Middle English (1154 - 1485 A.C.E)
Middle English was created out of late Old English in Norman, England between the late Twelfth and the late Fifteenth century. A change in power in England, meant the Normans gained the power in 1066. The Norman conquest saw the change in the top levels of English-speaking political and religious (Christian) hierarchies by the Norman speaking people who used Latin for administrative purposes. Even now, after nearly a thousand years, the Norman influence on the English language is still visible, although it did not begin to impact Middle English until later. The French and Scandinavians were the most influential l on the English language.
Examples derived from Old English and the second is of Anglo-Norman origins: pig/pork chicken/poultry calf/veal cow/beef wood/forest sheep/mutton house/mansion worthy/honourable bold/courageous freedom/liberty Middle English alphabet
|
Compared to Old English, word order became much more important, and there was much more structure in how words form sentences, and there was not as much flexibility in the new Middle English. Middle English lost many word endings (inflections) that show the relationship between the words in a sentence. Old English used the gender to show grammatical relationships, whereas in the more 'modern' form of Middle English, this dropped off, and non-living objects took on a more neutral meaning. Also during this era, a more simple alphabet was introduced, and was slowly shaping MIddle English into the Modern English we know today.
Middle English was a lot easier than Modern day English because they said the word how it sounded. For eg. 'Bomb' would be pronounced with the now silent 'B' on the end of it. Modern English would pronounce 'Knee' without the silent 'K' so it would be 'Ni', whereas Middle English would have pronounced the silent 'K'. |