Fakulteten för humaniora och samhällsvetenskap

Engelska

The History of English

Campus och Distans
HT 2022

Kompendium: Linguistics III: History of English from a

Sociolinguistic Perspective
Kurs: Engelska C
ENGL90, ENGL79, ENGC90,
ENGC91
Ämne: Engelska
Ansvarig lärare: Marie Tåqvist
 054–700 2375
Room: 12B 555
 marie.taqvist@kau.se

Karlstad University, 651 88 Karlstad, SWEDEN

Contents
General information .................................................................................................................... 2
Section 1: Introduction to the history of English ......................................................................... 3
Section 2: Language families and early history.............................................................................. 5
Section 3: Pre-Old English and Old English .............................................................................. 16
Section 4: Middle English .......................................................................................................... 30
Section 5: Early Modern English ............................................................................................... 40
Section 6: Late Modern English ................................................................................................. 48
Section 7: Maps ......................................................................................................................... 56

***

All those little linguistic eccentricities, the elements that are out of whack with the rest of the
language – these irregularities are typically relics of past regularity.
(Burridge, K. 2004: 79)

***
Ye knowe eek that in forme of speche is chaunge
With inne a thousand yeer and wordes tho
That hadden prys now wonder nyce and straunge
Us thinketh hem: and yet thei spake hem so
And spedde as wel in love as men now do.
(Chaucer, G. Troilus and Criseyde, Prologue to Book II)

1
General information

Linguistics III: History of English from a Sociolinguistic

Perspective, 7.5 credits
Aims:
Upon completion of the course, the students should be able to:
(1) describe how English has developed and analyse linguistic phenomena from a historical
perspective,
(2) give a critical account of key concepts used in English language history and apply them to
sample texts,
(3) apply sociolinguistic theories and concepts in the study of English language history,
(4) give an account of and summarise research publications in the field of linguistics, and
(5) identify language history research questions and discuss relevant methods for answering
them.

Assessment
Assessment is based on two examination items: one written and one oral. The written exam
consists of a take-home exam, to be completed individually. The oral exam consists of active
participation in a mandatory workshop at the end of the course, in which students present and
discuss current research in the field. One of the grades Distinction (VG), Pass (G), or Fail (U) is
awarded in the examination of the course.

Course material
Required reading:
 Coursebook:
Fennell, B. (2001). A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach. Blackwell Publishing.
 Compendium:
The History of English
 Supplementary photocopies (provided by the teacher)
See Study Guide for details.
 Research articles (provided by the teacher)
See Study Guide for details.

For more information about the form of instruction, assigned readings and other
coursework, please see the Study Guide published online.

ABOUT THE USE OF KEYS:

Keys for exercises in this compendium will not be posted separately. Instead, we will go over the
exercises in class, or you will be able to check your answers in a dictionary.

2
Section 1: Introduction to the history of English

KEY CONCEPTS
Synchrony vs. diachrony
Levels of linguistic change
Mechanisms of linguistic change
Ease of effort (simplification)
Deletion
Assimilation
Epenthesis
Haplology
Metathesis
Clarification
Regularisation (analogy)
Borrowing/adoptions
Substratum varieties

3
Mechanisms of linguistic change
One central concept in sociolinguistics and language change is that of mechanisms of linguistic
change – in other words, we focus on WHY certains aspects have changed. Some factors driving
change are language-external (e.g., social stratification, new inventions, fashion, and contact
between speakers of different languages). Other factors are language-internal. Below are some
language-internal mechanisms of linguistic change, motivated by speakers’ desire for ease of
effort and regularisation.

Analogy
Generalisation of a relationship from one set of conditions to another set of conditions, on the
basis of perceived similarity. Analogy also plays an important role in child language acquisition.
• OE bōc ‘book’ and bēc ‘books’ > ModE book, books
• ME eye ‘eye’ and eyen ‘eyes’ > ModE eye, eyes
• ModE beseech, besought > ModE beseech, beseeched

Assimilation
The influence of a sound on an adjacent sound, resulting in two sounds that are more similar.
The American English use of voiced t (as in water) is a typical example in present-day English.
• OE seofon ‘seven’ > ModE seven
• ModE input /ˈɪnpʊt/ > ModE input /ˈɪmpʊt/

Deletion
The omission of one or more sounds, also known as elision. The sound /h/ is particularly
susceptible to being dropped – a process which is still going on in English (e.g., in Cockney).
• OE hlaf ‘bread’ /hl-/ > ModE loaf /l-/
• ModE happy /ˈhæpi/ > Cockney happy /ˈæpi/ (non-standard, dialectal)

Epenthesis
The insertion of an extra sound (consonant or vowel) in a word, also known as intrusion. The
British English use of intrusive /r/ is a typical example in present-day English.
• OE æmtig ‘empty’ > ModE empty
• ModE film /fɪlm/> ModE film /ˈfɪləm/ (non-standard)
• BrE That man I saw-/r/-over there

Haplology
The elimination of a syllable when two identical or similar syllables occur consecutively. It is
particularly frequent in English adverbs formed from adjectives ending in –le.
• ME humblely > ModE humbly
• ModE library /ˈlaɪbrəri/> ModE library /ˈlaɪbri/ (non-standard)

Metathesis
The transposition of sounds/letters in a word.
• OE acsian ‘ask’ > ModE ask (non-standard axe is also still used today in some dialects)
• OE brid ‘small bird’ > ModE bird
• ModE pretty > Southern AmE purty (non-standard, dialectal)

4
Section 2: Language families and early history

KEY CONCEPTS
Language families
Indo-European
Germanic
Proto-language
Strong vs. weak verbs
Ablaut
The First Germanic Consonant Shift, aka Grimm’s Law
Verner’s Law
Cognate vs. borrowing
Centum/Satem languages

5
Inhabitants and influences
We do not know a great deal about the first people who inhabited the British isles in the Stone
Age and the Early Bronze Age – not even the language they spoke. The Celts are the first
inhabitants that we have any definite knowledge of, and they are the first known people to speak
an Indo-European language there. Starting with the Romans, four major invasions have then
contributed to shaping the linguistic situation in present-day Britain.

The first inhabitants Stone > Early Bronze Age

Celts Middle of First Millenium BCE: Iron Age

Invasions
Romans 43 CE
Anglo-Saxons 449–
Vikings 787–
Normans 1066 (Battle of Hastings)

Languages spoken in the British isles before English became established

The following is an overview of the languages that we know were spoken in the British isles
before the Anglo-Saxon invasion – in other words, when the island was still dominated by Celts.
There is no consensus on when these languages first started being used in the British isles (i.e.,
when the Celts settled there), but probably beginning around 600 BCE would be a reasonable
guess.

Celtic languages

Branch Language No. of native speakers

Brittonic (“P-Celtic”) • Cornish (extinct) —
• Welsh c. 500,000–600,000

Gaelic (“Q-Celtic”) • Irish Gaelic c. 40,000–80,000

• Scottish Gaelic c. 50,000–60,000
• Manx (extinct?) ?

Note:
• This overview does not account for the continental Celtic languages, such as Gaulish.
• Although the last native speaker of Manx died in the 1970s, there are efforts to revive the
language, including language-immersion primary education (since 2011) on the Isle of Man.

6
The time periods of English
The history of the English language has traditionally been divided into the following time
periods: the Old English period, the Middle English period, and the Modern English period.
There is also a Pre-Old English period from which we have almost no written sources (i.e., this
period is pre-historic). Moreover, the Modern English period is further subdivided into Early and
Late Modern English (also called Present-day English). These periods are shown below.

Pre-Old English c. 500–700

Old English c. 700–1100

Middle English c. 1100–1500

Early Modern English c. 1500–1650/1700

Late Modern English c. 1650/1700–present

These divisions are based on linguistic criteria, and they tend to coincide with major political,
social, and cultural events and upheavals, such as military invasions and major inventions. For
instance, the start of the Middle English period coincides roughly with the Norman invasion, and
the end of the period coincides roughly with the introduction of the printing press in England.

However, it is important to bear in mind that language change is gradual, although it speeds up in
times of great political and cultural change, and therefore, any division into distinct historical
periods is necessarily an artificial and arbitrary construction – as is always the case when we force
language into pre-determined categories. For this reason, the division presented above is not set
in stone. For instance, Barbara Fennell (2001) presents a partly different account in her textbook
A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach (page 1).

7
A window into the past: Four versions of The Lord’s Prayer
If we want to compare the language of the different time periods of English (Old English, Middle
English, Early Modern English, and Late Modern English), one very useful type of exercise is to
look at four different versions of the same text, to see how it has changed over time. This type of
exercise almost invariably entails looking at religious texts of some sort, simply because religious
texts tend to exist in many different versions.

The following passages are versions of the Lord’s Prayer as they were written during different
periods in history. The different versions reflect the kind of English spoken at the time. When
you read the different versions, you will be faced with different versions of words and clause
structures. First look over the four versions, and then look at the instructions overleaf.

This exercise is based on Clark, V.P., Eschholz, P.A., & Rosa, A.F. (1994). Language: Introductory Readings.

Old English, c. 1000

1. Eornostlīce gebiddaþ ēow þus Fæder ūre þū þe eart on heofonum, sie þin nama gehālgod.

2. Tōcume þīn rice. Gewurþe þīn willa on eorþan swā swā on heofonum.

3. Ūrne dæghwæmlīcan hlāf syle ūs tōdæg.

4. And forgyf ūs ure gyltas swā swā we forgyfaþ ūrum gyltendum.

5. And ne gelæd þū ūs on costnunge ac ālys us of yfele.

6. Witodlice gyf gē forgyfaþ mannum hyra synna, þonne forgyfþ ēower sē heofonlīca fæder
ēow ēowre gyltas.

7. Gyf gē sōþlīce ne forgyfaþ mannum, ne ēower fæder ne forgyfþ ēow ēowre synna.

Middle English, Wycliffe, 1389

1. Forsothe thus ȝe shulen preyen, Oure fadir that art in heuenes, halwid be thi name;

2. Thy kingdom cumme to: be thi wille don as in heuen and in erthe;

3. Ȝif to vs this day oure breed ouer other substaunce;

4. And forȝeue to vs oure dettis, as we forȝeue to oure dettours;

5. And leede vs nat in to temptacioun, but delyuere vs fro yuel. Amen.

6. Forsothe ȝif ȝee shulen forȝeuve to men her synnys, and ȝoure heuenly fadir shal forȝeue
to ȝou ȝoure trespassis.

7. Sothely ȝif ȝee shulen forȝeue not to men, neither ȝoure fadir shal forzȝue to ȝou ȝoure
synnes.

8
Early Modern English, Tyndale, 1526
1. After thys maner there fore praye ye, O oure father which arte in heven, halowed be thy
name;

2. Let thy kingdom come; they wyll be fulfilled as well in erth as hit ys in heven;

3. Geve vs this daye oure dayly breade;

4. And forgeve vs ourse trespasses, even as we forgeve them which trespass vs;

5. Leede vs not into temptacion, but delyvre vs ffrom yvell. Amen.

6. For and yff ye shall forgeve other men there trespases, youre father in heven shal also
forgeve you.

7. But and ye wyll not forgeve men there trespases, no more shall youre father forgeve youre
trespases.

Present-Day English, New International Version (NIV), 2011

1. This, then, is how you should pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

2. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.

