History of english language
History of english language
1. The old Germanic languages, their classification and principal
features
The history of the Germanic group begins with the appearance of
what is known as the Proto-Germanic language. As the Indo-Europeans extended
over a large territory, the ancient Germans or Teutons moved further north than
other tribes and settled on the southern coast of the Baltic Sea in the region
of the Elbe. PG is an entirely pre-historical language: it was never recorded
in written form. The first mention of Germanic tribes was made by Pitheas, a
Greek historian and geographer of the 4th. C.B.C. in COMMENTARIES ON
THE GALLIC WAR. In the 1st c. A.D. Pliny the Elder, a prominent
Roman scientist and writer, in NATURAL HISRORY made a classified list of
Germanic tribes grouping them under six headings. Tacitus – the Roman historian
– compiled a detailed description of the life and customs of the ancient
Teutons. According to this division PG split into three branches: East Germanic
(Vindili in Pliny’s classification), North Germanic (Hillevonies) and West
Germanic (which embraces Ingveones, Istevones and Herminones),
East Germanic. The East
Germanic subgroup was formed by the tribes who returned from Scandinavia at the
beginning of our era. The most numerous and powerful of them were Goths. Their
western branch, the Visigote, invaded Roman territory. Linguistically
the Western Goths were soon absorbed by the native population, the Romanised
Celts. The Eastern Goths, Ostrogote, consolidated into a powerful tribal
alliance in the lower basin of the Dniester. They set up a kingdom in Northern
Italy. The Gothic language, now dead, has been preserved in written records of
the 4th – 6th century. The Goths were the first of the
Teutons to become Christian. In the 4th c. Ulfilas, a West Gothic
bishop, made a translation of the Gospels from Greek into Gothic using a
modified form of the Greek alphabet. It is written on red parchment with silver
and golden letters and is known as the SILVER CODEX. It is one of the earliest
texts in thelanguages of the Germanic group.
North Germanic. The North
Germanic tribes lived on the southern coast of the Scandinavian peninsula and
in Northern Denmark. They didn’t take part in the migrations and were
relatively isolated. The speech of the North Germanic tribes showed little
dialectal variation until the 9th c. and called Old Norse or Old
Scandinavian. It has come down to us in runic inscriptions. RI were carved on
objects made of hard material in an original Germanic alphabet known as the
runic alphabet or the runes. The principal linguistic differentiation in
Scandinavia corresponded to the political division into Sweden, Denmark and
Norway. The earliest written records in Old Danish, Old Norwegian and Old
Swedish date from the 13th c. Later Danish and Swedish developed
into national literary languages. Norwegian was the last to develop into an
independent national language.
Also this group include the Icelandic and Faroese languages, whose
origin goes back to the Viking Age. In the Faroe Islands the West Norwegian
dialects brought by the Scandinavians developed into a separate language called
Faroese. For many centuries all writing was done in Danish, it was until 18th
c. Faroese is spoken nowadays by about 30.000 people. Icelandic developed as a
separate language in spite of the political dependence of Iceland upon Denmark
and the dominance of Danish in official spheres. Icelandic has retained a more
archaic vocabulary and grammatical system, Written records date from the 12th
and 13th c. The most important records are: the ELDER EDDA- a
collection of heroic songs of the 12th c., the YOUNGER EDDA (a text-book
for poets) and Old Icelandic Sagas.
West Germanic. The
would-be West Germanic tribes dwelt in the Lowlands between the Oder and the
Elbe bordering on the Slavonian tribes in the East and the Celtic tribes in the
South. The West Germans include several tribes: the Franconians (or Franks),
occupied the lower basin of the Rhine. They divided into Low, Middle and High
Franconians. The Angles anf the Frisians, the Jutes and the Saxons inhabited
the coastal area of the modern Netherlands, the Federal Republic of Germany and
the southern part of Denmark. A group of tribes known as High Germans (the
Alemanians, the Swabians, the Bavarians, the Thuringians and others) lived in
the mountainous southern regions of the Federal Republic of Germany. In the
Early Middle Ages the Franks consolidated into a powerful tribal alliance.
Towards the 8th c. their kingdom grew into one of the largest states in Western
Europe. In the 9th c. it broke up into parts. Its western part
eventually became the basis of France. The eastern part, the east Franconian
Empire, comprised several kingdoms: Swabia or Alemania, Bavaria, East
Franconian and Saxony, Lorraine and Friesland. The Franconian dialects were
spoken in the extreme north of the Empire; in the later Middle Ages they
develop into Dutch – the language of the Low Countries (the Netherlands) and
Flemish – the language of Flanders. The earliest texts in Low Franconian date
from the 10th c. The modern language of the Netherlands, formerly
called Dutch, and its variant in Belgium, known as the Flemish dialect, are now
treated as a single language, Netherlandish (20 mln people). The High German
group of tribes did not go far in their migration. The High German dialects
consolidated into a common language known as Old High German. The first written
records in OHG date from the 8th and 9th c. Towards the
12th c. High German had intermixed with neighboring tongues,
especially Middle and High Franconian, and eventually developed into the
literary German language. (100 mln people) Yiddish grew from the High German
dialects which were adopted by numerous Jewish communities in the 11th
and 12th c. These dialects blended with elements of Hebrew and Slavonic.
At the later stage of the great migration period – in the 5th c. – a
group of West Germanic tribes started out on their invasion of the British
Isles. They were The Angles, part of the Saxon and Frisian, and, probably, the
Jutes. Their dialects in the British Isles developed into the English language.
2. The chronological division of the History of English. General
characteristics of the OE language
The historical development of a language is a continuous
uninterrupted process without sudden breaks or rapid transformation. The
commonly accepted, traditional periodisation divides English history into three
periods: Old English, Middle English, and New English, with boundaries attached
to definite dates and historical events affecting the language. OE begins with
the Germanic settlement of Britain (5th c.) or with beginning of
writing (7th c.) and ends on the Norman Conquest (1066), ME begins
with the Norman Conquest and ends on the introduction of printing (1475), which
is the start of the Modern or New English; the New period lasts to the present
day. The History of the English language can be subdivided into seven periods.
