Old, Middle and Modern English
==> History of Old, Middle and Modern English
English has changed in both spelling and pronunciation over time, going through the stages of Old, Middle, and Modern English. These changes were mainly due to people putting words together, and also living in close proximity with other Germanic languages. Much of the influence of today's Modern English were those two causes.
Old English
Old English was greatly influenced by other language such as the Saxon and Viking languages (McCrum, Cran and Neil 53). The daily pronunciation of words was affected by the simple geography of the area where Old English was spoken, it gained grammatical and word structure that was very Saxon and Viking (Bryson 71). These language also broke down the complexity of English. For example, the word sweetheart changed from the Old English sweetard (Bryson 82). This change was an example of people simply becoming more lazy and simplistic with their daily pronunciation of words (McNight 44).
Middle English
Middle English was more of a transitional stage between Old and Modern English, most vowel and spelling changes occurred at this point. The letters y and u''s pronunciation was changing, for example the Old English word mycel changed to the Middle English word muchel (McCrum, Cran and McNeil 62). There wasn't much conformity in general with spoken or written Modern English; spelling was fluctuating and most words had multiple spellings and pronunciation (Chomsky and Halle 408). Usually, spoken Middle English differed from country to country, some versions having more Germanic influences than others (McCrum, Cran and McNeil 56). When comparing words that are all Middle English but have different spellings, one can see evidence of the Great Vowel Shift occurring (Peters 22).
Modern English
In Elizabethan times, Modern English was used. There were, however, different forms of Modern English as well (McNight 166). Logically, early Modern English was closer to Middle English and therefore more complicated (Claiborne 153). Shakespearean English was Modern English, though it was more of an early form. Pronunciation, spelling and grammar were still fairly inconsistent; and certain words rhymed then that would never rhyme in current Modern English (Bryson 77). For example, the word clean rhymed with lane. Obviously, the pronunciation of vowels from word to word was quite different. Versions of English that were almost like dialects of normal Modern English were forming as well; these were called pidgins and were used many times by Shakespeare (McCrum, Cran and McNeil 187).
Old English
Old English was greatly influenced by other language such as the Saxon and Viking languages (McCrum, Cran and Neil 53). The daily pronunciation of words was affected by the simple geography of the area where Old English was spoken, it gained grammatical and word structure that was very Saxon and Viking (Bryson 71). These language also broke down the complexity of English. For example, the word sweetheart changed from the Old English sweetard (Bryson 82). This change was an example of people simply becoming more lazy and simplistic with their daily pronunciation of words (McNight 44).
Middle English
Middle English was more of a transitional stage between Old and Modern English, most vowel and spelling changes occurred at this point. The letters y and u''s pronunciation was changing, for example the Old English word mycel changed to the Middle English word muchel (McCrum, Cran and McNeil 62). There wasn't much conformity in general with spoken or written Modern English; spelling was fluctuating and most words had multiple spellings and pronunciation (Chomsky and Halle 408). Usually, spoken Middle English differed from country to country, some versions having more Germanic influences than others (McCrum, Cran and McNeil 56). When comparing words that are all Middle English but have different spellings, one can see evidence of the Great Vowel Shift occurring (Peters 22).
Modern English
In Elizabethan times, Modern English was used. There were, however, different forms of Modern English as well (McNight 166). Logically, early Modern English was closer to Middle English and therefore more complicated (Claiborne 153). Shakespearean English was Modern English, though it was more of an early form. Pronunciation, spelling and grammar were still fairly inconsistent; and certain words rhymed then that would never rhyme in current Modern English (Bryson 77). For example, the word clean rhymed with lane. Obviously, the pronunciation of vowels from word to word was quite different. Versions of English that were almost like dialects of normal Modern English were forming as well; these were called pidgins and were used many times by Shakespeare (McCrum, Cran and McNeil 187).