Characteristics of The Middle English Period
The Middle English period is the time span from 1100 to 1500 when the English language underwent many changes and developments. It was influenced by the Norman Conquest of 1066, which brought French and Latin words and culture to England, and by the introduction of printing in 1476, which helped to standardize and spread the language. In this text, we will examine the main characteristics and changes of the Middle English period, especially in its grammar and vocabulary.
Period of Great Change
The Middle English period was a period of great change for the English language. It was more drastic than at any other time in history. The change affected both the grammar and the vocabulary of the language.
Causes of Such Changes
The main causes of such changes were:
The Norman Conquest: The Norman Conquest of 1066 brought a large number of French and Latin words to England. The Normans were the rulers and the upper class, while the Anglo-Saxons were the lower class and the common people. For about two centuries, there were two languages spoken in England: French by the nobility and English by the majority. Gradually, the two languages mixed and influenced each other, resulting in a new form of English that borrowed many words from French and Latin.
The condition that followed the conquest: The condition that followed the conquest was also favorable for linguistic change. The English language was no longer used for official or literary purposes, but only for everyday communication. It was also removed from the restraining influences of education and literary standards. It was left to the natural tendencies of speakers and writers, who simplified, modified and innovated the language according to their needs and preferences.
The tendencies to manifest themselves in Old English: The tendencies to manifest themselves in Old English were also factors that contributed to linguistic change. Some of these tendencies were:
- The phonetic changes: The phonetic changes were changes in the sounds and pronunciation of words. For example, the final -m was changed to -n, then dropped; the vowels a, o, u, e in inflectional endings were reduced to a sound called indeterminate vowel (written as -e); the consonant clusters were simplified or dropped etc.
- The analogy: The analogy was a process that used existing patterns or forms to create new ones or to replace irregular ones. For example, some nouns that had irregular plurals (such as oxen) were replaced by regular ones (such as oxes); some verbs that had strong conjugation (such as beat) were replaced by weak ones (such as beated) etc.
Grammar and Vocabulary
The main aspects of grammar and vocabulary that changed in the Middle English period were:
The decay of inflectional endings: The decay of inflectional endings was a general reduction of inflections in nouns, adjectives and verbs. Inflections are endings that indicate number, case, gender, tense etc. For example, in Old English, there were eight forms of a noun: four singular and four plural. In Middle English, these eight forms were reduced to only three: singular nominative/accusative/dative (such as mouth), singular genitive (such as mouth’s), plural nominative/accusative/dative/genitive (such as mouths). This reduction made the language simpler but also less precise.
The loss of grammatical gender: The loss of grammatical gender was a consequence of the decay of inflectional endings. Grammatical gender is a system that assigns nouns to different classes (such as masculine, feminine or neuter) based on their form or meaning. For example, in Old English, woman was masculine (wif-mann) because it was composed of two masculine elements. In Middle English, after the loss of inflections, adjectives and demonstratives helped to indicate the natural gender (such as she or her) based on meaning rather than form.
The verb: The verb also underwent many changes in the Middle English period. The main changes were:
The loss of strong verbs: Strong verbs are verbs that form their past tense and past participle by changing their vowel sound (such as sing-sang-sung). In Old English, there were about 300 strong verbs. In Middle English, many of them disappeared completely or became weak verbs (verbs that form their past tense and past participle by adding -ed or -t). For example, climb-clomb-clomben became climb-climbed-climbed; know-knew-known became know-knowed-knowed etc. Today, there are only about 80 strong verbs left in the language.
The survival of strong verbs: Some strong verbs survived in the Middle English period and continued to be used today. Some of them kept their original forms, such as beat-beat-beaten; some of them changed their forms, such as cloven-clove-cloven; some of them had both strong and weak forms, such as blow-blew-blown or blowed etc.
The pronoun: The pronoun also changed in the Middle English period. The main changes were:
The loss of the dual number: The dual number was a form that indicated two persons or things. For example, in Old English, there were dual forms for we, you and they. In Middle English, these forms were lost and replaced by the plural forms.
