A History of English Language

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A history of the english language 178 THE DIALECTS OF MIDDLE ENGLISH nunciation and the latter the Southern. Similarly ch in the south often corresponds to a k in the north: bench beside benk, or church beside kirk. Such variety was fortunately lessened toward the end of the Middle English period by the general adoption of a standard written (and later spoken) English. 43
Middle english 179 148. The Rise of Standard English. Out of this variety of local dialects there emerged toward the end of the fourteenth century a written language that in the course of the fifteenth won general recognition and has since become the recognized standard in both speech and writing. The part of England that contributed most to the formation of this standard was the East Midland district, and it was the East Midland type of English that became its basis, particularly the dialect of the metropolis, London. Several causes contributed to the attainment of this result. In the first place, as a Midland dialect the English of this region occupied a middle position between the extreme divergences of the north and south. It was less conservative than the Southern dialect, less radical than the Northern. In its sounds and inflections it represents a kind of compromise, sharing some of the characteristics of both its neighbors. Its intermediate position was recognized in the fourteenth century by Ranulph Higden. A well-known passage in Trevisa’s translation of Higden’s Polychronicon (c. 1385) reads: for men of þe est wiþ men of þe west, as it were vnder þe same partie of heuene, acordeþ more in sownynge of speche þan men of þe norþ wiþ men of þe souþ; þerfore it is þat Mercii, þat beeþ men of myddel Engelond, as it were parteners of þe endes, vnderstondeþ bettre þe side langages, Norþerne and Souþerne, þan Norþerne and Souþerne vnderstondeþ eiþer oþer. In the second place, the East Midland district was the largest and most populous of the major dialect areas. The land was more valuable than the hilly country to the north and west, and in an agricultural age this advantage was reflected in both the number and the prosperity of the inhabitants. As Maitland remarks, “If we leave Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk out of account we are to all appearances leaving out of account not much less than a quarter of the whole nation…. No doubt all inferences drawn from medieval statistics are exceedingly precarious; but, unless a good many figures have conspired to deceive us, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk were at the time of the Conquest and for three centuries afterwards vastly richer and more populous than any tract of equal area in the West.” 44 Only the southern counties pos- 43 For further illustration see Appendix A. 44 Domesday Book and Beyond, pp. 20–22.
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A History of the English Language F
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A History of the English Language F
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Contents Preface viii 1 English Pre
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Preface Before the present author e
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PHONETIC SYMBOLS [a] in father [a]
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1 English Present and Future 1. The
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English present and future 3 4. The
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English present and future 5 increa
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English present and future 7 French
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English present and future 9 learne
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English present and future 11 words
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English present and future 13 our t
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English present and future 15 World
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The Indo-European family of languag
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Old english 39 extended beyond a pr
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Old english 41 hundred towns, with
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Old english 43 whom almost certainl
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Old english 45 36. The Names “Eng
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Old english 47 39. The Dialects of
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Old english 49 fæger (fair), or s
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Old english 51 present the inflecti
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Old english 53 While the ordinary m
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Old english 55 The origin of the de
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Old english 57
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Old english 59 ‘proudly’, and t
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Old english 61 a saddle, the shield
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Old english 63 people. The literatu
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Old english 65 history of the rest
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4 Foreign Influences on Old English
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Foreign influences on old english 6
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The norman conquest and the subject
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The reestablishment of english, 120
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Page 159 and 160: Middle english 147 and adjective ma
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Page 163 and 164: Middle english 151 While an occasio
Page 165 and 166: Middle english 153 mations has been
Page 167 and 168: Middle english 155 the reality of M
Page 169 and 170: Middle english 157 the French words
Page 171 and 172: Middle english 159 brandish, vanqui
Page 173 and 174: Middle english 161 all the words in
Page 175 and 176: Middle english 163 whether found in
Page 177 and 178: Middle english 165 English vocabula
Page 179 and 180: Middle english 167 English word occ
Page 181 and 182: Middle english 169 French: forcover
Page 183 and 184: Middle english 171 142. Latin Borro
Page 185 and 186: Middle english 173 far this affecta
Page 187 and 188: Middle english 175 native populatio
Page 189: Middle english 177 the Middle Engli
Page 193 and 194: Middle english 181 the precise form
Page 195 and 196: Middle english 183 leef or tweyne,
Page 197 and 198: Middle english 185 phonology and mo
Page 199 and 200: 8 The Renaissance, 1500-1650 152. C
Page 201 and 202: The renaissance, 1500-1650 189 bein
Page 203 and 204: The renaissance, 1500-1650 191 disc
Page 205 and 206: The renaissance, 1500-1650 193 well
Page 207 and 208: The renaissance, 1500-1650 195 That
Page 209 and 210: The renaissance, 1500-1650 197 cent
Page 211 and 212: The renaissance, 1500-1650 199 I la
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Page 221 and 222: The renaissance, 1500-1650 209 anac
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Page 225 and 226: The renaissance, 1500-1650 213 seve
Page 227 and 228: The renaissance, 1500-1650 215 of t
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The renaissance, 1500-1650 229 It m
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The renaissance, 1500-1650 231 spea
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The renaissance, 1500-1650 233 185.
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The renaissance, 1500-1650 235 good
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The renaissance, 1500-1650 237 Sixt
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The appeal to authority, 1650-1800
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10 The Nineteenth Century and After
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The nineteenth century and after 28
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11 The English Language in America
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The english language in america 333
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APPENDIX A Specimens of the Middle
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Appendix A 389 East Midland The Bes
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Appendix A 391 down to the ground a
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Appendix A 393 Ac ich alle blisse m
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Appendix A 395 Characteristic of th
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Appendix A 397 Of Engelond, to Caun
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APPENDIX B English Spelling The fol
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Appendix B 401 straunge wordes as l
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Appendix B 403 more he tooke God so
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Appendix B 405 words, whose Etymolo
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Index 407 Alabama, 354 Albanian bra
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Index 409 Bacon, Francis, 261 Bacon
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Brakelond, Jocelyn de, 122, 124 Bra
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Index 413 Chamberlain, John, 209, 4
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Index 415 words from, 303 Dalby, D.
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Index 417 East Africa, English lang
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Index 419 Flügel, Ewald, 286 Folio
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Index 421 Goodenough, Ward H., 40 G
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Hill, A.A., 402 Hill, David, 72-73
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Index 425 Jackson, Kenneth, 72 Jaes
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Index 427 Lance, Donald M., 407 Lan
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Index 429 Lycian, 26 Lydgate, John,
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Index 431 Milton, John, 183, 224, 2
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Index 433 Nunnally, Thomas, 407 Nyn
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Peterborough Chronicle, 166 Peterho
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Index 437 Quirk, Randolph, 56, 316
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St. Mary’s Abbey, York, 147 Sallu
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Index 441 Society of Antiquaries, 2
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Index 443 Scandinavian, influence o
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Index 445 Verb-adverb combinations,
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Index 447 Woodbine, George E., 157
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A History of English Language

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