3. Give us today our daily bread.

4. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

5. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”

6. For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also
forgive you.

7. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Exercise

The aim of this exercise is for you to identify changes over time in terms of (a) lexis and (b)
syntax, based on these four versions of the same text.

(a) Lexis
Analyse the forms that the various words have in common, and consider how each word
changes from the first to the last version and, also, from one version to the next (e.g.,
Fæder > fadir > father > Father). Sometimes, an entirely different word might be used in
one version compared to the next (e.g., rice > kingdom).

(b) Syntax
Do the same kind of analysis on the various syntactical (i.e., word order) changes that you
discover (e.g., Tōcume þīn rice > Thy kingdom cumme to > Let thy kingdom come > Your kingdom
come).

9
Indo-European Languages
The Indo-European family tree is shown below. There are two main groups: the centum
languages (on the left) and the satem languages (on the right). There is also an IE family tree in
Fennell (2001), but it is incomplete as the Celtic languages are missing from it.

Image from Herndon, J. H. (1994). “Relations of some Indo-European Languages.” In Clark, V.P., Eschholz, P.A.,
& Rosa, A.F. (eds). Language: Introductory Readings.

10
Exercise

The aim of this exercise is for you to identify language relationships, based on the family tree
representations presented in this compendium and in the coursebook. Try to find out the
following information:

(a) Finding out more about a certain branch on the IE stemma

Look up one of the branches on the Indo-European stemma (e.g., Balto-Slavic) and find
out how many different languages are attributed to that branch as well as how many
people speak those languages.

(b) The eleven languages in the world with the most speakers
The following list shows the eleven languages in the world with the most speakers. What
language families do they belong to? If Indo-European – what branch of the IE family
tree do they belong to?

LANGUAGE No. of speakers (as a native language)

Chinese 1 billion
Spanish 470 million
English 380 million
Hindi-Urdu 365 million
Arabic 245 million
Bengali 230 million
Portuguese 220 million
Russian 165 million
Malay 150 million
Japanese 125 million
German 100 million

This exercise is based on Kretschmar, W.A. (2018). The Emergence and Development of English; Finegan, E. (2004).
Language: Its Structure and Use, 4th edn.

11
Indo-European Languages: Correspondences
The following shows correspondences between various Indo-European languages in terms of
lexis, contrasted with equivalent words in Non-Indo-European languages.

IE but Non-Gmc IE and Gmc

Latin Sanskrit Irish OE Gothic ModEng
‘father’ pater pitar athair fæder fader father
‘two’ duo dvau do twā twai two

Non-IE
Chinese Finnish Turkish
‘two’ èr kaksi iki

Germanic Languages: Correspondences

The following shows correspondences between the Germanic languages in three main areas:
lexis, phonology, and morphology.

Lexis
English German Swedish Gothic
hands Hand hand handus
stone Stein sten stains
home Heim hem haims

Phonology
English Gothic Old Norse
stān stáins stein
hām háims heimr

Morphology
(a) Vowel change (Ablaut) to indicate tense shift – this feature stems from Proto-Indo-European
and occurs in so-called strong verbs.
English German Swedish
The infinitive sing singen sjunga
The past tense sang sang sjöng
The past participle sung gesungen sjungit

(b) Dental stops to indicate tense shift – this feature is a Germanic innovation and occurs in so-
called weak verbs.
English German Swedish
The infinitive live leben leva
The past tense lived lebte levde
The past participle lived gelebt levt

12
From Indo-European to Germanic: Major differences
As Proto-Germanic developed out of Proto-Indo-European (PIE), some important changes took
place. The following overview shows central changes in terms of phonology and grammar.

Innovations in Proto-Germanic phonology

(a) PIE o > Gmc a

PIE ā > Gmc ō

(b) Changes resulting from the operation of Grimm’s Law (the first Germanic consonant
shift) in combination with Verner’s Law

(c) Shift of stress accent to the first syllable (in PIE, stress accent was variable)

Innovations in Proto-Germanic grammar

(a) Simplification of the PIE inflectional system (tenses, the case system)

(b) Introduction of ‘weak’ verbs, with dental stops (-ed, -t) marking tense shift instead of
ablaut.

(c) Introduction of the strong and weak declensions of adjectives

Note:
Some of these changes are related, and have major repercussions for the development of English
over a very long period of time. It is generally believed by historical linguists that when stress
accent shifted to the first (or root) syllable of a word in Proto-Germanic, the result was that the
ends of words (where you find the inflections) lost some of their auditory distinctiveness – and
over time, this resulted in a weakening and loss of a majority of inflections in English, a greater
reliance on prepositions and word order to do the jobs inflections had carried out in the past, and
a gradual change of English from a synthetic to an analytic language. Many scholars have written
about this, but one very accessible account of English rhythm in a historical perspective can be
found in Crystal, D. (1996). ‘The past, present and future of English rhythm’, in M. Vaughan-
Rees, Changes in pronunciation (special issue of the Speak Out! newsletter), IATEFL.

13
The first Germanic consonant shift (aka Grimm’s Law), c. 500 BCE
The first Germanic sound shift is a so-called chain shift (i.e., a series of changes which affected a
number of sounds) which affected Proto-Germanic after it had broken off from the other
languages in the Indo-European language family.

How the sounds changed

Indo-European Germanic
Voiced aspirated stops > Voiced plain stops
(bh, dh, gh) (b, d, g)

Voiced stops > Voiceless stops

(b, d, g) (p, t, k)

Voiceless stops > Voiceless fricatives

(p, t, k) (f, θ, h (x))

Examples

NON-GERMANIC GERMANIC
PIE SANSKRIT LATIN GOTHIC ENGLISH

*p>f pad- ped- fōtus foot

pitar pater fadar father (OE fæder)

*t>θ trī tres þrija three

*k>h canis hunds hound

(or [x])

*b>p Greek ‘kannabis’ hemp

*d>t dvā duo twái two

dānt dent- tunþus tooth

*g>k genu kniu knee

*bh>b bhar- baír-an bear

bhratar frater brōþar brother

*dh>d dhā do
mādhu mead

*gh>g stigh ‘stride’ steigan ‘climb’

14
English cognates and borrowings from Latin
 Cognates are words that have a common etymological origin. This means that they are
derived from the same source word (etymon) in the same parent language. They also share
certain correspondences in terms of meaning, spelling, and pronunciation.

 Loanwords or borrowed words are simply words that have been borrowed into a certain
language from another language.

These are some Latin words (first column) which have native English cognates (second column),
and which have also been borrowed into English as loanwords at a later date (third column).

Latin English cognate Related borrowing

ager acre agriculture

caput head captain

centum hundred century

cordis heart cordial

dentis tooth dentist

duo two dual, duet

edere eat edible

genu knee genuflect

genus kind gender

pedem foot pedicure, pedestrian

piscis fish Pisces

plenus full plenty

pyr- fire pyrotechnics

octo eight October, octogenarian

tenuis thin tenuous

tres three trio, triangle

Note:
The English cognates reflect the operation of Grimm’s Law (cf. Lat. pedem – Eng. foot). In
contrast, the borrowings occurred after the operation of Grimm’s Law and, consequently, were
not affected by it.

What consonant sounds in the English cognates reflect the operation of Grimm’s Law?

15
Section 3: Pre-Old English and Old English

KEY CONCEPTS
Pre-Old English
Old English
Anglo-Saxon
Palatalisation of consonants
Voicing of consonants
Breaking
Front mutation (the i-umlaut)
King Alfred
Beowulf
Inflections
Noun declensions
Grammatical gender
Case

16
Overview of innovations in the OE sound system
As Old English developed out of Proto-Germanic, it retained most of the phonological features
of Proto-Germanic. However, the following central changes took place:

Changes affecting the consonant system:

(a) A process of palatalization led to the introduction of two new consonants:

• /tʃ/ as in cild (child) and ic (I)
• /ʃ/ as in sceal (shall)

(b) Voicing of /f/, /θ/, /s/ between vowels led to the introduction of the voiced sounds
/v/, /ð/, /z/ as in wīfes (wives), heaðen (heathen), rīsan (rise).

Changes affecting the vowel system: :

(a) Germanic ai > OE ā

Example:
• Gmc *stainaz > stān (stone)

(b) A change called “breaking” occurred in the West Saxon dialect of OE (this is the OE
dialect that is normally taught) but not in the Anglian dialect (Present-Day English stems
largely from this dialect). As a result, a and æ > ea before l and r followed by a consonant
and before h.

Examples:
• Anglian cald but West Saxon ceald (cold)
• Gothis arms but West Saxon earm (arm)

(c) Front mutation (also known as i-umlaut) occurred in the 5th or 6th century in all the West
and North Germanic languages. A front vowel or /j/ at the end of the word affected the
quality of a back vowel at the beginning of the word through a process of regressive
assimilation, so that the back vowel became a front vowel. Later, the end of the word
dropped, and all that was left was the first part, with a mutated vowel sound.

Examples:
• *manniz > men (men)
• *strangiþo > strength (strength)
• *fulljan > fyllan (fill)
• *fōtiz > fēt (feet)
• *mūsiz > mȳs (mice)

17
Sound changes in Old English
The following is an extract from Barber, C., Beal, J.C., & Shaw, P. (2009). The English Language: A
Historical Introduction. Cambridge: CUP, 120–123.

