Philology 3: History of the English Language Summary
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Course
Philology 3: History of the English Language
Institution
Universiteit Leiden (UL)
This is a summary of all lectures and readings of the course Philology 3 given at Leiden University. At the time this was an open book exam so this summary an be brought with you to the exam.
Philology 3; History of the English Language
WEEK 1
English is an immigrant language. It rose from a small dialect to a world language.
- In the 5th century -> 400 speakers
- In the 16th century -> 4.000.000 speakers
- In the 20th century -> 400.000.000 mother tongue speakers
- Today -> 1.400.000.000 2nd or foreign language speakers
New Englishes
- Australia
- America
- Dutch English?
- Etc.
Stages of English
- Old English (OE): before 1100
- Before the Norman Conquest
- Middle English (ME): ca. 1100-1500
- French influence
- Chaucer
- Rising standard
- Early Modern English (EModE): 1500-1700
- Printing press
- Renaissance
- Shakespeare
- Late Modern English (LModE): 1700-1900
- The language codified
- Prescription
- Present-day English: For the past 20 years
There is not really a name for what happened in the 20 th century.
There was no standard before the end of Middle English. The standard language was defined by:
- Written language (books)
- Educated variety -> common rules for grammar, vocabulary, spelling, punctuation, taught in
schools (and to foreigners)
- The language in print -> monitored by editors, proofreaders, other specialists and it should be
intelligible and clear
Today: everyone can publish their own work on the internet -> has an effect on the language
Functions of the standard
- A supraregional function -> communication; dialects in local use
- High vs. low functions of language -> High; literature, government, law, education, scholarship,
religion. Low; everyday communication
1
,OE period: bilingual -> English (no status, low) and Latin (status, high)
ME period: trilingual -> English (low), Latin (high) and French (other high; lit, government, law)
Standardisation process
1. Selection -> East Midland variety (14th century)
2. Acceptance -> Henry V letters in English (c. 1420)
3. Diffusion -> Chancery documents ( 15th c.)
4. Maintenance -> Caxton: printing (end 15th c.)
5. Elaboration of function -> English replacing Latin (16th c., 17th c.)
6. Codification -> Grammars, dictionaries
7. Prescription -> Usage guides
Earlier standardisation attempts
- Late West Saxon -> There was scribal consistency at the Winchester school, but in 1066, the
Norman Conquest disrupted this
- Orm (c. 1200) -> Idiosyncratic spelling. It was a aid to reading aloud
Later: William Barnes (1801-1886) -> He used his own Dorset dialect in high functions; poetry
(literature) and made a grammar and glossary (codification). However, he failed to make it standard.
[EE 22] Orrm (c. 1200):
an English monk writing in East Midland dialect of early ME.
- First reformer of English spelling
- Used the spelling of his own particular dialect
- Wrote in rhyme instead of alliterative verse
- Wrote the Orrmulum: a collection of 32 homilies, organised in metrical lines and intended for
church reading.
- His spelling is idiosyncratic, yet highly consistent:
- Use of double consonants after a vowel to indicate it is a short vowel (easier for priests
when reading out loud
- Use of ʒ:: ʒ: [j]
ʒ:ʒ: [i]
ʒ:h [ ɣ ] ]
- Not really influential. Only one copy survived → wasn’t popular (boring)
[EE 85] Hornbooks: Wooden thing which hold texts. How children were taught to read around 1450.
Hornbooks were attached to someone’s belt, so they carried it with them all the time. The goal of
literacy in this period was to be able to read religious texts (the Bible).
- The Hornbook alphabet differs from today’s, because
- it didn’t contain the letter j,
- there was no distinction between u and v,
- and there was an extra letter ſ between r and s (used up until the 19th c)
2
,[EE 25] Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight compared to Chaucer’s English:
Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight uses more features of Old English; Half-lines, use of thorn and yogh
symbols. Chaucer primarily uses rhyme instead of alliteration, whereas the Gawain poet uses both
alliteration and rhyme. Chaucer uses a West-midland dialect, which is more conservative because
settlers settled near the coast and brought change to the language (not where Chaucer was).
Sir Gawayne and the Grene Knight uses more older writing/spelling and uses other (Norse, French)
vocabulary/influence.
What English is:
- Today: a global language
- A lingua franca
- A change in language typology
- A standardised variety
- Not necessarily uniform
- British, American, Canadian, other Englishes
- Speech vs. writing, formal vs. informal
- Informal language more normal, but least studied → different stories
3
, WEEK 2
England’s three languages
Up until 1500 Latin was mostly used for scholarly texts and law documents.
Style (formal/informal) varies according to
- Medium (speech, writing)
- Topic (football, linguistics research)
- Situation (job interview, pub crawl)
- Speaker/hearer relationship (close, distant)
Text types (linguistic approach)
- Form
- Function
- Language
- Expectations
Examples: speech, homily, letter, song, riddle, cooking recipe, will, joke, meme
Classifying course texts
- Medium: speech or writing: Prose, verse
- Style: formality of the language: Type of audience addressed
- Genre/domain: legal, historical …
- Text type: will, letter, poem, song, grammar, dictionary …
- What do they contribute to our knowledge of the history of English?
4
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