Middle English

**1. Middle English Language Evolution:**

– Transition from Old English occurred in the 12th century
– Old Norse influenced English to become more analytic
– Vikings in the Danelaw contributed to inflection erosion in both languages
– Old Norse had a profound impact on Middle and Modern English
– Scandinavian influence led to simplification of English grammar
– Vocabulary was largely Anglo-Saxon with Norse borrowings in the north
– Inflectional system was greatly simplified
– Dative and instrumental cases were replaced by prepositional constructions
– Most case endings disappeared, including forms of the definite article
– Pronunciation underwent considerable changes, including the Great Vowel Shift
– Old English grammar features simplified or disappeared during Middle English
– Adoption of Anglo-Norman vocabulary was significant
– Old Norse influences became apparent in English vocabulary
– Scottish language developed concurrently with Middle English
– Middle English saw adoption of poetic and emotive diction

**2. Middle English Literary Development:**

– Little early Middle English literature remains due to Norman domination
– New style emerged in the 14th century with works of John Wycliffe and Geoffrey Chaucer
– Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’ is the most studied work of the period
– Writing in English became fragmented and localized during Middle English
– Standard based on London dialects became established by the end of the period
– Dominant language of literature and law until the 14th century
– Important texts for reconstruction: Peterborough Chronicle, Ormulum, Ancrene Wisse
– Emergence of the AB language in religious texts
– Early Middle English defined up to 1350, including Middle English Romances
– Significant migration into London from East Midlands
– Development of a new prestige London dialect
– Writers like Geoffrey Chaucer used the emerging London dialect
– Independent standard developing in lowland Scotland (Scots language)
– Adoption of abstract concept terms from scholastic philosophical Latin

**3. Middle English Phonological and Orthographical Changes:**

– Voiced fricatives emerged as separate phonemes
– Reduction of Old English diphthongs to monophthongs
– Merging of Old English vowels into single vowels
– Rounding and unrounding of vowels in different dialects
– Loss of gemination and weak final vowels in pronunciation
– Adjectives inflected for case in earlier texts
– Layamons Brut inflects adjectives for various cases
– The Owl and the Nightingale adds endings to adjectives
– Comparatives and superlatives formed with -er and -est
– Adjectives ending in -ly or -lich formed comparatives with -lier or -liest
– Written in various scribal forms reflecting regional dialects
– Orthography standardized with the Chancery Standard
– Spelling mostly regular with consistent letter-sound correspondence
– Silent letters were rare, except for the silent e
– Doubling of consonants to indicate vowel lengthening

**4. Middle English Orthography and Alphabet Evolution:**

– Old English Latin alphabet had 20 standard letters and 4 additional letters
– Ash merged into /a/ in Middle English
– Eth and thorn represented /θ/ or /ð/ in Old English
– Wynn replaced by w in the 13th century
– Carolingian minuscule replaced insular script under Norman influence
– Yogh represented various sounds and was eventually replaced
– K, q, and z introduced under continental influence
– Letter forms v and u used interchangeably
– Introduction of Latin letter w, replacing wynn
– J and i also used interchangeably in Middle English writing

**5. Middle English Pronouns and Language Resources:**

– Personal pronouns developed from Old English
– Third person plural pronoun borrowed from Old Norse
– Nominative form of feminine third person singular replaced by sche
– Inflectional simplification in pronouns
– Distinction between nominative and accusative forms retained
– Middle English literature
– A Linguistic Atlas of Early Middle English
– Simon Horobin, Introduction to Middle English, Edinburgh 2016, s. 1.1
– Horobin, Simon; Smith, Jeremy (2002), An Introduction to Middle English, Oup USA, ISBN978-0-19-521950-0
– Carlson, David (2004), The Chronology of Lydgates Chaucer References, The Chaucer Review, 38 (3): 246–254
– Baugh, Albert (1951), A History of the English Language, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, pp. 110–132
– Crystal, David (1995), The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pp. 32, ISBN9780521401791