The first –
pre-written or pre-historical period, which may be termed Early Old English,
lasts from the West Germanic invasion of Britain till the beginning of writing,
that is from the 5th to the close of the 7th c. It is the
stage of tribal dialects of the West Germanic invaders (Angels, Saxon, Jutes
and Frisians) The tribal dialects were used for oral communication, there were
no written form of English. The second historical period extends from
the 8th c. till the end of the 11th. The English language
of that time is referred to as Old English or Anglo-Saxon; it can also be
called Written OE. The tribal dialects gradually changed into local or regional
dialects. Towards the end of the period the differences between the dialects
grew and their relative position altered. OE was a typical OG language, with a
purely Germanic vocabulary, and few foreign borrowings; it displayed specific
phonetic peculiarities. As far as grammar is concerned, OE was an inflected
language with a well-developed system of morphological categories, especially in
the noun and adjective. The third period, known as Early Middle English,
starts after 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest, and covers 12, 13, and half
of the 14th c. It was the stage of the greatest dialectical
divergence caused by the feudal system and by foreign influences – Scandinavian
and French. The dialectical division of present day English owes its origin to
this period of history. Under Norman rule the official language in England was
French. The local dialects were mainly used for oral communication and were but
little employed in writing. Early ME was a time of great changes at all levels
of the language, especially in grammar and lexis. English absorbed 2 layers of
lexical borrowings: the Scandinavian element in the North-Eastern area and the
French element in the speech of townspeople in the Soth-east. Phonetic and
grammatical changes proceeded at a high rate, unrestricted by written
tradition. The forth period – from the later 14th c. till the
end of the 15th – embraces the age of Chauser. We may call it Late
or Classical Middle English. It was the time of the restoration of English to
the position of the state and literary language and the time of literary
flourishing. The main dialect used in writing and literature was the mixed
dialect of London. The phonetic and grammatical structure had incorporated and
perpetuated the fundamental changes of the preceding period. Most of the
inflections in the nominal system – in nouns, adjectives, pronouns – had fallen
together. The verb system was expanding, as numerous new analytical forms and
verbal phrases on the way to becoming analytical forms were used alongside old
simple forms. The fifth period – Early New English – lasted from the
introduction of printing to the age of Shakespeare, that is from 1475 to c.
1660. The first printed book in English was published by William Caxton in
1475. This period is a sort of transition between two outstanding epochs of
literary efflorescence: the age of Chaucer and the age of Shakespeare. The
growth of the vocabulary was a natural reflection of the progress of culture in
the new, bourgeois society, and of the wider horizons of man’s activity.
Extensive phonetic changes were transforming the vowel system, which resulted n
the growing gap between the written and the spoken forms of the word. The
inventory of grammatical forms and syntactical constructions was almost the
same as in Mod E, but their use was different. The abundance of grammatical
units occurring without any apparent restrictions, or regularities produces an
impression of great «freedom of grammatical construction». The six period
extends from the mid-17th c. to the close of the 18th c. In the history of
the language it is often called «the age of normalization and correctness».
This age witnessed the establishment of «norms». The norms were fixed as rules
and prescriptions of correct usage in the numerous dictionaries and
grammar-books published at the time and were spread through education and
writing. The neo-classical period discouraged variety and free choice in
pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. Word usage and grammatical construction
were subjected to restriction and normalization. The morphological system,
particularly the verb system, acquired a more strict symmetrical pattern. The
formation of new verbal grammatical categories was completed. The English
Language of the 19th and 20th c. represents the
seventh period in the History of English – Late New English or Modern
English. The classical language of literature was strictly distinguished
from the local dialects and the dialects of lower social ranks. The dialects
were used in oral communication and, as a rule, had no literary tradition. In
the 19th and 20th c. the English vocabulary has grown on
an unprecedented scale reflecting the rapid progress of technology, science and
culture and other multiple changes in all spheres of man’s activities. Linguistic
changes in phonetics and grammar have been confined to alterations in the
relative frequency and distribution of linguistic units^ some pronunciations
and forms have become old-fashioned or even obsolete, while other forms have
gained ground, and have been accepted as common usage.
General characteristics of the OE language. The history of the English language begins with the invasion of
the British Isles by Germanic tribes in the 5th c. Prior to the
Germanic invasion the British Isles must have been inhabited for at least fifty
thousand years. The Celts came to Britain in three waves and immediately
preceded the Teutons. Economically and socially the Celts were a tribal society
made up of kins, kinship groups, clans and tribes; they practiced a primitive
agriculture, and carried on trade with Celtic Gaul.
3. OE dialects. The
role of the Wessex dialect
The Germanic tribes who settled in Britain in the 5th and
6th c. spoke closely related tribal dialects belonging to the West
Germanic subgroup. Their common origin and their separation from other related
tongues as well as their joint evolution in Britain transformed them eventually
into a single tongue, English. The OU dialects acquired certain common features
which distinguished them from continental Germanic tongues. Also they displayed
growing regional divergence. Tribal dialects were transformed into local or
regional dialects. The following four principal OE dialects are commonly
distinguished: Kentish, a dialect spoken in the area known now as Kent
and Surrey and in the Isle of Wight. It had developed from the tongue of the
Jutes and Frisians. West Saxon, the main dialect of the Saxon group,
spoken in the rest of England south of the Thames and the Bristol Channel,
except Wales and Cornwall, where Celtic tongues were preserved. Other Saxon
dialects in England have not survived in written form and are not known to
modern scholars. Mercian, a dialect derived from the speech of southern
Angles and spoken chiefly in the kingdom of Mercia, that is, in certain region,
from the Thames to the Humber. Nothumbrian, another Anglian dialect,
spoken from the Humber north to the river Forth. The boundaries between the
dialects were uncertain and probably movable. The dialects passed into one
another imperceptibly and dialectal forms were freely borrowed from one dialect
into another. Throughout this period the dialects enjoyed relative equality;
none of them was the dominant form of speech, each being the main type used
over a limited area. At the time of written OE the dialects had changed from
tribal to regional; they possessed both an oral and a written form and were no
longer equal; in the domain of writing the West Saxon dialect prevailed over
its neighbours.
In the 9th c. the political and cultural centre moved
to Wessex. Culture and education made great progress there; it is no wonder
that the West Saxon dialect has been preserved in a greater number of texts
than all the other OE dialects put together. Towards the 11th c. the
written form of the West Saxon dialect developed into a bookish type of
language, which, probably, served as the language of writing for all
English-speaking people.
4. The Scandinavian Invasion and its effect on English
In the 8th c. raiders from Scandinavia (the Danes) made
their first plundering attacks on England. The struggle of the English against
the Scandinavians lasted over 300 years, in the course of which period more
than half of England was occupied by the invaders and reconquered again. The
Scandinavians subdued Northumbria and East Anglia, ravaged the eastern part of
Mercia, and advanced on Wessex. Like their predecessors, the West Germanic
invaders, the Scandinavians came in large numbers and settled in the new areas.
