Middle English: the non-standard period

1. What were the specific roles of English and French in the Early ME society?

Context: 1066 Battle of Hastings → William the Conqueror

→ English Nobles replaced by Normans- the leaders= most influential sector of society

- Most of the Church leaders French as well

- but mass of the inhabitants of England= English-speaking peasants

French- language of upper class for more than 200 years

- Marked class more than national identity

- French used in writing

- Bilingualism (French landowners in isolated areas, Engl. /Fr. intermarriages among lesser nobility)

→ French used on the top and English on the bottom of the social scale

2. What were the major factors for re-emergence of English in the Early ME period?

1234 - bishop protest at Winchester = dismissal of foreigners
- dind't last long, soon returned but there were tensions
- 1258 - Henry III - Provisions of Oxford
  - first proclamation since the Norman Conquest issued in French, Latin as well as English
  - meant to promote power-sharing between the barons and the king (recognition of parliament)
  - not accepted by the king = Barons' War (1258-1265)

Edward I
- most office-holders English
- changes in attitude towards English
  - knowledge of English = mark of an Englishman
  - English common language in all parts of the population (due to the merge of Norman French with the native population)
  - Of Arthur and of Merlin (before 1325) (translated): But every Englishman knows English./ Many a noble I have seen/ Who could not speak French.

consequences
- decline of French - there were attempts to hold this decline
  - University of Oxford forced students to learn both English and French
  - Canterbury and Westminster novices forbidden to use English
  - French a foreign language

English as a written language, the use of English in courts and Parliament established in the middle of the 14th century
15th century - English in private and public use; French still present in the Court and upper class

4. Comment on the loss of /w/ and /h/ in the early ME period.

postconsonantal /w/ disappeared before backround vowels, e.g. it disappeared in combinations such as /sw-/, which lead to so (as opposed to swā) or sword /sɔːd/ ( as opposed to sweord).

the loss of /h/, also known as h dropping, appeared in consonant clusters such as /hr-/, /hn-/ and /hl/ and before consonants as in (right), but it has been mostly retained before vowels. Dropping pre-vocalic /h/ is seen as violating the norms of good English (typical in Cockney ´ous instead of house). ! Initial prevocalic /h/ was not pronounced (and thus was ommited from writing) in loan woards (houre x oure - PDE hour).

5. Explain the principal mechanisms of short vowel lengthening and long vowel shortening in Middle English.

Changes in the vowel system in the ME period:

V + /l, r, n, m/ + voiced consonant → vowel lengthening / diphthongization
- cild “child” – original /i/ → /iː/ (later → /aı/

- but did not occur if a third consonant followed cildru “children” - /i/

ē before double consonants → shortened
- mētan – mētte → “meet” – “met”

Open syllable lengthening - general lengthening of vowels in open syllables (especially in the South)
- /a/ as in faren “fare” → /ɑː/ in open syllables
- /ɛ/ as in spere “spear” → /ɛː/ in open syllables
- /ɔ/ as in boren “borne” → /ɔː/ in open syllables

consequence – today phonologically short vowels - /ɪ, e, æ, ɒ, ʊ, ʌ/ do not occur in open syllables

More and more unstressed vowels – realized as schwa or lost in final position

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

------------------late OE (Wessex)-------------------------------------early 14th century (East)

------------------front---rounded---back---diphthongs--------------front---back---diphthongs

high-------------i/iː------y/yː---------u/uː---------------------------------i/iː-----u/uː------iu--(ui)

high-mid-------e/eː------------------o/oː------eo/eːo------------------e/eː----o/oː------ɛu--ɔi

low-mid--------------------------------------------------------------------ɛː-------ɔː------------ɔu

low-------------æ/æː-----------------ɑ/ɑː-----æɑ/æːɑ-----------------æ/æː-------------ai--au

6. Sum up the main changes to English orthography in the Early ME period and explain their origins.

the first orthographic system connected with West Saxon was still used but grew outdated
new conventions began to shift → French influence
even though there were general effects of the changes no standard emerged in the early ME
Changes:
- Non-Latin letters in disuse o
  - <ʒ> → <g> and <i>
  - <p> and <ð> replaced by <th>
  - <ae> interchanged with <a> or <e>
- <u; uu; w> are now used instead of Wynn <p>
- <y> used as a consonant for <j>
- <ʒ> fully retired
- <k> began to be used especially where <c> + <e; i> would lead to misinterpreation as <s> instead of <k>
- OE grapheme combinantion <hw> →<wh> → thanks to the influence which used <h> as a diacritic in combinations such as -th, -ch etc.
- in North and East Anglia <qu; u> and east Midlands <w> were also used for <hw>
- <c> and <sc> were replaced by French <ch> and <sch>
Changes in vowels:
- more challenging because of the great variety of pronunciations
- OE /y/ → <e> in Southeast BUT! in Soutwest rounding was reatained → the French<u; ui; uy> occured
- high back rounded /uː/ was spelled as <ou> in French fashion
- OE raising of /a/ led to the use of <o> or <oo>
Ormulum o
- 12th century East Midlands work; poetry; it wasn't praised because of its quality (used 15 beats iambic pentameter and it didn't rhyme) provides evidence of Old Norse in ME; includes English-Danish couplets
- the use of spelling indicates the author's pronunciation :
  - short and long vowels are differentiated here
  - short vowels - followed by double consonant-letters:follc
  - long vowels - followed by only one consonants letters:god
  - such differentiation also indicates that this OE concept was lost