A History of English Language

A history of the english language 214
and Richard Ruppert, Die spanischen Lehn-und Fremdwörter in der französischen Schriftsprache
(Munich, 1915).
at the risk of being wearisome, in order that they might be the more impressive. So far as
we now know, these words had not been used in English previously. In addition both
writers employ many words that are recorded from only a few years before. And so they
either introduced or helped to establish many new words in the language. What More and
Elyot were doing was being done by numerous others, and it is necessary to recognize the
importance of individuals as “makers of English” in the sixteenth and early seventeenth
century.
168. Enrichment from Native Sources.
By far the greater part of the additions to the English vocabulary in the period of the
Renaissance was drawn from sources outside of English. The popular favor shown to all
kinds of foreign words seems to have implied a disparagement of English resources that
was resented in some quarters. Gabriel Harvey remarked that “in Inglande… nothinge is
reputid so contemptible, and so baselye and vilelye accountid of, as whatsoever is taken
for Inglishe, whether it be handsum fasshions in apparrell, or seemely and honorable in
behaviour, or choise wordes and phrases in speache, or anye notable thinge else…that
savorith of our owne cuntrye and is not ether merely or mixtely outlandishe.” 34 But, as
we have seen, there were purists like Cheke, and there were also others who believed that
English could very well develop new words from old roots or revive expressions that had
gone out of use. Cheke was so strongly opposed to the borrowing of Latin and Greek
words that he sought wherever possible English equivalents. Thus, in his translation of
the Gospel of St. Matthew, where the Authorized Version reads lunatic he wrote mooned,
and in the same way he said toller for publican, hundreder for centurion, foresayer for
prophet, byword for parable, freshman for proselyte, crossed for crucified, gainrising for
resurrection. The poets, of course, were rather more given to the revival of old words,
especially words that were familiar to them in Chaucer. For this reason their revivals and
new formations that suggested an older period of English were sometimes referred to as
“Chaucerisms.” Among poets who consciously made use of old words to enlarge the
poetical vocabulary the most important was Spenser, although there were also others,
such as Thomas Drant, the translator of Horace, whose influence on Spenser has not been
fully appreciated, and to a lesser degree Milton.
These poetical innovations were of several kinds. Some were old words revived, like
astound, blameful, displeasance, enroot, doom, forby (hard by, past), empight (fixed,
implanted), natheless, nathemore, mickle, whilere (a while before). Others were new,
such as askew, filch, flout, freak. The origin
34
Eliz. Crit. Essays, I, 124.