Old English shows certain phonological developments of its own compared with the other
Germanic languages. The Proto-Germanic diphthongs were changed in Old English. For
example, PG ai became OE ā so that Old English has stān and hām where Gothic has stains
‘stone’ and haims ‘village’. And PG au became OE ēa, so that Old English has drēam where Old
Norse has draumr ‘dream’, and bēam where German has Baum ‘tree, pole’, and ēare where Gothic
has ausō ‘ear’.
In prehistoric Old English a number of combinative sound changes took place. One with far-
reaching effects was front mutation or i-umlaut (also known as i-mutation). This was a series of
changes to vowels which took place when there was an i, ī or j in the following syllable.
Subsequently, the i, ī or j disappeared, or changed to e, but its original presence can be established
by examining the cognate words in other languages. For example, front mutation accounts for
the difference in vowel between the related words dole and deal. In Old English they are dāl
‘portion’ and dǣlan ‘to divide, distribute’, in which the ǣ is due to front mutation; this is clear if
we look at the cognate Gothic words, which are dails and dailjan (note that the sound spelt ai in
the Gothic words regularly becomes ā in Old English before front mutation takes place; the i in
these spellings could not cause front mutation itself).
OE dǣlan is a weak verb, and it is normal for the stem-vowels of OE weak verbs to show
front mutation. The weak verbs were formed in two main ways: there are denominative verbs
(formed from nouns or adjectives), and causative verbs (formed from strong verbs). OE dǣlan is
an example of a denominative verb, formed from the noun dāl. Causative verbs were formed on
the past-singular stem of strong verbs. The strong verb rīsan meant ‘to rise’, and the
corresponding causative verb is rǣran ‘to cause to rise, rear’. The Proto-Germanic past-tense
singular was *rais- (OE rās ‘rose’), and from this was formed the causative verb *raisján. The
accent was on the ending, so by Verner’s Law (discussed in chapter 4) it became *raizján. In West
Germanic, PG /z/ became /r/, so the prehistoric OE form was *rārjan, which by front mutation
became rǣran. Front mutation is normal in all the forms of weak verbs. Their infinitive was
formed with the suffix *-jan, and their various other inflections also contained i or j. For example,
in prehistoric Old English, the third-person singular ending of the present tense was *-iþ, so that
‘he divides’ was *dāliþ. The i caused front mutation of the ā, and then itself changed to e. This e
was lost in some varieties of Old English, so that the recorded forms of the word are dǣleþ or
dǣlþ.
The change from ā to ǣ was a movement to a closer and more frontal vowel, and this is the
general direction of the changes caused by front mutation: it was obviously a kind of assimilation,
the affected vowels being moved to a place of articulation nearer to that of the following vowel
or j. Thus ū became fronted to ȳ, a change which accounts for the different vowels of mouse and
mice, which have developed regularly from OE mūs, mȳs; the original plural form was *mūsiz, but
the i caused the ū to change to ȳ; then the ending *-iz was lost, giving the OE plural mȳs.
Similarly, front mutation changed short u to y; this change is reflected in the different vowels
of full and fill, which in Old English are full and fyllan (from earlier *fulljan). In some positions, an
unmutated u developed in prehistoric Old English into o; sometimes, therefore, we get a contrast
between unmutated o and mutated y, as in the words gold ‘gold’ and gyldan ‘to gild’. Other pairs of
words illustrating the front mutation of u to y are OE fox ‘fox’ and fyxen ‘vixen’, cnotta ‘a knot’ and
cnyttan ‘to tie, knit’, lust ‘pleasure, desire’ and lystan ‘to please’.
Front mutation changed ō to ē (or ǣ in non-West Saxon dialects, indicating the rounded
quality of the front vowel thus produced), and this accounts for the different vowel of food (OE
fōd) and to feed (OE fēdan). Other such pairs in Modern English are doom and deem, goose and geese,

18
tooth and teeth, blood and bleed, book and beech. Even where the ō has been shortened since OE
times, we still often have the spelling with oo, which shows that the vowel was once long. Finally,
front mutation changed short a, æ and o, which all became e; modern pairs illustrating these
changes include man and men, wander and wend, Canterbury and Kent, long and length, tale and tell,
straight and stretch.
Even from these few examples, you will see that front mutation made considerable changes in
the pronunciation of English. But do not confuse pairs like foot and feet, where the vowel
difference is caused by front mutation in prehistoric Old English, with pairs like sing and sang,
where the difference goes right back to the system of vowel-gradation in Proto-Indo-European.
Other combinative changes in prehistoric Old English caused the diphthongization of pure
vowels, often with different results in different dialects. One change, called ‘breaking’ or
‘fracture’, affected vowels before /l/ plus consonant, /r/ plus consonant, and /h/. So West
Saxon and Kentish have the forms ceald ‘cold’, earm ‘arm’ and eahta ‘eight’, compared with Gothic
kalds, arms and ahtau. The Anglian dialects, however, have unbroken vowels in many positions, as
in cald ‘cold’ and eahta ‘eight’. Another prehistoric change was the diphthongization of some front
vowels after initial [j] and palatalized [k], as in West saxon geaf ‘he gave’, giefan ‘to give’, gēar ‘year’,
and gīe ‘ye, you’. The change also took place in Northumbrian in some positions, but not in
Kentish or Mercian: the Mercian forms of those four words are gæf, gefan, gēr and gē. This set of
changes is usually known as palatal diphthongization, but the reality of the sound change has
been questioned, with critics suggesting that the changes may be purely orthographic changes,
intended to signal the palatal quality of the preceding consonants, rather than indicating a change
in the pronunciation of the vowels involved. Breaking and palatal diphthongization probably
took place earlier than front mutation. At a later date than front mutation there was a third type
of diphthongization, called ‘velar umlaut’ or back mutation, which was caused by an unstressed
back vowel in the following syllable, when only a single consonant intervened; this process
accounts for the diphthongs in such forms as heofon ‘heaven’. It occurred extensively in Kentish
and Anglian, but in West Saxon is found only before a limited number of consonants. The exact
dates of these various sound changes are unknown, but it seems probable that they took place
sometime between the middle of the fifth century and the middle of the eight century.

19
Old English orthography and pronunciation
Source for this section (pp. 20ff): Tony Jebson <jebbo@texas.net> 14th May 2001.
Website address: http://www.jebbo.co.uk/learn-oe/orthography.htm

Orthography

The following letters used in Old English manuscripts are no longer in use today:

æ The letter is called ash (æsc), and it represents Modern English /æ/. Capital æ is written Æ.
þ The letter is called thorn, and it represents Modern English // or //.
ð The letter is called eth (or ðæt), and it also represents Modern English // or //. Capital ð
is written Ð
ȝ The letter is called yogh, and it represents Modern English // or /j/.

ƿ The letter is called wynn, and it represents Modern English /w/. Capital ƿ is written Ƿ.
– The symbol is called a macron, and it is used above letters representing vowels to indicate a
long vowel sound. The macron was not actually used at the time, but is a symbol used by
contemporary scholars as an aid to pronunciation.

Stress

In Old English, as in Modern English, the stress usually falls on the first (or root) syllable. For
example: OE mórgen (morning). But note:

1. The prefix ġe- is always unaccented.

2. Prepositional prefixes, e.g. for-, ofer-, can be either accented (usually in nouns or
adjectives) or unaccented (usually in verbs).

Examples:
The prefix in fórwyrd (ruin) is accented.
The prefix in forwíernan (refuse) is unaccented.

3. Compound words where both words retain their full meaning have a secondary stress on
the first syllable of the second element.

Vowels

In Old English, short vowels must be distinguished from long vowels. A long vowel is marked
with a macron ( a line over the top) in most introductory texts.

a short “a”, as the first vowel in aha

ā long “a”, as the second vowel in aha
æ as in mat

20
ǣ as in has
e as in bet
ē approx. as in hate
i as in tin
ī as in seen
o as in got
ō approx. as in so
u as in bull
ū as in rule
y as i, with rounded lips [French tu]
ȳ as i, with rounded lips [French ruse]

In Modern English, vowels in unstressed syllables are reduced (e.g., the schwa), but in OE all
vowels are pronounced clearly, whether stressed or unstressed.

Diphthongs

It is important to realise that Old English words such as heall, hēold, hielt, which contain
diphthongs, are just as much monosyllables as Modern English meat and field (in which two letters
represent one vowel) or Modern English fine and base, which contain diphthongs. The Old
English diphthongs, with approximate pronunciations, are listed below.

ea æ+a
ēa ǣ+a
eo e+o
ēo ē+o
ie i+e
īe ī+e

Note that a short diphthong is equal in length to a short vowel, a long diphthong to a long vowel.
But remember that, like the Modern English word I, they are diphthongs, not two distinct vowels
such as we get in the ea of Leander.

Consonants

All consonants must be pronounced, e.g. c in cnapa (‘servant’ or ‘boy’), g in gnæt (‘gnat’ or ‘midge’).
Double consonants must be pronounced double or long. Thus, when you see -dd-, as in biddan,
pronounce it as you do when you say red D, not as you do when you say ready. Most consonants
are pronounced in the same way as in Modern English but there are some exceptions to this.

s, f, þ and ð
When the letters s, f, þ, and ð appear between vowels or other voiced sounds then they are
voiced. That is, they are pronounced like MnE z, v, and the th in clothe, respectively. Examples:
rīsan (to rise), hlāfas (loaves) and paþas (paths).
In other positions, including the beginning and end of words, they are voiceless. That is, they
are pronounced like MnE s, f and the th in cloth, respectively. Examples: sittan (to sit), hlāf (loaf),
pæþ (path), oft (often). The same rule accounts for the different sounds in MnE of path, paths and

21
 loaf, loaves. Note that the prefix ġe- does not cause voicing. This means that, for example, findan
and its past participle ġe-funden both have the sound of MnE f.
h
At the beginning of a word (initially) before a vowel, the letter h is pronounced as in MnE
hound. Examples: hund (hound), hlāf (loaf), hrēam (noise, outcry).
Otherwise it is like German ch in ich. It can be pronounced like ch in Scots loch. Examples:
fohten (fought), eahta (eight), feoh (cattle/money).
c
Before a, o, u, the letter c is pronounced k. Before e, i, y the letter c is pronounced like ch in
MnE child, UNLESS the y is the result of a mutated u (which it often is). In the cases when it
is pronounced as ch, the letter c is sometimes represented by ċ. For example, the letter c in Old
English ċīld ‘child’ is pronounced exactly like the letter combination ch in Modern English
child.
g
Before a, o, u, y, the letter g is pronounced as in MnE good. Before e, i, the letter g is
pronounced like y in MnE yet. In the cases when it is pronounced as y, the letter g is
sometimes represented by ġ . For example, Old English ġēar ‘year’ is pronounced like Modern
English year.
After or between back vowels (a, o, u, y), the letter g is pronounced roughly as w. For example:
dragan (to draw), boga (bow).
sc
The combination sc is usually pronounced like MnE sh. Thus scip (‘ship’) is pronounced the
same in MnE and OE. But in ascian (ask), -sc- is pronounced -sk-.
cg
The combination cg is usually pronounced like MnE dge. Thus ecg (‘edge’) is pronounced the
same in MnE and OE.