They founded many towns and villages in northern England; in many regions there
sprang up a mixed population made up of the English and the Danes. Their
linguistic amalgamation was easy, since their tongues belonged to the same
linguistic group. The ultimate effect of the Scandinavian invasions on the
English language became manifest at a later date, in the 12th-13th
c., when the Scandinavian element was incorporated in the central English dialects;
but the historical events that led to the linguistic influence date from the 9th
and 10th c. Under King Alfred of Wessex, by the peace treaty of 878 England was
divided into two halves: the north-eastern half under Danish control called Danelaw
and the south-western half united under the leadership of Wessex. The
reconguest of Danish territories was carried on successfully by Alfred’s
successors but in the late 10th c. the Danish raids were renewed
again; they reached a new climax in the early 11th c. headed by
Sweyn and Canute. The attacks were followed by demands for regular payments of
large sums of money. In 1017 Canute was acknowledged as king, and England
became part of great northern empire, comprising Denmark and Norway. On
Canute’s death his kingdom broke up and England regained political
independence; by that time it was a single state divided into six earldoms.
Though the Scandinavian invasions of England are dated in the OE
period, their effect on the language is particularly apparent in ME. The new
settlers and the English intermarried and intermixed; they lived close together
and did not differ either in social rank or in the level of culture and
customs; they intermingled the more easily as there as no linguistic barrier
between them. In the aries of the hearviest settlement the Scandinavians
outnumbered the Anglo-Saxon population, which is attested by geographical
names. Altogether more than 1400 English villages and towns bear names od
Scandinavian origin (with the element thorp meanings «village», e.g. Woodthorp,
Linthorp; toft ‘a piece of land’, e.g. Brimtoft, Lowestoft and
others). Eventually the Scandinavians were absorbed into the local population
both ethnically and linguistically. They merged with the society around them,
but the impact on the linguistic situation and on the further development of
the English language was quite profound. Due to the contacts and mixture with O
Scand, the Northern dialects (to use OE terms, chiefly Northumbrian and East
Mercian) had acquired lasting and sometimes indelible Scandinavian features. As
the result of the Scandinavian invasion there were some borrowings: fallow,
husband, wrong, to call, to take.
5. The Norman Conquest and its effect on English
The English king, Edward the Confessor, who had been reared in
France, brought over many Norman advisors and favourities; he distributed among
them English lands and wealth to the considerable resentment of the Anglo-Saxon
nobility and appointed them to important positions in the government and church
hierarchy. In many respects Edward paved the way for Norman infiltration long
before the Norman Conquest. However, the government of the country was still in
the hands of Anglo-Saxon feudal lords, headed by the powerful Earl Godwin of
Wessex. In 1066 the elders of England proclaimed Harold Godwin king of England.
As soon as the news reached William of Normandy, he mustered a big army by
promise of land and plunder, and, with the support of the Pope, landed in
Britain. In the battle of Hastings in October 1066, Harold was killed and the
English were defeated. This date is the date of the Norman Conquest. Most of
the lands of the Anglo-Saxon lords passed into the hands of the Norman barons,
William’s own possessions comprising about one third of the country. The
Normans occupied all the important posts in the church, in the government, and
in the army. Hundreds of people from France crossed the Channel to make their
home in Britain. Immigration was easy, since the Norman kings of Britain were
also dukes of Normandy and, about a hundred years later, took possession of the
whole western half of France, thus bringing England into still closer contact
with the continent. French monks, tradesmen and craftsmen flooded the
south-western towns. Much of the middle class was French.
The Norman Conquest was one of the greatest event in the history
of the English language. Its earliest effect was a drastic change in the
linguistic situation. The most immediate consequence of the Norman domination
in Britain is to be seen in the wide use of the French language in many spheres
of life. For almost 300 years French was the official language of
administration. The intellectual life, literature an education were in the
hands of French-speaking people; French, alongside Latin, was the language of
writing. At first 2 languages existed side by side without mingling. Then,
slowly and quietly, they began to permeate each other. The Norman barons and
the French town-dwellers had to pick up English words to make themselves
understood, while the English began to use French words in current speech.
Probably many people became bilingual and had a fair command of both languages.
The struggle between French and English was bound to end in the complete
victory of English. The earliest sign of the official recognition of English by
the Norman kings was the famous PROCLAMATION issued by Henry 3 in 1258 to the
councilors in Parliament. It was written in 3 languages: French, Latin and
English. During this period such changes were in English: there appeared
prepositions and conjunctions, but the grammar was saved unchangeable. Such
words as servant, prince, guard – (connected with life of royal
families) were borrowed. With life of church – chapel, religion, prayer, to
compess; with city life – city, merchant, painter, tailor.
The names of animals were saved, but if their meanings were used as meal – the
Norman’s names were given to them (beef, pork, veal, mutton).
6. ME dialects. ME major written records. G. Chaucer and his
Canterbury Tales
The regional ME dialects had developed from respective OE
dialects. ME dialects can be divided into 2 groups: early ME and late ME
dialects. Early ME dialects are: The Southern group included Kentish and
the South-Western dialects. Kentish was a direct descendant of the OE dialects
known by the same name though it had somewhat extended its area. The
South-Western group was a continuation of the OE Saxon dialects, – not
only West-Saxon, but also East Saxon. The East Saxon dialect was not prominent
in OE but became more important in Early ME, since it made the basis of the
dialect of London in the 12th and 13th c. The group of
Midland («Central») dialects – corresponding to the OE Mercian dialect – is
divided into West Midland and East Midland as two main areas, with further
subdivisions within: South-East Midland and North-East Midland, South-West
Midland and North-West Midland. The Northern dialects had developed from
OE Northumbrian. In Early ME the Northern dialects included several provincial
dialects, e.g. the Yorkshire and the Lancashire dialects and also what later
became known as Scottish. In Early ME, while the state language and the main
language of literature was French, the local dialects were relatively equal. In
Late ME, when English had been reestablished as the main language of
administration and writing. The London dialect prevailed over the others. In
the 14th and 15th c. there was the same grouping of local
dialects: the Southern group, including Kentish and the South – Western
dialects, the Midland group with its minute subdivisions and the Northern
group. And yet the relations among them were changing. The London dialect
prevailed over the others at that time. The History of the London dialect
reveals the sources of the literary language in Late ME and also the main
source and basis of the Literary Standard, both in its written and spoken
forms. The London dialect became more Anglian than Saxon in character. ME
major written records: the earliest samples of early ME prose are the new
entries made in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles from the year 1122 to the
year 1154, known as the PETERBOROUGH CHRONICLES. The works in the vernacular
were mostly of a religious nature. The great mass of these works are homilies,
sermons in prose and verse, paraphrases from the Bible, psalms and prayers. The
earliest of these religious works, the POEMA MORALE represents the Kentish
dialect of the late 12th or the early 13th c. Of
particular interest for the history of the language is ORMULUM, a poem composed
by the monk Orm in about 1200 in the North-East Midland dialect. It consists of
unrhymed paraphrases of the Gospels. The text abounds in Scandinavianisms and
lacks French borrowings. Its most outstanding feature is the spelling system
devised by the author. He doubled the consonants after short vowels in closed
syllables and used special semicircular marks over short vowels in open
syllables. The 13th c. is famous for POEMA MORALE (Kentish Sermons),
ANCRENE RIWLE (South-western dialect – life of knights), PROCLAMATION of Henry
3 (political poems, London dialect), THE PROSE RULE OF ST BENEDICT (northern
dialect). The 14th c. is famous for AY ENBITE OF INWIT (Dan Michael,
Kentish dialect), a versified CHRONICLE, SIR GAWAINE AND THE GREEN KNIGHT
(unknown author, SWd), translation of POLYCHRONICON (Hidgen, from latin into
SWd, 7 books on world history, John de Trevisa of Cornwall), Adam Davy’s poems,
Romances of Chivalry, Miracle Plays (midland or east midland dialect);, John
Wyclif – translation of the Bible (London dialect).Most famous works are works
of John Gower (VOX CLAMANTIS is in Latin, CONFESSIO AMANTOS- a composition of
40.000 octo-syllabic lines) and Chaucer. Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400) was by
far the most outstanding figure of the time. In many books Chaucer is described
as the founder of the literary language. He was born in London and had the most
varied experience as student, courtier, official, and member of Parliament. His
early works were more or less imitative of other authors – Latin, French or
Italian. He never wrote in any other language than English. The culmination of
Chaucer’s work as a poet is his great unfinished collectin of stories THE
CANTERBURY TALES. Chaucer wrote in a dialect which in the main coincided with
that used in documents produced in London. Although he did not really create
the literary language, as a poet of outstanding talent he made better use of it
than his contemporaries and set up a pattern to be followed in the 15th
c. Chaucer’s literary language, based on the mixed London dialect is known as
classical ME; in the 15th and 16th c. it became the basis
of the national literary English language.
