History of the English Language

1
History of the English Language

• An Introduction to Shakespeare

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Old English

• West Germanic invaders from Jutland and southern
  Denmark began populating the British Isles in the
  fifth and sixth centuries A.D. The three groups
  of invaders were Angles, Saxons, and Jutes.

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• Together they were called Anglo-Saxons. The
  words England and English come from the word
  Angle. They spoke a mutual language that is
  called Old English.

4

• These invaders pushed the original,
  Celtic-speaking inhabitants out of what is now
  England into Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, and
  Ireland, leaving behind a few Celtic words.

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• These Celtic languages survive today in Gaelic
  languages of Scotland and Ireland and in Welsh.
  About half of the most commonly used words in
  modern English have Old English roots.

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Words like be, water and strong, for example,
derive from Old English roots.
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Middle English
William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy,
invaded and conquered England and the
Anglo-Saxons in 1066 A.D. The new royalty spoke
a dialect of Old French known as Anglo-Norman.
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The influence of the Normans can be illustrated
by looking at two words, beef and cow. Beef,
commonly eaten by the aristocracy, derives from
the Anglo-Norman, while the Anglo-Saxon
commoners, who tended the cattle, retained the
Germanic cow.
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Many legal terms, such as indict, jury, and
verdict have Anglo-Norman roots because the
Normans ran the courts. Over time, the French
nobles lost their loyalty to France and began to
speak a modified English instead of Anglo-Norman.
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In 1349, the Black Death began, killing about
one-third of the English population. The middle
class grew in economic and social importance, and
along with them English increased in importance
compared to Anglo-Norman.
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This mixture of the two languages came to be
known as Middle English.
12
Early Modern English
The next wave of innovation in English came with
the Renaissance. The revival of classical
scholarship brought many classical Latin and
Greek words into the language.
13
Many students having difficulty understanding
Shakespeare would be surprised to learn that he
wrote in modern English. Many familiar words and
phrases were coined or first recorded by
Shakespeare
14
Some 2,000 words and countless catch-phrases are
his. Newcomers to Shakespeare are often shocked
at the number of clichés in his plays until they
realize that he coined them and they became
clichés afterward.
15
One fell swoop, vanish into thin air, and
flesh and blood are all Shakespeares. Words
he bequeathed to the language include critical,
leapfrog, majestic, and dwindle.
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Two other major factors influenced the language
and served to separate Middle and Modern English.
The first factor was the Great Vowel Shift.
17
Long vowel sounds began to be made higher in the
mouth and the letter e at the end of words
became silent. In Middle English name was
pronounced nam-a, five was pronounced feef
and down was pronounced doon.
18
The last major factor in the development of
Modern English was the advent of the printing
press. William Caxton brought the printing press
to England in 1476.
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Books became cheaper, and, as a result, literacy
became more common. Publishing for the masses
became a profitable enterprise, and works in
English, as opposed to Latin, became more common.
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Finally, the printing press brought
standardization to English. The dialect of
London, where most publishing houses were
located, became the standard. Spelling and
grammar became fixed, and the first English
dictionary was published in 1604.
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Late Modern English

• The principal distinction between early- and
  late- modern English is vocabulary.

22
Pronunciation, grammar, and spelling are largely
the same, but Late-Modern English has many more
words. These words are the result of two
historical factors.
23
The first is the Industrial Revolution and the
rise of the technological society. The second
was the British Empire.
24
At its height, Britain ruled one quarter of the
earths surface, and English adopted many foreign
words and made them its own.
25
Hindi, and the other languages of the Indian
subcontinent, provided many words, such as
pundit, shampoo, and pajamas.
26
Virtually every language on Earth has contributed
to the development of English, from Finnish
(sauna) and Japanese (tycoon) to the vast
contributions of French and Latin.
27
Rulers of England

• The Normans
• In 1066, William the Conqueror conquered England
  and became its king. He was crowned William I.

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• The Plantagenets
• In 1154, there was a dispute over the throne.
  Henry II replaced Stephen as king and began the
  line of the Plantagenet family.