22
Old English pronunciation and grammar exercise
Study and pronounce the following OE words. When you do the exercise the first time, write the
Modern English equivalent on the lines supplied. After that, practise reading the words until you
are able to pronounce them automatically, without having to stop and think about each individual
sound. Look back to the pronunciation guide if necessary.

stān __________________ miht __________________

fæder __________________ forgiefan __________________
nama __________________ hrycg __________________
ecg __________________ hrōf __________________
biscop _________________ drīfan __________________
yfel __________________ cwēn __________________
eorðe __________________ heofonlice __________________
þæt __________________ dæg __________________
lufaþ __________________ ic __________________
beforan ________________ gā __________________
clǣne __________________ līcaþ __________________
gōd __________________ gēar __________________

Look at the forms of the definite article (in the following pages) and identify the following case
forms (stān masc. ‘stone’, mann masc. ‘man’, hūs neutr. ‘house’, cwēn fem. ‘queen’):
(1) þā stānas _______________________
(2) þāra manna _______________________
(3) þǣm hūse _______________________
(4) þǣre cwēne _______________________
(5) þone stān ________________________

Now read and try to translate the following sentences:

(1) Se biscop wæs dēad. ______________________________
(2) Sēo cwēn lufaþ þone cyning. ______________________________
(3) Se fisc swam under þǣm stāne. ______________________________
(4) Se cniht is on þǣre brycge. ______________________________

23
Old English grammar

Noun inflections

Old English has several different noun declensions, and the declension of a noun determines
what inflectional endings it takes in the different case forms (nominative, accusative, genitive, and
dative) and in the singular and plural. The following pages gives a brief overview of the main OE
noun declensions, but see also Fennell (pp. 64–67) for a more detailed account of a-stem, n-stem
and u-stem nouns.

(a) Masculine a-stem nouns

Nouns belonging to this declension have a plural –s ending in the nominative and accusative.
This is the declension on which regular s-plurals are modelled in Modern English (cf. one stone –
two stones). Another feature that has been retained in ModE is the genitive –es ending (now ’s).

Declension of OE stān (ModE stone):

Singular Plural
Nominative stān stānas
Accusative stān stānas
Genitive stānes stāna
Dative stāne stānum

Other nouns belonging to this declension include gylt ‘sin’, dæg ‘day’, and hlāf ‘bread’.

(b) Neuter a-stem nouns

Nouns belonging to this declension have no plural ending in the nominative and accusative. This
is the declsion on which the zero plural is modelled in Modern English (cf. one deer – two deer).
There are some remaining members of his declension, but most have become s-plurals. In
Swedish, the zero plural is still frequent (cf. ett hus – två hus).

Declension of OE hūs (ModE house):

Singular Plural
Nominative hūs hūs
Accusative hūs hūs
Genitive hūses hūsa
Dative hūse hūsum

Other nouns belonging to this declension include þing ‘thing’, word ‘word’, and dēor ‘animal’.

(c) Feminine o-stem nouns

Nouns belonging to this declension have a plural –a ending in the nominative and accusative.
(The plural –a ending in the genitive is not unique to o-stems.)

Declension of OE cwēn (ModEng queen):

24
 Singular Plural
Nominative cwēn cwēna
Accusative cwēne cwēna
Genitive cwēne cwēna
Dative cwēne cwēnum

Other nouns belonging to this declension include ðēod ‘people’, wynn ‘joy’, and ǣht ‘property’.

(d) N-stem nouns (masc, neut, fem)

Nouns belonging to this declension have a plural –an ending in the nominative and accusative. N-
stems are almost extinct in modern English: most nouns formerly belonging to this declension
have now become s-plurals, but one surviving member is ox (cf. ModE two oxen). The n-plural
forms existed side by side with s-plural forms well into the Middle English period (cf. two eyes and
two eyen – the former predominant in the north, and the latter in the south).

Declension of OE ēage (neut.) (ModEng eye):

Singular Plural
Nominative ēage ēagan
Accusative ēage ēagan
Genitive ēagan ēagena
Dative ēagan ēagum

Another neuter n-stem noun is ēare ‘ear’. Masculine n-stem nouns include nama ‘name’, oxa ‘ox’,
and guma ‘man’. Feminine n-stem nouns include tunge ‘tongue’, sunne ‘sun’, and eorþe ‘earth’.

(e) Athematic nouns (also called mutated plurals)

This declension differs from the others in that these nouns had i-umlaut (front mutation) in three
cases: the dative singular, the nominative plural, and the accusative plural. Take fōt as an example.
In Proto-Gmc the dative singular was *fōti, in the nominative and accusative plural *fōtiz. The -i-
in these forms caused i-umlaut (front mutation) and after the ending had fallen off (which it did
in Pre-OE), the OE form was fēt.

The declension of OE fōt (masc.) (ModEng foot):

Singular Plural
Nominative fōt fēt
Accusative fōt fēt
Genitive fōtes fōta
Dative fēt fōtum

To this declension belonged e.g. mann ‘man’, pl. menn; mūs ‘mouse’, pl. mȳs; lūs ‘louse’, pl. lȳs; tōð
‘tooth’, pl. tēð; gōs ‘goose’, pl. gēs, and so on. In Modern English, as a result, we have so-called
mutated plural forms (foot/feet; man/men; louse/lice; tooth/teeth; goose/geese). The noun bōc ‘book’ also
belonged to this declension (pl. bēc ‘books’), but today it is an s-plural. Mutated plurals also exist
in the other (North and West) Germanic languages, for instance Swedish (fot/fötter; hand/händer;
bok/böcker) and German (Fuß/Füße, Hand/Hände, Buch/Bücher).

25
The Old English definite article
Modern English has a definite article which is uninflected: the boy, the boys etc. The definite article
in Old English was inflected – different forms were used in different cases (Sw. kasus). It was also
used as a demonstrative pronoun, equivalent to ModE this, that. The definite article was inflected
as follows:

Masculine Feminine Neuter Plural

Nominative se sēo þæt þā
Accusative þone þā þæt þā
Genitive þæs þǣre þæs þāra
Dative þǣm þǣre þǣm þǣm

It is useful to know these forms. If you know (at least some of) them, you will find it easier to
identify OE case forms. For example, a form like fōt can be either a nominative or an accusative
form. But if you see sē fōt, you know that fōt must be the nominative singular.

Two of the forms have survived in Modern English: sē > the (with th- from the inflected forms)
and þæt > that. ModE this is from OE þis, another demonstrative pronoun.

26
BEOWULF (c. 700?, MS c. 1000)
The following text (on the left) is an excerpt from Beowulf, with an IPA transcription and an interlinear translation, from Rynell, A. (1969). Engelska förr och nu. On the right:
Seamus Heaney’s critically acclaimed verse translation (2000).

2379. Hyne wræcmæcgas 2379. Then over sea-roads

/ˈhyne ˈwrækˌmædʒɑs/
Him exiles

2380. ofer sæ sohtan, suna Ohteres; 2380. exiles arrived, sons of Ohtere.
/ˈover sæː ˈsoːxtɑn/ /ˈsuna ˈoːxteres/
over (the) sea sought, (the) sons of Ohtere;

2381. hæfdon hy forhealden helm Scylfinga, 2381. They had rebelled against the best of all
/ˈhævdon hyː forˈhæalden/ /helm ˈʃylvɪŋɡa/
had they rebelled against (the) protector of (the) Scylfings,

2382. þone selestan sæcyninga 2382. the sea-kings in Sweden, the one who held sway
/ˈθone ˈseːlestɑn/ /ˈsæːˌkynɪŋɡa/
the best of sea-kings

2383. þara ðe in Swiorice sinc brytnade, 2383. in the Shylfing nation, their renowned prince,
/ˈθɑːra θe ɪn ˈswiːoˌriːtʃe/ /sɪŋk ˈbrytnade/
those who in Sweden treasure dealt out,

2384. mærne þeoden. 2384. lord of the mead-hall.

/ˈmæːrne ˈθeːoden/
(a) famous prince.

27
THE FISHERMAN (c. 1000)
The following text is an excerpt from Ælfric’s Colloquy, based on McCully, C. & Hilles, S. (2004). The Earliest English—An Introduction to Old English. The passage was originally
written in Latin and used in the teaching of Latin in the 10th century. It was translated into Old English in the 11th century, and later revised by Henry Sweet (1897).

1. Hwelcne cræft canst þū? 9. Hwæt dēst þū gif hit unclǣne fiscas bēoþ?
Which occupation know-how-to you? What dost thou if it unclean/inedible fish is?

2. Ic eom fiscere. 10. Ic weorpe þā unclǣnan ūt, and nime þā clǣnan mē to mete.
I am fisherman. I throw the unclean out, and take the clean for myself to food.

3. Hwæt begietst þū of þīnum cræft? 11. Hwǣr cīepst þū þīne fiscas?

What gainest thou from thine craft? Where sellest thou thine fish?

4. Bileofan ic mē begiete, and scrūd, and fēoh. 12. On þǣre ceastre.

Sustenance I for myself gain, and clothing, and money. In the town.

5. Hū gefēhst þū þā fiscas? 13. Hwā bygþ hīe?

How catchest thou the fish? Who buyeth them?

6. Ic gā on mīnne bāt, and rōwe ūt on þā ēa, and weorpe mīn nett on þā ēa. 14. Þā ceasterware. Ne mæg ic hira swā fela gefōn swā ic sellan mæge.
I go into mine boat, and row out on the water, and cast mine net into the water. The town-people. Nor may I of them so many catch as I sell may.

7. Hwīlum ic weorpe angel ūt mid ǣse, oþþe spyrtan; 15. Hwelce fiscas gefēhst þū?
Sometimes I throw hook out with bait, or basket; Which fish catchest thou?

8. and swā hwæt swā hīe gehæftaþ ic nime. 16. Ǣlas, and hacodas, and scēotan, and ealle ōþre fiscas þe on þǣm ēam
and so-what-so them seizes, I take. swimmaþ …
Eels, and pikes, and trouts, and all other fish that in the water swimmeth …

28
Exercise

The aim of this exercise is for you to analyse the passages from Beowulf and Ælfric’s Colloquy
(“The Fisherman”) on the previous pages in terms of pronunciation and syntax.

(a) Pronunciation: Beowulf

Read the excerpt from Beowulf aloud in groups or pairs, with a focus on pronunciation.
Make sure you consult the IPA transcription provided, and pay attention to how the
transcription corresponds to the spelling.

(b) Pronunciation: The Fisherman

Read the excerpt from Ælfric’s Colloquy and try to find examples of the following sounds:
/f/, /v/, /s/, /z/, /k/, /tʃ/, /g/, /j/, /θ/, /ð/, and /ʃ/. Can you find all of them?

(c) Syntax: The Fisherman

Read the excerpt from Ælfric’s Colloquy and try to find examples of the following word
order combinations: SVO, VSO, OVS, and SOV. Use the interlinear translation as a
guide. What can you conclude about Old English word order, as compared to word order
in Present-day English?

29
Section 4: Middle English

KEY CONCEPTS
Middle English
The Battle of Hastings
Weakening and loss of inflections
Synthetic vs. analytic
New spelling conventions
Norman French influence
Scandinavian influence
Geoffrey Chaucer

30
Innovations in Middle English
These are some of the most central linguistic innovations which took place in the Middle English
period.

