The History of English Language

Chapter 5: Middle English

Changes on English Language

-Old English words left it and many French ones entered. -Middle English: name given for the English used in that time.

-It became grammatically simpler: > It lost some endings (‘s, s’, en plural ending, although some survived (e.g.: children); >TheThe became the only form of definite article; >Verbs began to end in –ed–ed ( e.g. clombclomb became climbedclimbed); there are stil, about 250 “irregular” verbs in English, half the number that were in Old English;-The most common order they used was subject – verb – subject – verb – objectobject. - They also used prepositions. For example inin, with with, and byby. Ex: ddægesæges became by dayby day.

-All these gramatical changes were possible because from 1066 until the end ofthe twefth century very little was written in English.

In the four next centuries that followed the Norman Conquest, many changes occurred on English Language:

Tenses

-Old English: • Past Tense Past Tense • Present TensePresent Tense

-Middle English: • Future Tense ->Future Tense -> be, have, shall and will. Ex.: We will dance.• Perfect Tense ->Perfect Tense -> have. Ex.: They have gone.• Continuous Tense ->Continuous Tense -> be. Ex.: He is coming.

French Influence Between 1100 and 1500, about thousand French words were taken into English, three-quarters of wich are still in use. French words came into every part of life:• Things in the Home - Ex.: ceiling, chair• Science – Ex.: medicine; • Arts – Ex.: music, dance;• Law – Ex.: crime, prison;•Nature – Ex.: ocean, flower.

French words very often replaced Old English words. But sometimes both words survived. Sometimes, French words wore used in the upper classes, and Old English ones, in the lower classes.

Latin Influence At the same time, thousands

words also entered on English from Latin. They came from books about law, medicine, science, literature or Christianity. Some of the words that came from Latin ,at this time, were: admitadmit, historyhistory, impossibleimpossible, necessarynecessary, and picturepicture.

The first translation of the Bible from Latin to English, was an important source of Latin words, which was made by John Wycliffe.

and his followers between 1380 and 1384. They followed the Latin very closely, using many of this words.

Curiosities From the thirteenth century,

English was used more and more in official papers and literature. Many poems of this time have survived:

• Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400) was the greatest writer in Middle English. His best-known work is the poem The Canterbury Tales, written in the 1390s. He wrote in Midlands dialect and used many French words. The poem talks about a group of ordinary people who journey to the large church at Canterbury togheter, telling stories.

• William Langland (1330-1400), wrote the poem Piers Plowman. This poem is about the dificulties of the poor in England, the bad customs of the Church and also the perfect Christian life. The writer described what he has seen in a dream.

Made By:Camila B.Beatriz M.

Maria Luiza F.Michelle F.