref~~>~~cite book\|last=Burroughs\|first=Jeremiah\|authorlink=Jeremiah Burroughs\|coauthors=Greenhill, William\|title=The Saints Happinesse\|url=http:~~/~~/books.google.com/books?id=ByU3AAAAMAAJ~~\|~~year=1660 Introduction uses both ''happineſs'' and ''bleſſedneſs''~~.~~</ref>~~	+	*The letter <S> had two distinct lowercase forms: <s> as today, and <ſ> (''[[long s]]''). The former was used at the end of a word, and the latter everywhere else, except that double-lowercase-''S'' was variously written <ſſ> or <ſs>.<sup>[2]</sup> This is similar to the alternation between normal (σ) and final [[lower case]] [[sigma]] (ς) in [[Greek language\|Greek]].
-	*<u> and <v> were not yet considered two distinct letters, but different forms of the same letter. Typographically, <v> was used at the start of a word and <u> elsewhere<~~ref~~>~~Cite book \| author=Sacks, David \| authorlink= \| coauthors= \| title=The Alphabet \| date=2004 \| publisher=Arrow \| location=London \| isbn=0-09-943682-5 \| page=316~~</~~ref~~>; hence ''vnmoued'' (for modern ''unmoved'') and ''loue'' (for ''love'').	+	*<u> and <v> were not yet considered two distinct letters, but different forms of the same letter. Typographically, <v> was used at the start of a word and <u> elsewhere<sup>[3]</sup>; hence ''vnmoued'' (for modern ''unmoved'') and ''loue'' (for ''love'').
	*<i> and <j> were also not yet considered two distinct letters, but different forms of the same letter, hence "ioy" for "joy" and "iust" for "just".		*<i> and <j> were also not yet considered two distinct letters, but different forms of the same letter, hence "ioy" for "joy" and "iust" for "just".
		+	*The letter <Þ> ([[thorn (letter)]]) was still in use during the Early Modern English period, though increasingly limited to hand-written texts. In print, <Þ> was often represented by <Y>.<sup>[4]</sup>
	*A silent <e> was often appended to words. The last [[consonant]] sometimes was doubled when adding this <e>; hence ''ſpeake'', ''cowarde'', ''manne'' (for ''man''), ''runne'' (for ''run'').		*A silent <e> was often appended to words. The last [[consonant]] sometimes was doubled when adding this <e>; hence ''ſpeake'', ''cowarde'', ''manne'' (for ''man''), ''runne'' (for ''run'').
-	*The sound IPA\|/ʌ/ was often written <o> (as in ''son''); hence ''ſommer'', ''plombe'' (for modern ''summer'', ''plumb'').<~~ref~~>[~~[Walter W. Skeat\|W.W. Skeat~~]], in ''Principles of English Etymology'', claims that the ''o''-for-''u'' substitution was encouraged by the ambiguity between ''u'' and ''n''; if ''sunne'' could just as easily be misread as ''sunue'' or ''suvne'', it made sense to write it as ''sonne''. (Skeat, ''Principles of English Etymology'', Second Series. Clarendon Press, 1891. [http://books.google.com/books?id=W6EYAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA99 Page 99].)</~~ref~~>	+	*The sound {{IPA\|/ʌ/}} was often written <o> (as in ''son''); hence ''ſommer'', ''plombe'' (for modern ''summer'', ''plumb'').<sup>[5]</sup>

	Nothing was standard, however. For example, "Julius Caesar" could be spelled "Julius Cæſar", "Ivlivs Cæſar", "Jvlivs Cæſar", or "Iulius Cæſar" and the word "he" could be found being spelled "he" or "hee" in the same sentence in Shakespeare's plays.		Nothing was standard, however. For example, "Julius Caesar" could be spelled "Julius Cæſar", "Ivlivs Cæſar", "Jvlivs Cæſar", or "Iulius Cæſar" and the word "he" could be found being spelled "he" or "hee" in the same sentence in Shakespeare's plays.