1. New spellings, for instance th instead of þ (thorn) and ð (eth). More on this on p. 32.
2. Reduction of inflections to –e, –(e)s, –en –(e)th. More on this on p. 33.
3. Scandinavian and French loanwords become incorporated into the language. More on
French loans on p. 34.
4. Lengthening of short vowels before ld, mb, nd, unless followed by a third conconant, for
instance child (but not children), climb, and bind.
5. Lengthening of open syllables in two-syllable words, for instance /a/ in bacen (“bake”) >
/aː/.
6. Word order and prepositions begin to take over the functions of inflections.
7. Development of the progressive aspect formed with be + –ing.
8. Building of tenses using primary (be, have) and modal (shall, will, etc.) auxiliaries.
9. The personal pronoun she replaces OE heo which may have been easily confused with he
(‘he’) as word endings weakened in this period. The pronoun she is possibly a borrowing
from Gaelic (cf. the modern Irish si pronounced /ʃi/) – though this is disputed.

Note:
Some of these changes are due to language-internal factors. Specifically, the weakening and
loss of inflectional endings resulted in greater reliance on prepositions and word order to mark
syntactic function. In other words, in terms of language typology, English took a major step
towards becoming less synthetic (relying on inflections to mark syntactic function) and more
analytic (relying on prepositions and word order).

Other changes have to do with language-external factors. Specifically, the influence from Old
Norse and Norman French had an impact on the vocabulary in terms of spelling conventions
and loanwords. This is the period in which the loanwords from Old Norse (borrowed from the
Scandinavian settlers in the late OE period, predominantly in the north-eastern part of England)
begin to show up in writing and slowly trickle down to the rest of the country. These loanwords
are primarily everyday words – for example, skirt, window, sister, egg, and take. Fennell (2001) points
out that these loans were not prestige borrowings and did not fill any real linguistic gap in
English, but rather found their way into the language as a result of close contact, resulting in a
sort of linguistic fusion. This is very unusual and is an indication of the nature of the interaction
between the Scandinavians and the English. It is also the period of French dominance and
influence in terms of new spelling conventions brought in by the Norman scribes and in terms of
prestige loanwords – for example estate, mansion, duke, chivalry, and science. Fennell (2001) points out
that the fact that we can identify specific semantic fields of borrowing (e.g., the justice system,
art, literature, education, science, administration, and words associated with the upper classes)
indicates that the contact between the French and the English was more superficial than that
between the Scandinavians and the English, where such semantic fields of borrowing cannot be
identified.
In the OE period, new words had entered the language primarily via language-internal means
(e.g., compounding and affixation), though limited borrowing also occurred. However, starting in
the ME period and continuing through the Early Modern period, English borrowed extremely
heavily from other languages, especially Romance languages, and this has led some linguists to
argue that English is no longer a Germanic language, at least not in terms of lexis. Fennell (2001)
has a good discussion on this.

31
New spelling conventions
The following is an overview of new spelling conventions which were introduced in the Middle
English period, following the Norman conquest.

Source: Barber, C., Beal, J. C., & Shaw, P. A. (2009). The English Language: A Historical Introduction. 2nd edn. Cambridge:
CUP.

32
Reduction of inflections
Source for this section: Finegan, E. (2014). Language: Its Structure and Use. 4th edn.

The following is an overview of the reduction of the inflectional system, which characterizes the
Middle English period, and which had such an enormous impact on the morphosyntactic
structure of English. The process of reduction is shown in the figure below, which is an
adaptation of Figure 14–4 in Finegan (2014: 519).

Old –a –e –u –an –en –on –um –as –es –aþ –eþ

English

Middle –e –en –es –eth

English

Early Modern –e –(e)s –(e)th

English

In a comment on this figure, Finegan (2014: 519) points out that the following three changes had
‘a profound effect on the morphology of Middle English’:
1. –m > –n
2. –n > 0
3. a, o, u, e > e [ə] (when not stressed)
Finegan (2014: 519) also writes that:
[The figure] shows how, as a consequence of these few sound changes, certain sets of Old
English inflections merged, becoming indistinguishable in Middle English and being further
reduced or dropped altogether in early Modern English. As a result of these mergers, the
Old English noun and adjective paradigms became greatly simplified in Middle English, and
grammatical gender disappeared altogether […].

This simplification of noun paradigms is illustrated in the table below (Table 14–7 in Finegan
2014: 520).

Four Middle English Noun Declensions

‘FOX’ ‘LORE’ ‘ANIMAL’ ‘FOOT’
SINGULAR
Nom/Acc fox loor deer foot
Genitive foxes loor(e) deeres footes
Dative fox(e) loor(e) deer(e) foot

PLURAL
Nom/Acc foxes loor(e) deer feet
Gen/Dat foxes loor(e) deer(e) foot(e)

33
Pronunciation and stress of French loan words in Middle English
When [French] words were first borrowed, they may have been given a French pronunciation,
especially among bilingual speakers. But very soon they were adapted to the English phonological
system, and given the English sounds which to the speakers seemed nearest to the French ones.
This is normal when a word is borrowed from a foreign language. In recent times, for example,
the word garage has been borrowed into English from French, but even speakers who know
French pronounce the word in an English way: they do not, for example, use a French uvular [r],
or a French [a]. Moreover, the word garage (at any rate in British speech) is now given an English
kind of stress pattern, being stressed on the first syllable. The same kind of thing happened with
many French loanwords in Middle English: at first, a word like nature was stressed on the second
syllable, as this seemed most like the French way of saying it, but after a time the stress was
moved to the first syllable, as this was more in conformity with English speech habits. In
Chaucer’s poetry, such words can often be seen to fluctuate, being sometimes stressed one way,
sometimes the other. In polysyllabic words, the stress was not always moved all the way to the
first syllable, and the final stressing arrived at has been influenced by several different factors:
compare melody with melodious, advertise with advertisement. Moreover, there are sometimes variant
stressings in Modern English, as in controversy.

Barber, C., Beal, J. C., & Shaw, P. A. (2009). The English Language: A Historical Introduction. 2nd edn. Cambridge: CUP,
p. 159

French loan-words in Modern English

Many words have been borrowed from French in Modern English, but not to the same extent as
in Middle English. […] These modern loans frequently have another form than those borrowed
in Middle English. The following differences can be observed:
In Middle English loan-words from French the stress was shifted to the first syllable in
agreement with Germanic stress principles: village, language, money, prison, captain etc. In modern
loan-words the French stress on the last syllable has often been retained: façade, prestige, naïve, hotel,
police etc.
In medieval loan-words French ch is pronounced /t∫/: chamber, chance, change, chapel, check,
chattels etc. In modern loan-words the pronunciation is /∫/: machine, charade, champagne etc. Cf. the
Middle English loan chief /t∫i:f/ and the modern chef /∫ef/, which are etymologically identical,
both deriving from French chef ‘leader, head (of something)’, and ultimately from Latin caput
‘head’. Cf. captain and chieftain (which are derivatives of the same word), and Sw. hövding, a
derivative of huvud.
The suffix –age is pronounced /-id/ in Middle English loan-words: village, heritage etc., but
/-a:/ in modern ones: garage, espionage etc.
In words borrowed before the Great Vowel Shift, French /i:/ is pronounced /ai/: nice, fine,
climate etc.; in later ones the French pronunciation /i:/ has been retained: machine, routine etc.

Odenstedt, B. (2000). A History of English. Lund: Studentlitteratur, p. 119–120

34
CHAUCER’S PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES (c. 1400)
The following text is an excerpt from the General Prologue to Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. The excerpt (on the left) is from Benson, L. D., Gen. Ed. (1987).
The Riverside Chaucer (1987). The IPA transcription (on the right) is from Baugh, A.C., & Cable, T. (1983). A Companion to Baugh and Cable’s History of the English Language.

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote 1 /hwɑn θɑt ˈɑːprɪl wɪθ hɪs ˈʃuːrəs ˈsoːtə/ 1
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, 2 /θə druːxt ɔf mɑrtʃ hɑθ ˈpɛːrsəd toː θə ˈroːtə/ 2
And bathed every veyne in swich licour 3 /ɑnd ˈbɑːðəd ˈɛvri vɛɪn ɪn swɪtʃ lɪˈkuːr/ 3
Of which vertu engendred is the flour; 4 /ɔf hwɪtʃ vɛrˈtɪʊ ɛnˈdʒɛndrəd ɪs θə fluːr/ 4
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth 5 /hwɑn ˈzɛfɪrʊs eːk wɪθ hɪs ˈsweːtə brɛːθ/ 5
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth 6 /ɪnˈspiːrəd hɑθ ɪn ˈɛvri hɔlt ɑnd hɛːθ/ 6
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne 7 /θə ˈtɛndrə ˈkrɔppəs ɑnd θə ˈjʊŋgə ˈsʊnnə/ 7
Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne, 8 /hɑθ ɪn θə rɑm hɪs ˈhɑlvə kuːrs ɪˈrʊnnə/ 8
And smale foweles maken melodye, 9 /ɑnd ˈsmɑːlə ˈfuːləs ˈmɑːkən mɛlɔˈdiːə/ 9
That slepen al the nyght with open ye 10 /θɑt ˈsleːpən aːl θə nɪxt wɪθ ˈɔːpən ˈiːə/ 10
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages), — 11 /sɔː ˈpriːkɛθ hɛm nɑːˈtɪʊr ɪn hɪr kʊˈrɑːdʒəs/ 11
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, 12 /θɑn ˈlɔŋgən fɔlk toː gɔːn ɔn ˌpɪlgrɪˈmɑːdʒəs/ 12
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, 13 /ɑnd ˈpɑlmɛrs fɔr toː ˈseːkən ˈstrɑʊndʒə ˈstrɔndəs/ 13
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; 14 /toː ˈfɛrnə ˈhɑlwəs kuːθ ɪn ˈsʊndri ˈlɔndəs/ 14
And specially from every shires ende 15 /ɑnd ˈspɛsɪɑlɪ frɔm ˈɛvri ˈʃiːrəs ˈɛndə/ 15
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, 16 /ɔf ˈɛŋgəlɔnd toː ˈkɑʊntərbriː θɛɪ ˈwɛndə/ 16
The hooly blisful martir for to seke, 17 /θə ˈhɔːli ˈblɪsfʊl ˈmɑrtɪr fɔr toː ˈseːkə/ 17
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. 18 /θɑt hɛm hɑθ ˈhɔlpən hwɑn θɑt θɛɪ wɛːr ˈseːkə/ 18
Bifil that in that seson on a day, 19 /bɪˈfɪl θɑt ɪn θɑt ˈsɛːzuːn ɔn ə dɛɪ/ 19
In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay 20 /ɪn ˈsʊθwɛrk ɑt θə ˈtɑbɑrd ɑs iː lɛɪ/ 20
Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage 21 /ˈrɛːdi toː ˈwɛndən ɔn miː ˌpɪlgrɪˈmɑːdʒə/ 21
To Caunterbury with ful devout corage, 22 /to(ː) ˈkɑʊntərbriː wɪθ fʊl deˈvuːt kʊˈrɑːdʒə/ 22