7. The formation of the national English language
The London dialect. The domination of the French language in
England came to an end in the course of the 14th c. The vitory of English was
predeterminated and prepared for by previous events and historical conditions. Towards
the end of the 14th c. the English language had taken the place of
French as the language of literature and administration. English was once more
the dominant speech of all social classes in all regions. The history of the
London dialect reveals the sources of the literary language in Late ME and also
the main source and basis of the Literary Standard, both in its written and
spoken forms. The Early ME records made in London – beginning with the
PROCLAMATION of 1258 – show that the dialect of London was fundamentally East
Saxon; in terms of the ME division, it belonged to the South-Western dialect
group. Later records indicate that the speech of London was becoming more
mixed, with East Midland features gradually prevailing over the Southern features.
Most of the new arrivals came from the East Midlands; Norfolk, Suffolk, and
other populous and wealthy counties of Medieval England, although not bordering
immediately on the capital. As a result the speech of Londoners was brought
much closer to the East Midland dialect. The official and literary papers
produced in London in the late 14th c. display obvious East Midland
features. The London dialect became more Anglian than Saxon in character. This
mixed dialect of London, which had extended to the two universities (in Oxford
and Cambridge) ousted French from official spheres and from the sphere writing.
8. The Germanic languages in the modern world, their
classification. Their common ancestor
Languages may be classified according to different principles. The
historical, or genealogical classification, groups languages in accordance with
their origin from a common linguistic ancestor. Genetically, English belongs to
the Germanic or Teutonic group of languages, which is one of the 12 groups of
the IE linguistic family. The Germanic language in the modern world are as
follows: 1. English – in Great Britain, Ireland, the USA, Canada,
Australia, New Zeland, the South African Republic, and many other former
British colonies and dominations, (dialects of the Angles, part of the Saxon
and Frisians, and probably Jutes develop into the English, WG) wr 7c,; 2. German
– in the Germany, Austria, Luxemburg, Liechtenstein, part of Switzerland, Old
High German group dialects (Saxon, the Alemanians, Bavarians, and Thuringians)
mixed with Middle and High Franconian, wr 16 c. 10 million; 3. Netherlandish
– in the Netherlands and Belgium (known as Dutch and Flemish), WG, the
Franconian dialects and Flemish dialect, wr 12 c.; 4. Afrikaans –
in the South African Republic, WG, the Dutch, wr 19 c.; 5. Danish –
in Denmark (north Germanic, Old Danish); 6. Swedish – in Sweden and
Finland (North Germanic, Old Swedish), 7. Norwegian – in Norway (NG, Old
Norwegian); 8. Icelandic – in Iceland (its origin goes back to the
Viking Age, NG, the West Scandinavian dialect) spoken over 200., Elder edda 12–13
c. 000; 9. Frisian – in some regions of the Netherlands and
Germany, dialects of Low German tribes, wr 13 c, WG; 10. Faroese – in
the Faroe Islands (its origin goes back to the Viking Age, NG, the West
Norwegian dialect), spoken nowadays by about 30.000, wr-18 c.; 11. Yiddish
(Old High German dialects, WG)
– in different countries the total number of people speaking
Germanic languages approaches 440 million.
9. The Old English alphabets. OE major written records
The earliest written records of English are inscriptions on hard
material made in a special alphabet known as the runes. The word rune
originally meant ‘secret’, ‘mystery, and hence came to denote inscriptions
believed to be magic. There is no doubt that the art of runic writing was known
to the Germanic tribes long before they came to Britain. The runes were used as
letters, each symbol to indicate a separate sound. The two best known runic
inscriptions in England is an inscription on a box called the «Franks Casket»
and the other is a short text on a a stone known as the «Ruthwell Cross». Both
records are in the Northumbrian dialect. Many runic inscriptions have been
preserved on weapons, coins, amulets, rings. The total number of runic
inscriptions in OE is about forty; the last of them belong to the end of the OE
period. The first English words to be written down with the help of Latin
characters were personal names and place names inserted in Latin texts. Glosses
(çàìåòêè) to the Gospels (Åâàíãåëèå) and other
religious texts were made in many English monasteries, for the benefit of those
who did not know enough Latin (we may mantion the Corpus and Epinal glossaries
in the 8th c. Mercian).OE poetry is famous for Bede’s HISTORIA
ECCLESIASTICA GENTIS ANGLORUM, which is in Latin, but contains an English
fragment of 5 lines. There are about 30,000 lines of OE verse. OE poetry is
mainly restricted to 3 subjects: heroic, religious and lyrical. The greatest
poem of that time was BEOWULF, an epic of the 7th or 8th
c. It was originally composed in the Mercian or Nuthumbrian dialect, but has
come to us in a 10th c. West Saxon copy. OE prose: the ANGLO-SAXON
CHRONICLES. Also prose was in translating books on geography, history,
philosophy from Latin. TE LIVES OF THE SAINTS by Alfric, the HOMILIES by
Wulfstan (passionate sermons – ñòðàñòíûå ïîó÷åíèÿ). OE Alphabet. OE scribes (ïèñöû) used two kinds of letters: the runes and the letters of the
Latin alphabet. The runes were used as letters, each symbol to indicate a
separate sound. Besides. A rune could also represent a word beginning with that
sound and was called by that word. In some inscriptions the runes were found
arranged in a fixed order making a sort of alphabet. After the first six
letters this alphabet is called futhark. The runic alphabet is a
specifically Germanic alphabet, not to be found in languages of other groups.