Nick: /* Verbs */

Nick — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:55:20 GMT

Verbs

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	==Verbs==		==Verbs==
-	~~[[Grammatical conjugation\|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 uses~~ the ~~bare stem~~ of the ~~verb~~.	+	===Marking tense and number===
		+	During the Early Modern period, English verb inflections became simplified as they evolved towards their modern forms:
		+	* The third person singular present lost its alternate inflections; '-(e)th' became obsolete while ''-s'' survived. (The alternate forms' coexistence can be seen in Shakespeare's phrase, "With her, that ''hateth'' thee and ''hates'' vs all").<sup>[6]</sup>
		+	* The plural present form became uninflected. Present plurals had been marked with ''-en'', ''-th'', or ''-s'' (''-th'' and ''-s'' survived the longest, especially with the plural use of ''is'', ''hath'', and ''doth'').<sup>[7]</sup> Marked present plurals were rare throughout the Early Modern period, though, and ''-en'' was probably only used as a stylistic affectation to indicate rural or old-fashioned speech.<sup>[8]</sup>
		+	* The second person singular was marked in both the present and past tenses with ''-st'' or ''-est'' (for example, in the past tense, ''walkedst'' or ''gav'st'').<sup>[9]</sup> Since the indicative past was not (and is not) otherwise marked for person or number<sup>[10]</sup>, the loss of ''[[thou]]'' made the past subjunctive indistinguishable from the indicative past for all verbs except ''to be''.

-	The [[~~perfect~~ aspect\|perfect ~~tenses~~]] of the verbs had not yet been standardized as to all use the auxiliary verb "to have". Some took as their auxiliary verb "to be", as in this example from the King James Bible, "But which of you ... will say unto him ... when he '''is''' come from the field, Go and sit down..." [Luke XVII:7]. The rules that were followed as to which verbs took which auxiliaries were similar to those still used in [[German language\|German]] and [[French language\|French]].	+	===Modal auxiliaries===
		+	The [[English modal auxiliary verb\|modal auxiliaries]] cemented their distinctive syntactical characteristics during the Early Modern period. Thus, modals' use without an infinitive became rare (as in "I must to Coventry"; "I'll none of that"). Use of modals' present participles to indicate aspect (from 1556: "Maeyinge suffer no more the loue & deathe of Aurelio"), and of their preterite forms to indicate tense ("He follow'd Horace so very close, that of necessity he must fall with him") also became uncommon.<sup>[11]</sup>
		+
		+	Some verbs ceased to function as modals during the Early Modern period. The present form of ''must'', ''mot'', became obsolete. ''Dare'' also lost the syntactical characteristics of a modal auxiliary, evolving a new past form (''dared'') distinct from the modal ''durst''.<sup>[12]</sup>
		+
		+	===Perfect and progressive forms===
		+	The [[perfect (grammar)\|perfect]] of the verbs had not yet been standardized to all use the auxiliary verb "to have". Some took as their auxiliary verb "to be", as in this example from the King James Bible, "But which of you ... will say unto him ... when he '''is''' come from the field, Go and sit down..." [Luke XVII:7]. The rules that were followed as to which verbs took which auxiliaries were similar to those still used in [[German language\|German]] and [[French language\|French]] (see [[unaccusative verb]]).
		+
		+	The modern syntax used for the [[progressive aspect]] ("I am walking") became dominant by the end of the Early Modern period, but other forms were also common. These included the prefix a- ("I am a-walking") and the infinitive paired with "do" ("I do walk"). Moreover, the ''to be + -ing verb'' form could be used to express a passive meaning without any additional markers: "The house is building" could mean "The house is being built."<sup>[13]</sup>

	==Vocabulary==		==Vocabulary==

Nick: /* Vocabulary */

Nick — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:52:37 GMT

Vocabulary

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	==Vocabulary==		==Vocabulary==
-	Although the language is otherwise very similar to that current, there have in time developed a few "[[false friends]]" within the English language itself, rendering difficulty in understanding even the still-prestigious phrasing of the King James Bible. ~~The most glaring~~ is ~~that~~ the passage "Suffer the little children" ~~meant~~, "Permit..." (this usage of the word "suffer" is still sometimes used in some dialects in formal circumstances).	+	Although the language is otherwise very similar to that current, there have in time developed a few "[[false friends]]" within the English language itself, rendering difficulty in understanding even the still-prestigious phrasing of the King James Bible. An example is the passage, "Suffer the little children"; meaning, "Permit..." (this usage of the word "suffer" is still sometimes used in some dialects in formal circumstances; it is also from where we get the words "sufferance" and "suffrage").

	==Development from Middle English==		==Development from Middle English==

Nick: /* Development from Middle English */

Nick — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 15:52:04 GMT

Development from Middle English

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	==Development from Middle English==		==Development from Middle English==
-	~~{{see also\|~~Middle English}}	+
		+	''See Also [[Middle English]] [[Gender in English#Historical development]]''
		+
	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 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.

-	An era of linguistic change in a language with large variations in dialect was replaced by a new era of a more standardized 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.	+	An era of linguistic change in a language with large variations in dialect was replaced by a new era of a more standardized 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,<sup>[14]</sup> but the works of [[Geoffrey Chaucer]] and [[William Langland]], written only 200 years earlier, are considerably more difficult for the average reader.

	==Timeline==		==Timeline==