35
At nyght was come into that hostelrye 23 /ɑt niːxt wɑs kʊm ɪnˈtoː θɑt ˌhɔstɛlˈriːə/ 23
Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye, 24 /wɛl niːn ɑn(d) ˈtwɛnti ɪn ə ˌkʊmpɛɪˈniːə/ 24
Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle 25 /ɔf ˈsʊndri fɔlk biː ɑːvɛnˈtɪʊr ɪˈfɑllə/ 25
In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle, 26 /ɪn ˈfɛlɑʊʃɪp ɑnd ˈpɪlgrɪms wɛːr θɛɪ ˈɑllə/ 26
That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde. 27 /θɑt toːˈwɑrd ˈkɑʊntərbʊri ˈwoːldən ˈriːdə/ 27
The chambres and the stables weren wyde, 28 /θə ˈtʃɑːmbrəs ɑnd θə ˈstɑːbləs ˈwɛːrən ˈwiːdə/ 28
And wel we weren esed atte beste. 29 /ɑnd wɛl wɛː wɛːrən ˈɛːzəd ˈɑttə ˈbɛstə/ 29
And shortly, whan the sonne was to reste, 30 /ɑnd ˈʃɔrtli hwɑn θə ˈsʊnnə wɑs toː ˈrɛstə/ 30
So hadde I spoken with hem everichon 31 /sɔː hɑd iː ˈspɔːkən wɪθ hɛm ˈɛvrɪtʃɔːn/ 31
That I was of hir felaweshipe anon, 32 /θɑt iː wɑs ɔf hɪr ˈfɛlɑʊʃɪp ɑˈnɔːn/ 32
And made forward erly for to ryse, 33 /ɑnd ˈmɑdə ˈfɔrwɑrd ˈɛːrli fɔr toː ˈriːzə/ 33
To take oure wey ther as I yow devyse. 34 /toː tɑːk uːr wɛɪ θɛr ɑs iː juː deːˈviːzə/ 34
But nathelees, whil I have tyme and space, 35 /bʊt ˈnɑːðəlɛːs hwiːl iː hɑv tiːm ɑnd ˈspɑːsə/ 35
Er that I ferther in this tale pace, 36 /ɛːr θɑt iː ˈfɛrðər ɪn θɪs ˈtɑːlə ˈpɑsə/ 36
Me thynketh it acourdaunt to resoun 37 /meː ˈθɪŋkəθ ɪt ɑˈkɔrdɑʊnt toː rɛːˈzuːn/ 37
To telle yow al the condicioun 38 /toː ˈtɛllə juː ɑl θə ˌkɔnˈdɪsɪuːn/ 38
Of ech of hem, so as it semed me, 39 /ɔf ɛːtʃ ɔf hɛm sɔː ɑs ɪt ˈseːməd meː/ 39
And whiche they weren, and of what degree, 40 /ɑnd hwɪtʃ θɛɪ ˈwɛːrən ɑnd ɔf hwɑt deˈgreː/ 40
And eek in what array that they were inne; 41 /ɑnd eːk ɪn hwɑt ɑrˈrɛɪ θɑt θɛɪ wɛːr ˈɪnnə/ 41
And at a knyght than wol I first bigynne. 42 /ɑnd ɑt ə knɪxt θɑn wʊl iː fɪrst bɪˈgɪnnə/ 42

36
CHAUCER’S PROLOGUE TO THE CANTERBURY TALES (c. 1400)
This is the same excerpt as above, but this time with an interlinear translation on the right-hand side. The translation is based on Benson, L. D., Gen. Ed., (1987).
The Riverside Chaucer and Rynell, A. (1969). Engelska förr och nu.

Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote 1 When April with its sweet showers 1
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, 2 The dryness of March has pierced to the root, 2
And bathed every veyne in swich licour 3 And bathed every vein (of the plants) in such moisture 3
Of which vertu engendred is the flour; 4 By which power created is the flower; 4
Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth 5 When the West Wind also with its sweet breath 5
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth 6 In every grove and field has breathed life into 6
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne 7 The tender shoots, and the young sun 7
Hath in the Ram his halve cours yronne, 8 Has in Aries half its course run, 8
And smale foweles maken melodye, 9 And small birds sing melodiously, 9
That slepen al the nyght with open ye 10 Those who sleep all night with open eye 10
(So priketh hem nature in hir corages), — 11 (So Nature incites them in their spirits), — 11
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, 12 Then people long to go on pilgrimages, 12
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, 13 And professional pilgrims to seek foreign shores, 13
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; 14 To distant shrines, known in various lands; 14
And specially from every shires ende 15 And especially from every shire’s end 15
Of Engelond to Caunterbury they wende, 16 Of England to Canterbury they went, 16
The hooly blisful martir for to seke, 17 To seek the holy blessed martyr (St Thomas à Becket), 17
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. 18 Who helped them when they were sick. 18
Bifil that in that seson on a day, 19 (It) happened that, in that season, one day, 19
In Southwerk at the Tabard as I lay 20 in Southwark at the Tabard (Inn) as I lay 20
Redy to wenden on my pilgrymage 21 ready to go on my pilgrimage 21
To Caunterbury with ful devout corage, 22 to Canterbury with quite devout spirit/feelings, 22
At nyght was come into that hostelrye 23 at night were come into that hostelry 23

37
Wel nyne and twenty in a compaignye, 24 fully nine and twenty in a company 24
Of sondry folk, by aventure yfalle 25 of various (sorts of) people, by chance fallen 25
In felaweshipe, and pilgrimes were they alle, 26 into fellowship, and pilgrims were they all, 26
That toward Caunterbury wolden ryde. 27 that towards Canterbury wanted/intended to ride. 27
The chambres and the stables weren wyde, 28 The bedrooms and the stables were spacious, 28
And wel we weren esed atte beste. 29 and well we were accommodated in the best (way). 29
And shortly, whan the sonne was to reste, 30 And, in short, when the sun had gone to rest, 30
So hadde I spoken with hem everichon 31 so had I spoken with them everyone 31
That I was of hir felaweshipe anon, 32 that I was (one) of their fellowship straightaway, 32
And made forward erly for to ryse, 33 and made (an) agreement early to rise, 33
To take oure wey ther as I yow devyse. 34 to take our way there as I to you tell. 34
But nathelees, whil I have tyme and space, 35 But nonetheless, while I have time and opportunity, 35
Er that I ferther in this tale pace, 36 Before I proceed further in this tale, 36
Me thynketh it acourdaunt to resoun 37 it seems to me in accord with proper order 37
To telle yow al the condicioun 38 to tell you all circumstances 38
Of ech of hem, so as it semed me, 39 of each (one) of them, as it seemed to me, 39
And whiche they weren, and of what degree, 40 and who they were, and of what social rank, 40
And eek in what array that they were inne; 41 and also in what dress they were in; 41
And at a knyght than wol I first bigynne. 42 and at a knight, then, will I first begin. 42

38
Exercise

The aim of this exercise is for you to analyse the passage from The Canterbury Tales (the General
Prologue) on the previous pages in terms of pronunciation, lexis, morphology, and syntax.

(a) Pronunciation
Read the excerpt from the General Prologue aloud in groups or pairs, with a focus on
pronunciation (consult the IPA transcription provided).

(b) Lexis
o Focusing on lines 19–34, try to identify French loanwords in the text. To check
your answers, consult the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).
o Focusing on the same lines, examine the use of third person plural pronouns in the
text. What words are used? What is the historical explanation?

(c) Syntax
Focusing on lines 19–34, try to identify examples of non-SV word order in the text. What
can you conclude about Middle English word order, as compared to the situation today?

(d) Morphology
Focusing on lines 19–34, try to identify inflectional verb endings that were later lost.
What is the function of the ending in each case?

39
Section 5: Early Modern English

KEY CONCEPTS
Standardisation
The printing press
William Caxton
William Shakespeare
The Great Vowel Shift
Dictionaries

40
Innovations in Early Modern and Modern English
These are some of the most central linguistic innovations which have taken place in the Early and
Late Modern English period.

1. Long vowels raised or diphthongized as a result of the Great Vowel Shift. More on this
on p. 42.
2. Loss of final –e, –an, –th (as a verb ending).
3. The personal pronouns you, your, yours replace thou, thee, thy, thine in the second person
singular.
4. Word order and prepositions completely take over the functions of the lost inflections.
Thus, in terms of language typology, English becomes an analytic language (with few
inflections) as opposed to a synthetic language (many inflections) like OE, Latin, Russian,
Finnish, etc.
5. The auxiliary do replaces Subject–Verb inversion in interrogative and negative
constructions (except in cases of the copula, be, and, in British English, have).
6. Prescriptive grammar.
7. Dictionaries.
8. Creation of the passive progressive construction as in Books are being written.
9. Many new words enter the language through the processes of affixation, conversion, and
compounding.
10. Proliferation of multi-word verbs, that is, phrasal verbs (e.g., to hand out) and prepositional
verbs (e.g., to look for).
11. Expansion of scientific and general vocabulary.

41
The Great Vowel Shift
In the late Middle Ages and early Renaissance period, the English vowel system underwent a
radical change commonly called the Vowel Shift, during which the long vowels (but not the short
ones) changed. The shift was operational roughly from around the year 1400 to the late 17th
century. The reasons for this shift are still unknown, but see Fennell (pp. 160–161) for a
discussion of possible factors.

The vowel quadrant below illustrates how vowel sounds shifted during this period. In a very
simplified explanation, open vowels (bottom of the quadrant) became more close (i.e., they
shifted upwards), while those that were already close (top of the quadrant) became
diphthongized. This explains why modern English speakers pronounce me as /miː/ and not
/meː/, and why speakers pronounce mice as /maɪs/ and not /miːs/, etc. In other words,
understanding the Great Vowel Shift (GVS) goes a long way towards understanding (at least part
of) the discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation in English today.

