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Middle English was the dominant language in England during the Middle Ages, influenced by the Norman invasion and French language. It was the language of the people, while French was preferred in law courts and writing. Middle English writers, including Chaucer, wrote in the vernacular. Pronunciation differences include French influence and the Great Speech Shift in the 15th century.
Middle English (ME) was the dominant and traditional form of spoken language in many parts of England during the Middle Ages. Although most language historians suggest that before about AD 1000, the primary language in England was Anglo-Saxon, the Norman invasion of England had a significant effect on Anglo-Saxon. It gradually transformed the language into Middle English, a form almost recognizable, at least in text, as much more related to modern spoken and written English.
History can have an intense effect on language. For England, the Norman invasion changed English forever. In law courts and much of the writing of the time, French was decidedly preferable, taking into account the many French-based words (over 10,000) that are now the common everyday words of English today. Most documents dated after 1000 were written in either French or Latin, and Middle English drew on both, while retaining some of its Anglo-Saxon roots. This partly explains the significant “exceptions” in English grammar, spelling, structure and pronunciation that can make English such a difficult language to learn, especially for those acquiring it as a second language.
Despite the use of French at court, Middle English was the language of the people, and few people outside the nobility or church were readers. Furthermore, even with the development of printing, books were very expensive and few except those of the upper classes could afford them. It’s also important to understand that Middle English was not the only language spoken in England. Scots, Cornish and Welsh were all spoken and differed from Modern and even Middle English, and many prominent dialects of ME such as the West Midland dialect have significant differences from the ‘London’ form of the language.
As French influence faded, a number of 12th- and 13th-century writers decided to write in the vernacular, rather than French and Latin. This tradition spread and the 14th century produced probably the most important vernacular writer, Geoffrey Chaucer, the author of the Canterbury Tales and Troilus and Criseyde. Prominent West Midland dialect writers produced two of the classics of medieval English literature, Pearl and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The authors of these pieces are unknown, and some critics attest that the same person wrote them.
You can observe many differences between Middle English and the modern form. Many of these are slight spelling differences and many more have to do with the pronunciation of the language. Chief among the pronunciation changes from Middle to Early Modern English is the distinctly French pronunciation of most vowels. What we now call the silent “e” was often a spoken syllable. The pronunciation of long vowels is as follows:
Long is aah
The long e is like a fading a
Long I is like the e in the greeting
Long o is like o in silly
Probably U was pronounced “ow” and y was used more frequently as long as I sound long as in wine.
What remains one of the all-time linguistic mysteries is the not so gradual change in pronunciation from ME to Early Modern English. This is referred to as the Great Speech Shift and occurred roughly towards the end of the 15th century. Modern Old English changed the pronunciation of vowels to the more recognizable pronunciation of British English today, but why this occurred is still a matter of theory and speculation.
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