6. Language and Dialect Flashcards
(12-15)
The Middle English literature dated from (1)___ to (2)___.
(1) 12th century
(2) 1485
Was English the main language of the literature during the ME period?
No. English was a local language, whereas French was being asserted and Latin was made the language of writing.
Can you recall any authors from the ME period as an example of French/Latin influence? Was there any author who stuck to writing wholly in English? Bring at least 1 example.
John Gower, known for his work Confessio Amantis which title is in Latin, but written in English. The rest of his works were in Latin.
Geoffrey Chaucer, who wrote wholly in English and most of his titles were in English, too.
What do you know about the London language?
It got predominant as a means of artistic expressions. The Oxford and Cambridge cities asserted it, as they were the centres of learning.
What Geoffrey Chaucer got inspired by?
The European, Latin and Italian forms.
What can you say about alliteration during ME?
Alliterative revival, but more like “flourishing”, since it continued uninterrupted since Old English times.
Who was alliteration distinct to?
To Anglo-Saxon use.
How did English transform during the ME?
Writing in English got less self-conscious, more colloquial, familiar. Plenty of idioms, proverbs were used to get close to the reader.
How long have French and Latin dominated in Britain?
For 2 centuries.
What happened to the English vocabulary during the ME period?
It was the period of rapid word growth in quantity; a lot of them were from Latin, more from French.
What can you say about Native words, French and Latin words which entered English vocabulary?
Old English lexical items are more frequent, colloquial and central.
French words are literary in function, have an elevated style on words used in domestic, culinary domains, law, administration, arts, fashion, hunting. It holds cultural and political dominance.
Latin words are formal, learned and bookish.
Define the level of French words. Did they have equivalent in English?
French words hold a high cultural and social level. They didn’t have equivalents in English back then. The French was spread locally, too.
English and Scandinavian are (1)____ words.
(1) daily
What was the Norman ruling class language?
Northern French.
What was the language of court back then? When?
Parisian French. In 12th century.