FRONT CENTRE BACK

iː

CLOSE
uː

eː oː
aɪ aʊ
MID

ɛː
ɔː

æː
OPEN
aː

These shifts can be illustrated in the following examples:

1400 Today
find /fiːnd/ → /faɪnd/
meet /meːt/ → /miːt/
meat /mɛːt/ → /miːt/
name /naːmə/ → /neɪm/
house /huːs/ → /haʊs/
goose /goːs/ → /guːs/
stone /stɔːnə/ → /stəʊn‖stoʊn/

42
Note:
- The GVS was a so-called chain shift, in which more sounds than one are involved. There
are two types of chain shift. In a pull chain, the vowels at the top change first (thus
creating a vacant space in the vowel system) and then pull the lower ones up after them, so
that the vacant space is filled. In a push chain, the vowels at the bottom change first and
in so doing push the ones above them upwards. See Fennell for a discussion of chain
shifts in relation to the GVS.
- The high front rounded vowels /y/ and /yː/ (short and long) that were used in OE, for
instance in the word mȳs (ModEng mice), were replaced by the unrounded vowels /ɪ/ and
/iː/ in the Middle English period – and it is the Middle English vowels which
subsequently underwent the Vowel Shift.
- In some cases, the vowel sound has gone through more than one stage over a long period
of time, as illustrated in the box below (e.g., mice and house).

OE vowel How it has shifted Example words

ē /eː/ > /iː/ OE mē /meː/ > /miː/ (me)
ī, ȳ /iː/, /yː/ > /əɪ/ > /aɪ/ OE mȳs /myːs/ > /məɪs/ > /maɪs/ (mice)
ō /oː/ > /uː/ OE hrōf /hroːf/ > /ruːf/ (roof)
ū /uː/ > /oʊ/ > /aʊ/ OE hūs > /hoʊs/ > /haʊs/ (house)

Sources:
• Boucier, G. (1981). An Introduction to the History of the English Language.
• Culpeper, J. (2005). History of English.

43
QUEEN ELIZABETH’S TRANSLATION OF BOETHIUS (1593)
The following text (on the left) is an excerpt from Queen Elizabeth I’s translation of Boethius’ De Consolatione Philosophiae (Consolation of Philosophy), in 1593. The Roman statesman
Boethius wrote this extremely influential work in prison (c. 524), and it has subsequently been translated into English numerous times by famous writers such as King Alfred,
Geoffrey Chaucer, and William Caxton. On the right: Chaucer’s translation (14th century). From van Gelderen, E. (2006). A History of the English Language.

Queen Elizabeth I, Early Modern English: Geoffrey Chaucer, Late Middle English:

What is it, therefore, O man, that hath throwne the down to wo and What eyleth the, man? What is it that hath cast the into moornynge and
wayle? Thou hast seene, I beleue, som new vnwonted thing. Thou, yf into wepynge? I trow that thou hast seyn some newe thyng and
thou thinkest that toward the fortune be changed, art deceaud. This was unkouth. Thou wenest that Fortune be chaunged ayens the; but thou
euer her manner, this was her nature. She hath euer kept toward the wenest wrong (yif thou that wene): alwey tho ben hir maneres. Sche
rather her own constancy in her mutabilitie. Such one was she, whan she hath rather kept, as to the-ward, hir propre stablenesse in the
beguild the, and did deceauve with allurements of false felicitie. Thou chaungynge of hirself. Ryght swiche was sche whan sche flateryd the
hast vnderstode now, the doubtfull face of the blynde Goddesse, which and desseyved the with unleful lykinges of false welefulnesses. Thou
though she hyde her self to others, hath made her self to the manifest. Yf hast now knowen and ateynt the doutous or double visage of thilke
thou allow her vse her fashon, complayne not therof; yf thou hatest her blynde goddesse Fortune. Sche, that yit covereth and wympleth hir to
treason, skorne her and cast her of, that so falsely beguilde the; for she other folk, hath schewyd hir every del to the. Yif thou approvest here
that now is cause of thy woe, the self same ought be of thy quyett. She (and thynkest that sche is good), use hir maneris and pleyne the nat; and
hath left the, whom no man can be sure that will not leave him. yif thou agrisest hir false trecherie, despise and cast awey hir that pleyeth
so harmfully. For sche, that is now cause of so mochel sorwe to the,
sholde ben cause to the of pees and of joye. Sche hath forsaken the,
forsothe, the whiche that never man mai ben siker that sche ne schal
forsaken hym.

Exercise

Try to identify some of the Early Modern English features in Queen Elizabeth’s version, in terms of spelling, morphology, syntax, and the lexicon.

44
Etymology and the Oxford English Dictionary
Individual words have their own histories. This is called the etymology of the word. For instance,
some words are native English words which stem from Proto-Germanic (e.g., hand, foot, mother),
and some have been borrowed from other languages, such as Old Norse (e.g., take, egg, law),
Norman French (e.g., mansion, warden, state), or Latin (e.g., cheese, audio, bonus).

This section explains how the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) can be used to look up the
etymology of English words. The OED is generally considered the finest historical dictionary in
existence. It provides a wealth of information, including the year a certain word first came into
the language, what the language of origin is, and what the first recorded meaning was. The OED
is behind a paywall, but students at Karlstad University can access it for free via the university
library website, as described below.

Step 1.
Go to the university library website > “Uppslagsverk” > “Oxford English Dictionary”.

Step 2.
Enter your search word, e.g., “foot”, and choose “View full entry”. There are separate entries for
different word classes.

Step 3.
Read the etymological information provided. The word foot originates from Proto-Germanic,
which in turn comes from Proto-IE. The entry also lists a number of cognates in other languages,
including Swedish fot and Sanskrit pad (the word was affected by the First Germanic Consonant
Shift, aka Grimm’s Law – see p. 14).

45
This particular entry (“foot”) was last updated in March, 2016. In older entries, which have not
recently been updated, you may also come across the term Common Teutonic, which is the old term
for Germanic (in most places, it has been changed to Common Germanic), and the term Old Aryan,
which means Proto-Indo-European.

Step 4.
Read the information about the different senses the word has (and has had), and early sources in
which it can be found. One of the earliest attested uses of the word in the sense “the terminal
part of the leg” is in the epic poem Beowulf, from the OE period (date unknown). The entry cites
line 745, with the plural form fet (describing Grendel’s attack on the sleeping men and how they
were all eaten up fet ond folma = “hand and foot”.)

Also note: a dagger symbol (†) is sometimes used, and indicates that this particular sense of the
word is now obsolete, i.e., no longer used.

46
Exercise

The aim of this exercise is for you to identify changes over time in terms of the word stock in
English. Using the OED as your main resource, try to find out the following information:

(a) The etymology of a specific word

The following words have interesting etymologies: algebra (n.), avatar (n.), bayou (n.), boycott
(v.), chocolate (n.), crocodile (n.), disaster (n.), giddy (adj.), gung-ho (adj.), handicap (n.), sandwich
(n.2), and whisky/whiskey (n.). Using the OED, try to find out when the word was first
used in English and what the language of origin is.

(b) Identifying loanwords from specific languages

English is unusually rich in loanwords. Words have been borrowed from many different
languages, ever since the language was first spoken in the British isles. Using the OED,
try to identify at least three loanwords each from Latin, French, and Scandinavian (pick
words we haven’t already talked about on the course, and look them up in the OED to
see if they come from one of those languages).

This exercise is partly based on Clark, V.P., Eschholz, P.A., & Rosa, A.F. (1994). Language: Introductory Readings.

47
Section 6: Late Modern English

KEY CONCEPTS
The Mayflower
English as global language
World English(es)
Kachru’s concentric circles:
- the inner circle
- the outer circle
- the expanding circle
Related words:
- cognates
- doublets
- semantically related pairs
- borrowings/loanwords
Word formation processes:
- derivation
- compounding
- conversion
- shortening
- acronyms
- blends
- back-formation
Semantic change:
- generalisation
- specialisation
- amelioration
- pejoration

48
Four kinds of related words
The list below illustrates four different ways in which vocabulary items can be related, with a
focus on cognates, borrowings (or loanwords), doublets and semantically related pairs.

Cognate
A word which is historically derived from the same source as a word in another language.

Example:
• Proto-Indo-European pətēr > Sanskrit pitár, Latin patér, Greek pater, Gothic fader, modern
English father, modern Irish athair, Spanish padre

Borrowing / Loanword
A word taken over by one language from another.

Examples:
• from Scandinavian: window, take, ombudsman
• from French: palace, rouge, people
• from Latin: requiem, conviction, equator

Doublet
Two words which are historically derived from the same source and appear in the same language
(one or both may have been borrowed in).

Examples:
• shirt – skirt
• ditch – dike
• cattle – chattel
• guard – ward

Semantically related pairs

Words which are historically derived from different sources, but have related meanings.

Examples:
• deer – venison
• freedom – liberty
• brotherhood – fraternity
• heavenly – celestial

QUESTION:
What languages do the doublets and semantically related pairs above come from?

49
Compare “synonyms” in English:
Compared to many other languagues, the English language is unusually rich in synonyms, thanks
in large part to its extensive borrowing from other languages. As a result, we often have several
words for roughly the same concept – the list below gives some examples of native English
words which also have “synonyms” borrowed in from French and Latin.

Native English French Latin

ask question interrogate

fast firm secure

kingly royal regal

rise mount ascend

time age Epoch

But these “synonyms” are not always interchangeable. Compare the following examples, bearing
in mind that word choice has to do with:
- style (go up the steps / ascend the steps)
- meaning (ask / interrogate)
- collocation (royal palace / regal feast)

Examples:

ask I wasn’t the only one asking questions.

question The police questioned him about the theft.
interrogate They had been interrogated for 20 hours.

kingly A kingly feast

royal The royal palace
regal A regal suite

rise She felt the hair rise on her head.

mount For several hours, tension mounted.
ascend They ascended the steps.

Source: Svartvik, J. (1999). Engelska – öspråk, världsspråk, trendspråk.

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Grammatical change in Present-Day English
The following is a list of some grammatical changes currently going on in Present-Day English,
based on Mair, C. (1997). A Real-time Approach to the Study of Language Change in Progress.

(a) Analogical regularisation of irregular plurals of nouns, past tense verbs forms, and past-
participle verb forms.
• cactus (sg.) – cacti/cactuses (pl.)
• burn – burnt/burned
• strive – strove/strived

(b) Loss of whom.

- As an interrogative pronoun
- As a relative pronoun – but note that whom is retained after a preposition.
• Who/Whom did you give the money to? (interrogative)
• That’s the girl who/whom I gave the money to. (relative)
BUT:
• That’s the girl to whom I gave the money. (relative; after a preposition)

(c) Increase in the frequency of the s-genitive with inanimate nouns.

• The car’s rear window suddenly exploded.

(d) Decrease in the frequency of inflectional comparison with disyllabic adjectives and to
some extent even with monosyllabic adjectives.
• funnier > more funny
(• thinner > more thin)

(e) Increase in the frequency of the progressive aspect; new uses of the progressive aspect
with ‘stative’ verb phrases.
• I was loving every moment of it. (emphasis)

(f) A number of partly conflicting developments in the field of noun–verb concord (growing
acceptance of singular they and reduced tolerance for plural verbs with collective nouns of
the type the government are…).