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• The Lancasters and the Yorks
• In 1399, there was a second dispute over the
  throne. The Plantagenet family split into two
  separate families, the Lancasters and the Yorks.

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• A civil war broke out between the two families.
  It was known as the War of the Roses, because
  members of the House of York wore a white rose
  and members of the House of Lancaster wore red
  roses.

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• Members of both families ruled during this time
  period, depending on which side was winning.

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• The Tudors
• The War of the Roses ended when Henry VII, a
  Tudor, was crowned King of England. His son,
  Henry VIII, was most famous for his scandalous
  marriages.

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• Henry VIII
• Henry VIII became king after the death of his
  father in 1509. In his desperate race to have a
  son, Henry went through six wives.

34

• Catherine of Aragon
• Henry married his brothers widow, Catherine, the
  same year that he inherited the throne.
  Catherine gave Henry one child, Mary.

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When Henry realized that Catherine was not going
to have another child, he asked the Catholic
Church for a divorce. The Pope, who had overseen
the marriage, refused the grant the divorce.
36
Henry then began his own church, of which he was
the leader. The first official act of the Church
of England was to grant Henry and Catherine a
divorce.
37

• Anne Boleyn
• Anne was already pregnant when Henry married her.
  A few months into the marriage, Elizabeth was
  born.

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Three years later, Henry claimed that Anne had
been having an affair and had her beheaded.
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• Jane Seymour Shortly after Anne was beheaded,
  Henry married Jane Seymour, who mysteriously gave
  birth only five months later.

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Jane, who would always be Henrys favorite wife,
died giving birth to his only son, Edward.
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• Anne of Cleves
• Henry agreed to marry the German princess Anne
  after seeing a beautiful portrait of her.

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She was not as lovely in person, however, and the
marriage was quickly annulled.
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• Catherine Howard
• Just a few months after dumping Anne of Cleves,
  Henry married Catherine Howard. Catherine really
  did cheat on Henry, and was executed two years
  later.

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• Catherine Parr
• One year after executing Catherine Howard, Henry
  married Catherine Parr. He and Catherine
  remained married until his death four years later.

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The Tudors after Henry VIII

• Edward VI
• Henrys son took over the throne when he was only
  nine years old.

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He was betrothed to Mary, Queen of Scots, but
died before he could ever marry. The sickly
child was only 16 when he died.
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• Lady Jane Grey
• While Edward was on his death bed, several dukes
  tricked him into signing a document that
  prevented his sisters from inheriting the throne.

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The Anglican dukes were afraid that Mary, still a
practicing Catholic, would destroy the Church of
England. Edward signed the kingdom over to Lady
Jane Grey.
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Only nine days later, Jane discovered the plot
and signed the throne back over to Mary. In
spite of Janes honesty, Mary had her put to
death.
50

• Mary I (Bloody Mary)
• As Queen of England, Mary tried to re-establish
  the Catholic Church in the country. She had all
  supporters of the Anglican church executed.

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Thus, she was known as Bloody Mary. Mary married
Philip II of Spain, who disliked England and
rarely visited. She died only five years after
her reign began.
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• Elizabeth I (The Virgin Queen)
• Elizabeth inherited the throne after her sister
  Marys death. Shortly after her reign began, her
  cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, tried to steal the
  throne.

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Elizabeth was able to defeat Mary and had her put
to death. Elizabeth finally led the country to a
religious compromise both Protestants and
Catholics were welcome to practice their
religions.
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Because Elizabeth never married, she was known as
The Virgin Queen. The truth behind this title,
however, is highly debatable.
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Life During the Elizabethan Period

• Classes
• Although the middle class had grown, there was
  still a definite line drawn between the social
  classes in Elizabethan England.

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Within the nobility there was a distinction
between old families and new. Most old noble
families were Catholic, and most new noble
families were Protestant.
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The upper classes were exempt from the new oaths
of allegiance to the Church of England, and many
Catholic families maintained private chaplains.
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• Food
• Meals were elaborate and large. Breakfast was
  simply a light snack, while the main meal of the
  day was dinner, which started at 11 oclock and
  lasted three hours.