The letters are angular (óãëîâûå), straight lines are preferred, curved lines avoided: this is due
to the fact that runic inscriptions were cut in hard material: stone, bone, or
wood. The shapes of some letters resemble those of Greek or Latin, others have
not been traced to any known alphabet. Some OE letters indicate two or more
sounds, even distinct phonemes. The letters could indicate short and long
sounds. The length of vowels is shown by a macron or by line above the letter;
long consonants are indicated by double letters.
10. Major spelling changes in ME
The written forms of the words in Late ME texts resemble their
modern forms, though the pronunciation of the words was different. In the
course of ME many new devices were introduced into the system of spelling; some
of them reflected the sound changes which had been completed or were still in
progress in ME; other were graphic replacements of OE letters by new letters
and digraphs. In ME the runic letters passed out of use. Thorn – . – and the
crossed d – ... were replaced by the digraph th, which retained the same
sound value; [] and []; the rune «wynn» was displaced by «double u» – w
–; the ligatures. and. fell into disuse. Next: for a long time writing was in
the hands of those who had a good knowledge of French. Therefore many
innovations in ME spelling reveal an influence of the French scribal tradition.
The digraphs ou, ie, and ch which occurred in many French
borrowings were adopted as new ways of indicating the sounds [u:], [e:], and [t.].
Compare the use of these digraphs in some borrowed and native ME words: ME chief
[] from French and the native ME thief (NE chief, thief); ME chaumbre
[], chasen [] (NE chamber, chase). The letters j, k, v
and q were probably first used in imitation of French manuscripts. The
two-fold use of g and c, which has survived today, owes its
origin to French: these letters usually stood for [d.] and [s] before front
vowels and for [g] and [k] before back vowels: ME gentil [], mercy
[] (NE gentle, mercy). At that tine there was more wider use of digraphs. In
addition to ch, ou, ie, and th mentioned above,
Late ME notaries introduced sh (also ssh and sch) to
indicate the new sibilant [], e.g. ship (from OE scip), dg to
indicate [d] alondside j and g (before front vowels), e. g. ME edge
[], joye [], (NE edge, joy); the digraph wh replaced the OE
sequence of letters hw as in OE hw t, ME what [hwat], (NE
what). Long sounds were shown by double letters, e.g. ME book [bo:k], sonne
[sunn] (NE book, sun). The introduction of the digraph gh for [x] and
[x’] helped to distinguish between the fricatives [x, x’], which were preserved
in some positions, and the aspirate [h]; e.g. ME knyght [knix’t] and ME he
[he:] (NE knight, he); in OE both words were spelt with h: OE cnient, he.
Some replacements were probably made to avoid confusion of resembling letters:
thus o was employed not only for [o] but also to indicate short [u]
alongside the letter u; it happened when u stood close to n, m,
or v. The letter y came to be used as an equivalent of i
and was evidently preferred when i could be confused with the
surrounding letters m, n and others. The letters th and s
indicate voiced sounds between vowels, and voiceless sounds – initially,
finally and next to other voiceless consonants: ME worthy [], esy
[], thyng [] (NE worthy, easy, thing).
11. The OE vowel system. Major changes during the OE period
The development of vowels in Early oE consisted of the
modification of separate vowels, and also of the modification of entire sets of
vowels. The PG short [a] and the long [a:], which had arisen in West and North
Germanic, underwent similar alterations in Early OE: they were fronted and, in
the process of fronting, they split into several sounds.
The PG diphthongs [ei, ai, iu, eu, au] – underwent regular
independent changes in Early OE; they took place in all phonetic conditions
irrespective of environment. The diphthongs with the i-glide were
monophthongised into [i:] and [a:], respectively; the diphthongs in – u
were reflected as long diphthongs [io:], [eo:] and [ea:].
Change
illustrated
|
Examples
|
PG
|
OE
|
OE
|
NE
|
a + i
|
a:
|
|
stone
|
e+ i
|
i:
|
|
mine, my
|
a + u
|
ea:
|
|
east
|
e + u
|
eo:
|
|
choose
|
i + u
|
io:
|
|
deep
|
12. The development of monophthongs in ME
The OE close labialized vowels [y] and [y:] disappeared in Early
ME. In Early ME the dialectal differences grew. In some areas OE [y], [y:]
developed into [e], [e:], in others they changed to [i], [i:], in the
South-West and in the west Midlands the two vowels were for some time preserved
as [y], [y:] but later were moved backward and merged with [u], [u:]. OE fyllan
– ME Kentish fellen [], ME West Midland and South Western fullen
[], ME east Midland and Northern fillen [] (NE fill). In early ME the
long OE [a:] was narrowed to []. This was an early instance of the growing
tendency of all long monophthongs to become closer; the tendency was
intensified in Late ME when all long vowels changed in that direction. [a:]
became [] in all the dialects except the Northern group. ME Northern stan(e)
[], ME other dialects stoon, stone [], (NE stone). The resulting ME []
must have been a more open vowel than the long [o:] inherited from OE. The two
phonemes [] and [o:] were well distinguished in ME, though no distinction was
made in spelling: o, and double o were used for both sounds. The short OE []
was replaced in ME by the back vowel [a]. In OE [] was either a separate
phoneme or one of a group of allophones distinguished in writing []. All these
sounds were reflected in ME as [a], except the nasalized [a] which became [o]
in the West Midlands. ME that [], NE that, ME blak [] NE black,
ME West Midland lond [], ME other dialects land []. Most of the
modern words going back to the OE prototypes with the vowel [a] have [a], e.g.
NE man, sand, and, which means that they came from any dialect except
west Midland; some words, however, especially those ending in [], should be
traced to the West Midlands, e.g. long, song, strong, from, bond.