The influences on the pronoun: The pronoun was also influenced by other factors, such as:
- The demonstrative: The demonstrative was a word that pointed to a person or thing. For example, in Old English, there were different forms for he, she and it (such as se, seo and þæt). In Middle English, these forms were replaced by the and that. Some of them also influenced the pronoun. For example, the feminine form seo influenced the pronoun she; the neuter form þæt influenced the pronoun it etc.
- The Scandinavian: The Scandinavian was a group of languages that came from the invaders and settlers from Scandinavia. They also influenced the English language, especially in the north of England. Some of their words replaced the English ones. For example, the Scandinavian form they replaced the English form hi in the third person plural nominative; the Scandinavian forms their and them replaced the English forms here and hem in the third person plural genitive and accusative etc.
The Views and Criticisms of Dean Swift
Dean Swift was one of the most influential and prominent figures in the 18th century’s attempts to regulate and improve the English language. He was a writer, a satirist, a politician and a clergyman. He was also a conservative, who cherished the principle of authority in church and state, and deplored the skeptical spirit of inquiry proposed by the Royal Society. He also upheld the classics, but understood the merits of a plain English style, as long as it was not polluted by crude and careless usages.
Swift wrote a letter in 1712 to the earl of Oxford, the first minister of England, titled A Proposal for Correcting, Improving and Ascertaining the English Tongue. In this letter, he complained about the problems and defects of the English language, such as:
- The absence of a prosody, a dictionary or a grammar that could provide rules and standards for correct usage.
- The daily corruption and deterioration of the language by ignorant or careless speakers and writers.
- The pretenders to polish and refine the language who had multiplied abuses and absurdities.
- The ambiguous constructions that offended against every part of grammar.
The remedy he proposed was an academy, though he did not call it by that name. He suggested that a free judicious choice should be made of such persons as are generally allowed to be best qualified for such a work. These persons should assemble at some appointed time and place and fix on rules by which they design to proceed in reforming the language. He also appealed to the earl to take some action by saying that if genius and learning be not encouraged under his administration, then he is the most inexcusable person alive.
Swift’s proposal was supported by some writers and thinkers who agreed with his views and goals. For example, Addison, who wrote in a paper in The Spectator that there were ambiguous constructions in English that will never be decided till we have something like an academy that by the best authorities and rules drawn from the analogy of languages shall settle all controversies between grammar and idiom.
However, Swift’s proposal was also opposed by some writers and critics who disagreed with his views and goals. For example, Oldmixon, who in the same year that Swift’s proposal appeared, published Reflections on Dr Swift’s Letter to the Earl of Oxford about the English Tongue. In this book, he protested against everything done or to be done by Swift or in his name. He attacked Swift personally by quoting passages from his satirical work The Tale of a Tub as an example of vulgar English. He also ridiculed the idea that anything can be done to prevent languages from changing.
Swift’s proposal was never realized or implemented. It was the nearest England has ever come to having an academy for the regulation of language. Meanwhile, opposition to an academy was slowly taking shape.
In conclusion, we have seen how the Middle English period was a period of great change for the English language. It was influenced by the Norman Conquest, which brought French and Latin words and culture to England, and by the introduction of printing, which helped to standardize and spread the language. We have also seen how the Middle English period’s attempts to regulate and improve the language resulted in several characteristics, such as the decay of inflectional endings, the loss of grammatical gender, the verb changes and the pronoun changes. We have also examined the views and criticisms of Dean Swift, who was a prominent figure in this period. He proposed an academy for reforming the language, but his proposal was never realized. We have also mentioned some of the historical influences on the English language, such as the Roman Christianization, the Scandinavian invasions, the Norman Conquest etc. We have also explained the difference between speech and writing, and the different types of writing systems, such as pictograms, ideograms, logograms etc. Language is a fascinating and complex phenomenon that has no clear origin or explanation. It is constantly changing and evolving over time, reflecting our diversity and creativity as a species.
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