Middle English: Lexis Flashcards

1
Q

Loan words in Middle English

A
  • Core vocabulary and function words are Germanic
  • Loan words were not immediately taken over from French into English after the Norman Conquest
  • Most words entered English from 1300 onwards
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2
Q

French loans mirror Anglo-French culture in the following areas:

A

Fields of Vocabulary
- Government and Administration
- Church
- Jurisdiction
- Military
- Science and Arts
- Fashion and Food

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3
Q

Government and Administration

A
  • majesty
  • parliament
  • empire
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4
Q

Church (ecclesiastical Words)

A
  • confession
  • temptation
  • abbey
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5
Q

Jurisdiction, law

A
  • rule
  • judgement
  • crime
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6
Q

Military

A
  • army
  • navy
  • battle
  • enemy
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7
Q

Lifestyle, Fashion and Food

A
  • feast
  • jewel
  • beef
  • pork
  • veal
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8
Q

Science, art, learning and medicine

A
  • beauty
  • chapter
  • music
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9
Q

Latin loan words in Middle English

A
  • Third Period/ Norman Conquest
  • 14th & 15th century (new influx of Latin loan words
  • Latin as the base for most of the French loan words
  • direct loans from Latin: adjacent, allegory, contempt
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10
Q

Consequences of loan words

A

many loan words
- Sometimes
> new words competing with old words
> synonyms
Option 1; one word dies out
Option 2: meaning(s) change(s)

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11
Q

Synonyms

A
  • Equivalents
  • Synonyms
  • Differentiation of synonyms
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12
Q

Equivalents

A
  • words with the same meaning in different languages
    Example: to ask sth.
    West Germanic: Verb - ascian
    Old French: Verb - questionner
    Latin: Verb - interrogare
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13
Q

Synonyms

A
  • similar/identical meaning in one language
    Example: three Middle English verbs
  • asken
  • questyone
  • interrogare
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14
Q

Differentiation of synonyms
(near-synonyms)

A
  • historical process related to Modern English near-synonyms
    Example
  • to ask: speak or write to someone in order to get an answer
  • to question: to ask questions in order to get information (police)
  • to interrogate: ask a lot of questions for a long time
    > meaning/ connotation changes
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15
Q

Doublets

A
  • two words in a language that have the same etymological root. The two words have entered the language through different routes.
    E.g.: garden/guarden (Old French)
  • warden: Anglo-Norman
  • guardian: Central French
  • Similarities in their meaning
  • Difference in initial letter <w> vs <g></g></w>
  • Loan words from two different French dialects
    > Anglo-Norman <w>
    > Central French <g></g></w>
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16
Q

Five Dialect areas in Middle English
(there were 4 in Old English)

A
  • West Midland
  • Southern
  • Kentish
  • East Midland
    . Northern
17
Q

East Midland

A
  • modern standardised English goes back to this dialect
  • most spoken, densely populated area
  • the capital London was in the area
    Chaucer’s writing was mostly in the East Midland dialect
    (Dominant poet of the time)
18
Q

Minim Problem

A
  • insular script was replaced by Norman style f handwriting: Carolingian minuscule
  • Difficulty: distinction of <m,n,v,w,i,u> when they occurred together
    > one could not distinguish where one letter started or ended