13. Diphthongs in the History of English
OE period. Under the
influence of succeeding and preceeding consonants some Early OE monophthongs
developed into diphthongs. The glide (if a front vowel stood before a velar (çàäíåí¸áíûé)
consonant), together with the original monophtong formed a dipthong. The front
vowels [i], [e] and the newly developed [], changed into dipthongs with a back
glide when they stood before [h], before long (double) [ll] or [l] plus another
consonant. The changes is known as breaking or fracture. Breaking
produced a new set of vowels in OE – the short dipthongs [ea] and [eo]. Diphthongisation
of vowels could also be caused b preceding consonants: a glide arose after a
palatal consonants as a sort of transition to the succeeding vowel. After the
palatal [k’], [sk’] and [j] short and long [e] and [] turned into diphthongs
with a more front close vowel as their first element. This process known as diphthongization
after palatal consonants. ME period. One of the most
important sound changes of the EaME was the loss of OE dipthongs and the growth
of new dipthongs, with new qualitative and quantative distinctions. The vowel
system lost two sets of diphogs, long and short. In Ea ME the sounds [j] and []
between and after vowels changed into [i] and [u] and formed diphthongs
together with preceding vowels. These changes gave rise to two sets of
diphthongs:with i-glide and u-glide. e+j= ei, e:+j=ei, +j=ai, a+ =au, o+ =ou,
a:+w=ou, a:+x=au+x. NE period. The Great Vowel Shift: during this
period all the long vowels became closer or were dipthongised.i: – ai (time) pr
ME, a: – ei (maken), o: – ou (stone) – preserved from ME, u: – au (mous –
mouse), but au – o: (cause). In Ea NE [r] was vocalized when it stood after
vowels, either finally or followed by another consonant. It reduced to neutral
sound, which was added to the preceding vowel as a glide thus forming
diphthong. Formed ý – glide diphthongs – iý beer (áýð), eý (there – çýðý), uý (moor o-+).
14. Quantative changes of vowels in the History of English
They are: 1. Because of the consonants [ss], [st], [ft], [nt], the
vowel [a] became longer pla:nt, a:fter, mæ ss. 2. Shortening of vowels – occurred in Early NE before single
dental and velar consonants [T, d, t, k]. The long vowels subjected to this
shortening – [e:] and [u:] – were changing, or had already changed under the
Great Vowel Shift breeth – [brE:T – breT]. The long [u:] which became short
before [k], and sometimes also before [t], was a product of the shift. Early
ME lengthening of the vowels – before ld, nd, mb in open syllables.
Shortening – before other consonant clusters. 1. Short vowels were lengthened
before two homorganic consonants, a sonorant and a plosive [wi:ld], 2. All
other groups of two or more consonants produce the reverse effect: they made
the preceding long vowels short kepte-kept. 3. Short vowels became long in
opensyllables [e], [a], [o], O:pqn, na:mq.
15. Major vowel changes in NE. Great vowel shift. Vocalisation of
[r]
Extensive changes of vowels are one of the most remarkable
features of English linguistic history. A variety of changes affected vowels in
stressed syllables. The Great Vowel Shift, – which involved the change of all
ME long monophthongs, and probably some of the diphthongs. The Great Vowel
Shift is the name given to a series of changes of long vowels between the 14th
and the 18th c. During this period all the long vowels became closer
or were diphthongized. It affected regularly every stressed long vowel in any
position. Some long vowels – [u:], [i:] and [a:] – broke into diphthongs [au] (õóñ – hause), [ai] (ëèêý – like) and [ei] (take
òàêý), o: – u: (õî-who), – e: – i: –
êëýí – clean), au – O: (êàóç-cause). As we see, the
Great Vowel Shift did not add any new sounds to the vowel system; in fact,
every vowel which developed under the Shift can be found in Late ME. [ou] (ãî – go) was preserved
from ME. The pronunciation of all the words with these sounds was alerted.
During the Shift even the names of some English letters werechanged: a: – ei,
e: – i:, o: – ou, i: – ai, be: – bi:, ka: – kei. Changes of short vowels:
only 2 short vowels out of 5 were altered: [a] – [æ] (man, that) and [u] – [0]
(êóìýí, come). The
vocalization of [r] took place in the 16th or 17th c. In
Early NE [r] was vocalized when it stood after vowels, either finally or
followed by another consonant. [r] changed into the neutral sound, which was
added to the preceding vowel as a glide forming a dipthong [TE:re – Deq].
Sometimes the only trace left by the loss of [r] was the compensatory
lengthening of the preceding vowel [arm] – [a:m], [fOr – fO:]. If [r] stood in the
final unstressed syllable after [q], the vocalization of [r] to [q] resulted in
the survival of the ending [ri:dqrq – ri:dqr-raidq]. If the neutral [q]
produced by the vocalization of [r] was preceded by a diphthong, it was added
to the diphthong to form a sequence of sounds named «triphthong» [Su:r – Sauq].
O+r= O: for, a+r= a: bar; I, e, u+r =q: first, q+r= q brother/ long vowels
i:+r=aiq shire, e:, E:+r= iq ear; E:+r= Eq there; a:+r=Eq hare, O:+r= Oq/O:
floor; u:+r=auq flower. There developed a new set of diphthongs, and also
triphthogs, with q-glides: [iq, Eq, uq, etc]; there arose a new central long
monophthongs [q:]; the new long [a:] filled a vacant position in the system,
since ME [a:] had been diphthongized under the GVS.
16. The OE consonant system. Grimm’s and Verners Laws, treatment
of fricatives
The changes of consonants in PG were first formulated in terms of
a phonetic law by Jacob Grimm in the early 19th c. and are often
called Grimm’s law. It is also known as the First or Proto-Germanic consonant
shift. By the terms of grimm’s law voiceless plosives developed in PG into
voiceless fricatives (Act 1) p-f, t – T, k-x, IE voiced plosives were
shifted to voiceless plosives (Act 2) b – p, d – t, g – k and IE voiced
aspirated plosives were reflected either as voiced fricatives or as pure voiced
plosives (Act 3) bh – v, dh – D rudhira rauDs, gh – Y (or g) hostis – gasts. Verner’s
law explains some correspondences of consonants which seemed to contradict
Grimm; s law and were for a long time regarded as exceptions. According to
verner’s law all the early PG voiceless fricatives [f, T, x] which arose under
Grimm’s law, and also [s] inherited fromPIE, became voiced between vowels if
the preceding vowel was unstressed; in the absence of these conditions they
remained voiceless. F-v – heafod – huvud, T-D, d pater, fadar, x – Y, g socrus
– swaihro, s-z auris-auso. /////// PG voiced fricatives tended to be hardened
to corresponding plosives while voiceless fricatives, being contrasted to them
primarily as fricatives to plosives, developed new voiced allophones. The PG
voiced [D] was always harderned to [d] in OE wasida – werede, The two other
fricatives, [v] and [$] were hardened to [b] and [g] initially and after
nasals. 2. PG [z] underwent a phonetic modifications through the stage of [Z] into
[r] and thus became a sonorant, which ultimately merged with the older IE [r].
