week 14 Flashcards
ME main dialects - OE long o
Northern = a
Midlands = o
Southern = o
ME main dialects - OE <c></c>
Northern = <k>
Midlands = <ch>
Southern = <ch></ch></ch></k>
ME main dialects - OE <f></f>
Northern = <f>
Midlands = <f>
Southern = <v></v></f></f>
ME main dialects - pronouns 3rd person plural
Northern = thai, thaim, thair
West Midlands = they, them, their
East Midlands = they, hem/them, here/their
Southern + Kentish = hy, hem, here
ME main dialects - present tense indicative: 3rd singular inflection
Northern = <es>
West Midlands
- north: <es>
- south: <eth>
East Midlands
- north: <es>
- south: <eth>
Southern + Kentish = <eth></eth></eth></es></eth></es></es>
ME main dialects - present tense indicative: 3rd plural inflection
Northern = <es>
West Midlands
- north: <en>
- south: <eth>
East Midlands
- north: <es>
- south: <en>
Southern + Kentish = <eth></eth></en></es></eth></en></es>
ME main dialects - present participle
Northern = <and(e)>
West Midlands = <ind(e)>
East Midlands = <end(e)>
Southern + Kentish = <yng(e)>
ME main dialects - verb plural
Northern = <s>
Midlands = <en>
Southern =<eth></eth></en></s>
rise of london standard: the Chancery
Chancery: government writing office
Grew out of the kings household
Travelled with the kings household until the 14th century
- chancery dialect: official class dialect (not regional)
1345: located in Westminster not in London at the time
Produced official documents: ‘ancestors’ of PDE (c. 1430)
Developed ‘Chancery English’ (London dialect type IV)
London as country’s capital
- Political and commercial centre of England
- seat of royal and law courts
- close to Oxbridge and Canterbury
- people moving into and out of the city
- London English: mixture of local speeches which spreads into the country
ME main dialects - plural pronouns
Northern = they, their, them
Midlands = they, hir, hem
Southern = hi, hir, hem
studying ME dialects
linguistics atlas of late medieval English (1350 - 1450)
Methodology = concentrate on spelling and graphic features
–> focus on a limited (270) of ‘key items’ in manuscripts
Anchor texts = texts that can be associated with definite places or areas on non-linguistics grounds
Fit technique = any text of unknown origin can be placed on the map in relation to the anchor texts
–> linguistics profile of ME dialects in manuscripts can be defined
rise of London standard
Midlands dialect (radical north + conservative south)
East midlands
- largest, most populous area
- prosperous agricultural area
- wealthier population
- politically important
Influence of Oxford and Cambridge (end 14th century)
Role of monasteries decreasing, two universities increasing rapidly
rise of London standard: Caxton and Printing (1476)
First printer in English
Born in Kent (1422)
Merchant, diplomat and writer
Learned printing on the continent
printed works by Chaucer, Gower, Lydgate, Malory translated best-sellers from France and Burgundy
- at first not a success (printed in dialect, not everyone understood)
–> started printing in Chancery dialect, this helped spread the dialect
ME main dialects - verb 3rd person singular
Northern = <s>
Midlands = <th>
Southern = <th></s>
Chaucer’s language and use of ME dialects
No extent records of it
language of two manuscripts of the CT
- Aberstwyth, National library of Wales ms Perianth (Hengwrt)
- San Marina, Huntington Library (Ellesmere)
–> A London dialect (type III), slightly conservative
Dialects are used for rhyming purposes