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A smaller supper was usually at 6 oclock. The
lower classes had dinner at noon and supper and 7
or 8 in the evening. The poor ate off wooden
vessels, or pewter, the rich off silver, glass,
or delft from Holland.
60
China ware was unknown. Food was cooked over open
fires. Meat was cooked on a spit which was
sometimes turned by a dog running on a circular
treadmill attached to the spit end.
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Baking was done in iron boxes laid on the fire or
in a brick oven set into the side of the
fireplace.
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• Medicine
• One of the most common beliefs during this time
  concerned the humours.

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It was believed that four humours or fluids
entered into the composition of a man blood,
phlegm, choler (or yellow bile), and melancholy
(or black bile).
64
According to this belief, the predominance of on
humour over the others determined a persons
temperament as sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, or
melancholy.
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Furthermore, they believed that too much of any
of them caused disease, and that the cure lay in
purging or avoiding the humour, as by reducing
the amount of blood by cupping or reducing the
amount of bile by means of drugs.
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• Theatre
• The first proper theatre was called The Theatre
  and was owned by the Burbage brothers.

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The brothers lost their lease on the land where
the theatre was located, so they took the theatre
apart piece by piece and rebuilt it across the
river. The new theatre was named The Globe.
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In 1613, the roof of The Globe was accidentally
set on fire by canon fire during a play. It was
later rebuilt, but with a slightly different
design.
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The theatre could hold several thousand people,
most standing in the open pit before the stage,
though rich nobles could watch the play from a
chair set on the side of the stage itself.
70
Theatre performances were held in the afternoon,
because, of course, there was no artificial
lighting. Women attended plays, but no women
performed in the plays. Female roles were
generally performed by young boys.
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This illustration shows the general appearance of
an Elizabethan public theatre. The buildings
were round, square, or many-sided. All were open
at the top. Poor spectators stood in the pit,
while more wealthy patrons sat in the galleries.
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Actors performed on the main stage, in the
discovery space, and on the upper stage. The hut
atop the roof contained machinery to produce
sound effects and various special effects.
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The flag would proclaim to the city which kind of
play was about to be presented black for
tragedy, white for comedy, and red for history.
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Drama Terms

• Drama a story that is written to be acted for an
  audience
• Comedy a story that ends happily comedies
  usually end with a wedding
• Tragedy a story that ends in the death of the
  main character or characters

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• Aside words that are spoken by a character in a
  play to the audience or to another character but
  that are not supposed to be overheard by the
  others onstage
• Soliloquy a long speech in which a character who
  is onstage alone expresses his or her thoughts
  aloud

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• Setting the time and place of a story or play
• Theme the central idea of a work of literature
  tells what the writer wants to reveal about the
  subject is usually expressed in a sentence

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• Motif a repeated structure, contrast, or
  literary device that helps to develop the theme
• Allusion reference to a statement, a person, a
  place, or an event from literature, history,
  religion, mythology, politics, sports, science,
  or pop culture

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• Foreshadowing the use of clues to hint at events
  that will occur later
• Comic Relief comic scene or event that breaks up
  a serious play or narrative

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• Character person in a story, poem or play
• Static Character a character who does not change
  much in the course of a story
• Dynamic Character a character who changes as a
  result of a storys events

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• Flat Character has only one or two traits
• Round Character has many different traits, which
  sometimes contradict one another
• Protagonist the main character in fiction or
  drama

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• Antagonist the character or force that works
  against the protagonist
• Motivation the fears, conflicts, or needs that
  drive a character
• Foil a character who is used as a contrast to
  another character

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• Irony a contrast between expectation and reality
  between what is said and what is really meant,
  between what is expected to happen and what
  really does happen, or between what appears to be
  true and what is really true

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• Verbal Irony a writer or speaker says one thing
  but really means something else
• Situational Irony occurs when there is a
  contrast between what would seem appropriate and
  what really happens, or when there is a
  contradiction between what we expect to happen
  and what really happens

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• Dramatic Irony occurs when the audience or the
  reader knows something important that a character
  in a play or story does not know