This process, termed rhotacism, maize-mara-more. 3. Voiceless fricatives
[f, T, x, s] and also those of the voiced fricatives which had not turned into
plosives, that is, [v] and [$], were subjected to a new process of voicing and
devoicing. In early OE they became or remained voiced intervocally and between
vowels, sonorants and voiced consonants; they remained or became voiceless in
other environments, namely, initially finally and next to other voiceless
consonants. V – v, f hlaifs – loaves; f – v, f wulfos – wolves, T – T, D sauT –
seeDd, $ – $, x dagos-daZs – days; s-s, z kaus – chose. Old English
consonant system. The system consisted of several correlated sets of
consonants. According to manner of articulation All the consonants fell
into noise consonants and sonorants m, m:, w, n, n:, r, l, j, N. The noise
consonants were subdivided into plosives and fricatives; plosives were further
differenriated as voiced b, b:, d, d:, g’:, g, g: and voiceless p, p:, t, t:,
k’, k’:, k, k:, the difference being phonemic. The fricative consonants were
also subdivided into voiced v, z, D, $, $’, j and voiceless f, f:, x’, x’:, x,
x:, h, s, s:, T, T: The most universal distinctive feature in the consonant
system was the difference in length. Place of articulation: labial,
labiodentals p, p:, b, b:, f, f:, v, m, m:, w/ forelingual (dental) t, t:, d,
d:, s, s;, z, T, T:, D; n, n:, r, l/ mediolingual (palatal) k’, k’:, x’, x’:,
j,$/ back lingual (velar) k, k:, g, g:, x, x: h.
17. The general features of the OE noun declension system. The
peculiarities of the a-, n, r–and root – stem declensions
The most remarkable feature of OE nouns was their elaborate system
of declensions, which was a sort of morphological classification. The total
number of declensions exceeded 25. All in all there were only 10 distinct
endings and a few relevant root-vowel interchanges used in noun paradigms; yet
every morphological class had either its own specific endings or a specific
succession of markers. The OE system of declensions was based on a number of
distinctions: 1. The stem-suffix, 2. The gender of nouns 3 genders, a
derivation suffix reffered a noun to a certain gender, 3. The phonetic
structure of the word, 4. Phonetic changes in the final syllables. In the first
place, the morphological classification of OE nouns rested upon the most
ancient grouping of nouns according to the stem-suffixes. Stem-suffixes could
consist of vowels vocalic stems, e.g. a-stems, i-stems, of consonants
(n-stems), of sound sequences (-ja-stems, – nd-stems). Some groups of nouns had
no stem-forming suffix or had zero-suffix; they are usually tered root-stems
and grouped together with consonantal stems, as their roots ended in consonants.
A-stems included MASC. and NEUt. Nouns. The forms in the a-stem
declension were distinguished through grammatical endings (including zero
ending). In some words inflections were accompanied by sound interchanges:
nouns with the vowel [æ] in the root had interchanged [a],
18. Preterite-present verbs in OE and their further development
In OE there were twelve preterite-present verbs (the had
indicative, subjunctive moods; sin, pl, 3 persons, present and past tense). Six
of them have survived in Mod. E – owe, ought, can, dare, shal, may, must. Most
of the preterite-presentsdid not indicate actions, but expressed a kind of
attitude to an action denoted by another verb, an Infinitive which followed the
preterite-present. In other words, they were used like modal verbs, and
eventually developed into modern modal verbs. In ME and early NE several
preterite-present verbs died out. The surviving verbs lost some of their old
forms and grammatical distinctions but retained many specific peculiarities.
They lost the forms of the verbals which had sprung up in OE and
thedistinctions between the forms of number and mood in the Present tense. In
NE their paradigms have been reduced to two forms or even to one. Now dare has –
s ending in the 3rd person and Past form dared.
19. The anomalous verbs in OE and their further development
Among the verbs of the minor groups there were several anomalous
verbs with irregular forms. OE willan (past wolde) was an irregular verb with
the meaning of volition and desire; it resembled the preterite-presennts in
meaning and function, as it indicated an attitude to an action and was often
followed by an Infinitive. Eventually willan became a modal verb, like the
surviving preterito-presents, and, together with sculan developed into an
auxiliary. Some verbs combined the features of weak and strong verbs. OE dLn
formed a weak Past tense with a vowel interchange: and a Participle in – n:
don-dyde-Zedon. Two OE verbs were suppletive. OE ZAn, whose Past tense was built
from a different root: ZAn-eLde – Ze-Zan. BeLn. In ME verb willan was used as a
modal verb expressing volition. In course of time it formed a system with
shall, as both verbs, shall and will began to weaken their lexical meanings and
change into auxiliaries. ZAn – in ME it acquired a new Past tense wente, which
came from an entirely different verb, OE wendan
20. The sources of Modern English verb groups
The proportion of strong and weak verbs in the language has
considerably altered in the course of history. The OE strong verbs reduced by
over two thirds, constitute a small group of verbs in present day English: they
belong to non-standard verbs, which include nowadays many more verbs coming
from various sources. Several groups of modern non-standard verbs have
developed from the weak verbs class 1. Nowadays they employ various
form-building devices: the dental suffix, vowel and consonant interchanges. These
are verbs like sellan – salde/ sellen-solde. Another group of weak verbs
became irregular in Early ME as a result of quantitative vowel changes. In
verbs like OE cepan, the long vowel in the root was shortened before two
consonants in the Past and Participle 2. The long vowel in the Present tense
stem was preserved and was altered during the GVS, keep-kept. 3 Verbs
like OE settan, with the root ending in a dental consonant, added the dental
suffix without the intervening vowel [e] – OE sette. When the inflections were
reduced and dropped, the three stems of the verbs – Present, Past and Part. 2
fell together set-set-set; put-put-put, cast-cast, cast. The final – t of the
root had absorbed the dental suffix.
21. Changes in the verb conjugation in ME and NE
Many markers of the grammatical forms of the verb were reduced,
leveled and lost in ME and Early NE: the reduction, leveling and loss of
endings resulted in the increased neutralization of formal oppositions and the
growth of homonymy. Infinitive – OE-findan – ME finden – early NE find; Present
tense ind. M. s. 1st – finde – finde – find, 2nd
fintst-findest-findest, 3rd fint – findeth-findest; plural findaD –
finden-find; Subjunctive – sin – finde-finde-find; pl. finden-finden-find;
imperative OE-sg find, pl findaD; ME finde – early NE find; Participle 1 – findende
– finding – finding, Past tense ind, sin 1st fond – fand, found, 2nd
funde-founde-found, 3rd fond – fand – found, pl fundon – founden –
found|| subj OE s, pl funde\funden – ME founde – early NE – found|| Participle
2 (Ze) fundon – founden – found. ME forms of the verb are represented by
numerous variants, which reflect dialectal differences and tendencies of
potential changes. The intermixture of dialectal features in the speech of
London and in the literary language of the Renaissance played an important role
in the formation of the verb paradigm.
22. The history of the verbal grammatical categories in English
In OE there were two non-finite forms of the verb: the Infinitive
and the Participle. In many respects they were closer to the nouns and
adjectives than to the finite verb: their nominal features were far more
obvious than their verbal features, especially at the morphological level. Like
finite forms they could take direct objects and be modified by adverbs. Infinitive
had no verbal grammatical categories. Being a verbal noun by origin, it had a
sort of reduced case-system: two forms which roughly corresponded to the Nom.
