The three periods in the development of the English
language are Old English, Middle English and Modern
English.
Old English is comprised of many languages, mainly
from Germanic invaders that arrived in the northern area England. These invaders,
speaking Anglo-Frisian dialects, came from what is now northwest
Germany and the Netherlands, and these dialects became the basis of Old English.
Approximately one half of the words used in Modern English today are based on Old
English words, e.g., "be," "strong" and "water."
With the
French invasion by William the Conqueror (of Normandy) in 1066, English through enormous
changes. The upper-class Normans spoke French (a Romance language, Latin-based) and the
lower-class English did not: but the working classes (that supported the French) spoke
English. There was a "linguistic class division" until the 14th Century, when (in a
"linguistic shift") English once again became the language of England—however now the
language consisted of many French words that we still use today, such as "rendezvous" or
"connoisseur." This is what is referred to as Middle English. As with Old English, it
would still be very difficult for the modern English-speaking world to understand Middle
English.
As a side note, English literature became
"respectable" in the 1200s. Edward III was the first monarch to "address Parliament in
English." By the end of that century, even the royal court had switched from the Norman
French to Middle English. It was during the rule of Edward III that Geoffrey Chaucer,
considered by many to be "the father of English literature," was granted a position in
the King's household. His varied career assignments, which exposed him to many levels of
society, also exposed him to their languages as
well.
Chaucer is an especially important figure in the
development of the English language in that he developed the "resources of the English
language for literary purposes." At that time, English was still thought of as a "rough
peasant language," and Latin was the language of the Roman Catholic Church—in its
monasteries and "centers of learning" which were dominated by the
Church.
By
using [late Middle English] instead of the more fashionable French...he added
tremendously to its
prestige...
Literature to
come would be based upon the example of Chaucer's work, and this greatly
impacted the use of Middle English rather than French, appealing more to the
middle class. Chaucer's writing was popular, and those able to read it had to be able to
read Middle English. In other words...
Chaucer is credited by some scholars as the first
author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular Middle English rather
than French or Latin.
By the
15th Century, the English language changed yet again. (Because English continues to
change, it is known as a "living language.") This change is known as the Great
Vowel Shift. This brought English into the third stage, known as Modern
English. The results are first seen at that time...
...by the spread of a standardised London-based
dialect in government and administration and by the standardising effect of
printing.
It is easy to see
this when reading Shakespeare: he writes poetically so the sentence structure is unusual
and some words are now considered archaic, but we can generally understand the language—
which continues to evolve today.
Additional
Source:
Adventures in English
Literature, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Publishers: Orlando,
1985.
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