• Did somebody leave their book here? (instead of his or her or his or her)
• The government has decided to… (instead of have decided to…)

(g) Revival of the so-called mandative subjunctive.

• They ordered that dinner be served at eight.

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Word formation processes in English
These are common ways in which new words are introduced into the language. These are either
language-internal (i.e., new words are formed on the basis of existing elements, such as derivation
and compounding) or language-external (i.e., new words are borrowed from another language, as
a result of contact between speakers of the languages involved).

Derivation
Creating a new word, or a new form of a word, by adding a bound derivational morpheme to an
existing word.
• debug (prefix de-) ‘remove mistakes’
• vegetably (suffix: -ly) ‘like a vegetable’

Compounding
Combining two or more free morphemes. Compounds are sometimes written as two separate
words, sometimes as one word, and sometimes they are hyphenated.
• sea shore (N + N)
• passer-by (N + Adv)

Conversion
Changing the word class of a word, but not its form.
• a supersize (N) > to supersize (V)
• to dive (V) > a dive (N)

Shortening/clipping
Reducing a word to one of its parts.
• fanfiction > fanfic • cellular phone > cell phone
• web log > blog

Acronyms
Forming an abbreviation from the initial letters of different words, and pronounced as one word.
They can be written in all caps or in lower-case letters. Acronyms should not be confused with
initialisms (FBI, CIA, etc.) – another syb-type of abbreviation, in which you say the individual
letters.
• ICE (In Case of Emergency) • the skin generation (spend kids’ inheritance now)
• dink (double income, no kids) • POTUS (President of the United States)

Blends
Using the beginning and end of different words to form a new word.
• spiced ham > spam (1937) • brother, romance > bromance
• motor hotel > motel

Back-formation
Taking away what looks like a suffix without being one. This is a subtype of clipping.
• accession > access • scavenger > scavenge
• burglar > burgle

Borrowing or loanword
• wiki ‘a website where users can collectively add to or modify a text’ (from a Hawaiian word for
‘quick’)

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Exercise

Using the definitions listed above, how many instances can you identify of words formed by
means of derivational morphemes, compounding, conversion, etc.?

Derivation
I am sick and tired of reading about the destruction of hurricanes. These natural phenomena
have been around for millions of years. It is man’s inability to respect and understand nature that
results in such destruction and havoc. You cannot build a wooden house in a hurricane area and
expect it to survive a killer storm, or build close to the ocean and not expect it to take a bite out
of your life.

Compounding
While skeptics still doubt the profitability of e-commerce, Americans are busy shopping. Last
year, on-line sales topped the $1 billion mark for the first time. Most of that record spending was
for books and CDs. But for the adventurous, there’s more exciting shopping to be found. For
those with a 007 complex, there’s Spy Stuff, which sells video cameras disguised as ties. For
bargain hunters, the U.S. Treasury Department lists confiscated cars and houses up for auction.

Conversion
• This dessert is a great buy for chocoholics.
• Farmers cut the hay, fork it on to a cart, and then store it in barns.
• One day he just upped and left.

Shortening/clipping
• Other lab animals are easy to keep or dispose of. But chimps, which are genetically so close to
humans, are a breed apart.
• For Jeri Ryan, 29, sci-fi is a newfound interest.
• Many fans carry a torch for Brad.
• Everyone in the tech industry, from the biggest fish to the smallest fry, is pointing fingers and
asking, “How can we compete?”

Blends
• If this happened, it would be an ecotastrophe greater than anyone that ever occurred.
• ‘Bush,’ says a Texan Democrat consultant, ‘is the boy in the bubble of infotainment.’
• Leading figures believe police-style breathalyzer tests are also needed to curb drinking and
alcohol-related misbehavior by players.

Back-formation
• The opening evening will be televised live by the BBC.
• If you decide to call, you have to give me notice so that I can get someone to baby-sit.
• Stuart and I used to reminisce about the old times and swap stories about skiving off work to
play a game at Dulwich Hamlet.

53
From the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year shortlist
• Brexit (2015 list): ‘The potential or hypothetical departure of the UK from the EU.’
• Singular they (2015 list): ‘A person of unspecified sex (or unknown sex with a non-binary gender
identity.’ According to the OED, the first recorded use of singular they was in 1375, so the change
is one of acceptance.
• Lumbersexual (2015 list): ‘A young urban man who cultivates an appearance and style of dress
(typified by a beard and checked shirt) suggestive of a rugged outdoor lifestyle.’
• Youthquake (2017 list): ‘A significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions
or influence of young people.’
• Vax/vaxx (2021 list): ‘A vaccine or vaccination.’ Related words: double-vaxxed (having received
two doses of a vaccine), unvaxxed (not vaccinated), anti-vaxxer (a person who is opposed to
vaccination), vaxxie (a vaccination selfie), vax-a-thon (vaccination marathon), vaxinista (a person
who gets a vaccine and flaunts it), etc.

QUESTION:
Which shortlisted words from the last few years do you think are good candidates for Word of
the Year?

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The Three-circle model of World Englishes
In 1985, Braj Kachru constructed his Three-circle model of World Englishes. The model is
comprised of three concentric circles, labelled the Inner Circle, the Outer Circle, and the
Expanding Circle, and these circles represent the different ways in which the English language
is acquired and used. The Inner Circle is made up of the traditional bases of English, i.e.,
countries in which English is spoken as a first, or native, language (ENL) by a majority of the
population (e.g., Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States). These varieties of
English are so-called norm-providing varieties: they provide the linguistic norms that non-native
speakers tend to aim for and/or be taught. The Outer Circle is made up of countries where
English has been adopted as an official language and has become part of the country’s chief
institutions, mainly as a result of the colonial past of these countries (e.g., India, Malawi, and
Singapore). In these countries, English is learned and spoken as a second language (ESL) in a
natural language environment. These varieties of English are so-called norm-developing
varieties, in the sense that the norms produced in the Inner Circle are further developed and
reproduced. And finally, the Expanding Circle is made up of countries where English is learned
as a foreign language (EFL) at school, but it does not have any special status in the language
policies of the countries (e.g., China, Israel, Japan, and Sweden). This circle is norm-dependent:
learners of English in these countries look to the norms provided by speakers of Inner Circle
varieties as models for their language use, rather than develop their own norms.

In constructing this model, Kachru pioneered the field of World Englishes and argued for an
approach in which non-native varieties are recognised as rule-governed systems in their own
right, rather than partial approximations of some Inner Circle variety, with mistakes in grammar
and pronunciation. Kachru’s model is not without its critics (for instance, it is not entirely
unproblematic to categorise all speakers and varieties according to this model), but it remains one
of the most influential ways of talking about and conceptualising different varieties of English,
and the field of World Englishes pioneered by Kachru is now a major field of research and
teaching.

Source (image):
- Fleckenstein, J., Leucht, M., Pant, H.A., & Köller, O. (2016). Proficient beyond borders: Assessing non-native
speakers in a native speakers’ framework. Large-scale Assessments in Education, 4(19).

Sources (content):
- Kachru, B. (1988). The sacred cows of English. English Today, 16, 3–8 .
- Kachru, B. (1992). World Englishes: Approaches, issues and resources. Language Teaching, 25(1), 1–14.

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Section 7: Maps

MAPS IN THIS SECTION

Roman Britain
Anglo-Saxon invasion
The Danelaw
Scandinavian place-names
Old English dialect areas
Middle English dialect areas
English in the world

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Roman Britain

This is a map of the Roman military government in the 400 years or so of Roman occupation.
Important landmarks include Hadrian’s Wall (a defensive fortification started in Hadrian’s reign to
protect the Roman empire against the Picts) and Watling Street (a Roman road thought to be the
location of the battle resulting in the final defeat of Boudica and the end of Boudica’s revolt, in
60 or 61 CE).

57
This is a map of the Roman civilian government. Note the Latin place-name elements: the place-
name endings -caster, -cester, and -chester derive from Latin castra (‘camp’), and the place-name
ending -wich derives from Latin vicus (‘village’).

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Anglo-Saxon invasion

This map gives an overview of the early Anglo-Saxon settlements. A number of different
Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians) arrived in bands over long periods of time,
starting in about 449 CE. They came from modern-day northern Germany, Denmark, and the
Netherlands. The Jutes and Frisians settled mainly in what is now Kent; the Angles in East
Anglia, and the Saxons in the areas of Essex (East Saxons), Sussex (South Saxons), Middlesex
(Middle Saxons), and Wessex (West Saxons).

59
The Danelaw

This map shows the extent of the Danelaw, also known as the Danelagh (OE Dena lagu), in the
late 9th century. The Danelaw is region in which the laws of the Scandinavians (Danes) held
predominance over those of the Anglo-Saxons. The boundaries of the Danish territory were
outlined in a peace treaty between King Alfred and the Danes in the 9th century, and the Danelaw
can be seen on this map as the northeastern part of England (with lighter shading), roughly
extending from present-day Cumberland and Northumberland to Essex. From Dowe, E.W.
(1910). The Atlas of European History.

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Scandinavian place-names

This map shows the spread of Scandinavian place-names. From A. H. Smith (1956). English Place-
name Elements. Common place-name suffixes include: -by, -thorpe/-throp, -thwaite.
Key to abbreviations: Bd=Bedfordshire; C=Cambridgeshire; Ch=Cheshire; Cu=Cumberland; Db=Derbyshire; Du=Durham; Ess=Essex;
Hu=Huntingdonshire; L=Lincolnshire; La=Lancashire; Lei=Leicestershire; Nb=Northumberland; Nf=Norfolk; Nt=Nottinghamshire;
Nth=Northamptonshire; R=Rutland; Sf=Suffolk; St=Staffordshire; Wa=Warwickshire; We=Westmoreland; YE=East Yorkshire; YN=North
Yorkshire; YW=West Yorkshire

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The main dialect areas of Old English

This map shows the main dialect areas of Old English towards the end of the ninth century:
Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon, and Kentish. From Barber, C. (2000). The English Language: A
Historical Introduction.

62
Middle English dialect areas

This map shows the main dialect areas of Middle English: Northern, West Midland, East Midland,
Southern, and Kentish. From the Helsinki Corpus of English Texts website (2019):
http://www.helsinki.fi/varieng/CoRD/corpora/HelsinkiCorpus/dialect.html.

For more information on dialects in the Middle English period, there are some very useful online
resources, especially The Linguistic Atlas of Early Middle English (LAEME) by Margaret Laing and
The Linguistic Atlas of Late Middle English (LALME) by Angus Mcintosh et al., Univ. of Edinburgh.
These atlases cover the periods 1150–1325 and 1325–1450, respectively.

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World English

This map shows the spread of English across the globe. From Crystal, D. (2019). The Cambridge
Encyclopedia of the English Language. 3rd edition.

64