And the Dat. Cases of nouns. Like the Dat. Case of nouns the inflected
Infinitive with the preposition to could be used to indicate the direction or
purpose of an action. The uninflected Infinitive was used in verb phrases with
modal verbs or other verbs of incomplete predication. The Participle was
a kind of verbal adjective which was characterized not only by nominal nut also
by certain verbal features. Participle 1 was opposed to Participle 2 through
voice and tense distinctions: it was active and expressed present or
simultaneous processes and qualities, while
P2 expressed states and qualities resulting from past action and
was contrasted to P1 as passive to active, if the verb was transitive. P2 of
intransitive had an active meaning. Participles were employed predicatively and
attributively like adjectives and shared their grammatical categories: they
were declined as weak and strong and agreed with nouns in number, gender and
case. ME. The development of analytical forms and new grammatical
categories has transformed the verbals. Compound forms of the Infinitive
appeared (passive Inf, perfect Inf, cont and perf cont). Part 1 perf, non-perf,
pass and active. Compound forms of the ing form used in the functions of a
noun, that is the Gerund, were the last to appear.
23. The rise of analytical forms in the verbal system in ME
The development of analytical forms and new grammatical categories
has transformed not only the finite verb but also the verbals.
24. The infinitive in the history of English
In many respects it was closer to the nouns and adjectives than to
the finite verb: its nominal features were far more obvious than their verbal
features, especially at the morphological level. Like finite forms it could
take direct objects and be modified by adverbs. Infinitive had no verbal
grammatical categories. Being a verbal noun by origin, it had a sort of reduced
case-system: two forms which roughly corresponded to the Nom. And the Dat.
Cases of nouns. Like the Dat. Case of nouns the inflected Infinitive with the
preposition to could be used to indicate the direction or purpose of an action.
The uninflected Infinitive was used in verb phrases with modal verbs or other
verbs of incomplete predication. The development of analytical forms and new
grammatical categories has transformed the verbals. In ME texts we find
different types of compound Inf: the Pass Inf, the Perf Inf in the Active and
Pass forms. Evidently in the 17th c the Inf had the same set of forms
as it has in present-day English.
25. The Participle in OE and its further development
In OE there were two non-finite forms of the verb: the Infinitive
and the Participle. In many respects it was closer to the nouns and adjectives
than to the finite verb: its nominal features were far more obvious than their
verbal features, especially at the morphological level. Like finite forms it
could take direct objects and be modified by adverbs. The Participle was
a kind of verbal adjective which was characterized not only by nominal nut also
by certain verbal features. Participle 1 was opposed to Participle 2
through voice and tense distinctions: it was active and expressed present or
simultaneous processes and qualities, while
P2 expressed states and qualities resulting from past action and
was contrasted to P1 as passive to active, if the verb was transitive. P2 of
intransitive had an active meaning; it indicate a past action and was opposed
to P1 only through tense. P! was fprmed from the Present tense stem with the
help of the suffix – ende. P2 had a stem of its own – in strong verbs it was
marked by a certain grade of the root-vowel interchange and by the suffix – en;
with the weak verbs it ended in d/t. P2 was commonly marked by the suffix – Ze.
Participles were employed predicatively and attributively like adjectives and
shared their grammatical categories: they were declined as weak and strong and
agreed with nouns in number, gender and case. ME Part 1 perf, non-perf, pass
and active.
26. The rise of the Gerund in English
The Late ME period witnessed the growth of a new verbal known in
modern grammars as the Gerund. The Gerund can be traced to three sources: the
OE verbal noun in – unZ and inZ, thePresent Participle and the Infinitive. In
ME the Present Participle and the verbal noun became identical: they both ended
in – ing. This led to the confusion of some of their features: verbal nouns
began to take direct objects, like participles and Infinitives. This verbal
feature – a direct object – as well as the frequent absence of article before
the – ing form functioning as a noun – transformed the verbal noun into a
Gerund in the modern understanding of the term. The dissappearence of the
inflected infinitive contributed to the change, as some of its functions were
taken over by the Gerund. The earliest instances of a verbal noun resembling a
Gerund date from 12th c. Chaucer uses the – ing – form in
substantival functions in object. In Early NE the – ing form in the function of
a noun is commonly used with an adverbial modifier and with a direct object –
in case of transitive verbs. The nominal features, retained from the verbal
noun, were its syntactic functions and the ability to be modified by a possessive
pronoun or a noun in the G.case. In the course of time the sphere of the usage
of the Gerund grew: it replaced the Infinitive and the Participle in many
adverbial functions; its great advantage was that it could be used with various
prepositions.
27. Causes of changes in the morphological system in ME and NE
The main direction of development for the nominal parts of speech
in all the periods of history can be defined as morphological simplification.
Simplifying changes began in prehistoric, PG times. They continued at a slow
rate during the OE period and were intensified in Early ME. The period between
c. 1000 and 1300 has been called an age of Great changes, for it witnessed one
of the greatest events in the History of English grammar: the decline and
transformation of the nominal morphological system. Some nominal categories
were lost – Gender and Case in adjectives, Gender in nouns; the number of forms
distinguished in the surviving categorie was reduced – cases in nouns and
noun-pronouns, numbers in personal pronouns. Morphological division into types
of Declension practically disappeared. In Late ME the adjective lost the last
vestigates of the old paradigm: the distinction of number and the distinction
of weak and strong forms.
28. Agreement in the History of English
In Old E we find a variety of word phrases. A noun pattern
consisted of a noun as the head word and pronouns, adjectives (including verbal
adjectives, or participles), numerals and other nouns as determiners and
attributes. Most noun modifiers agreed with the noun in gender, number and
case. Nouns which served as attributes to other nouns usually had the form of
the Gen. case: hwales ban (whale’s bone). Some numerals governed the nouns they
modified so that formally the relations were reversed. An adjective pattern
could include adverbs, nouns or pronouns in one of the oblique cases with or
without prepositions. Verb patterns included a great variety of dependant
components: nouns and pronouns in oblique cases with or without prepositions,
adverbs, infinitives and participles. Infinitives and participles were often
used in verb phrases with verbs of incomplete predication. By Late ME agreement
in noun patterns had practically disappeared, except for some instances of
agreement in number. Formal markers of number had been preserved in nouns,
demonstrative pronouns and some survivals of the strong declension of
adjectives. The last traces of agreement in adjectives were lost in the 15th
c. when the inflection – e was dropped; only the demonstrative pronouns, the
indefinite article and nouns in apposition indicated the number of the head
word, like in Mod E. When the adjective had lost its forms of agreement, its
relationship with the noun were shown by its position.
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