Middle English

Middle English refers to the varieties of the English language spoken after the Norman Conquest (1066) and until the late 15th century. The Middle English period was marked by momentous changes in the English language, changes more extensive and fundamental than those that have taken place at any time before or since. Some of them were the result of the Norman Conquest and the condition that followed in the wake of that event. Others were the constitution of the tendencies that had begun to manifest themselves in old English. These would have gone on even without the conquest, but took place more rapidly because the Norman invasion removed from English those conservative in fluencies that are always felt when a language is extensively used in books and is spoken by the influential educated class. The changes of the period affected English both in its grammar and its vocabulary. They were so extensive in each department that it was difficult to say which group is the most significant. Those in the grammar reduced English from a highly inflected language at an extremely analytic one. those in the vocabulary involved the loss of a large part of the old English word-stock and the addition of thousands of words from…

Ardian Sallauka 25/12/2015 Middle English Middle English language was spoken in England between 1100 and 1500, and it is considered to be the ancestor of modern English, the language used nowadays. Middle English was divided into three main periods: Early Middle English 1100-1250, the Central Middle English 1250-1400 and finally the Late Middle English from 1400 to 1500. Early Middle English: It was known as the…

The word fatal came about in the English language in the Middle English period, circa 1347. Originally the adjectival form of fate, it initially meant “allotted or decreed by fate or destiny; destined, fated” (OED, 2015). Up until the early 16th century, circa 1518, its various definitions continued to revolve around the idea of “destiny”, portraying the largely stagnant semantic change lasting for almost two centuries. Its initial borrowing likely came as a result of the Norman Conquest of…

The role of women in society is, to this day, ever changing in England. Women are not proportionately represented in the media, now, or in early English eras such as the Medieval Times. In early English literature, there was not a single female author to be published until the fifteenth century. This can partially explain the beginning of women’s oppression, as it stemmed from a lack of representation. Today, women are still underrepresented in the media, but not to the same degree as during the…

Life during the medieval period was either great or very difficult. This depended on a person's family history and their classification. Ruling, clergy, middle, and peasant were the four main types of classifications during the medieval times. People in the ruling and the clergy class usually had the best of everything, so their lives were great. Life was very difficult for the middle- class people and the peasants. Most of them did not have much at all. Many peasants would go days without…

of a strong female character who, despite her perceived lower station, is able to outsmart her husband and establish herself to be the superior half of the couple. Both women were able to use guile and deception in order to accomplish their goals, and accomplishing their goals gave them power over their husbands. The message that women deserve an equal role in marriage and should take it if necessary shines through both tales and was such an unconventional message at the time that it was…

eoffery Chaucer, the greatest English poet of his lifetime, is estimated to have been born in 1343. Throughout his life, Chaucer became a page in a royal house, a soldier, a diplomat, and even a royal clerk. Geoffery was born in to a middle class family, he was the son of a merchant. During the beginning of his life time, Chaucer worked for the wife of Lionel of Antwerp, the daughter-in-law of Edward III, as page. During his time as a soldier for the English Army in France, Chaucer was captured…

Life in fourteenth century England was vividly illustrated through the Canterbury Tales almost more accurately than any other history of that time period. Gregory Chaucer, the author of the Canterbury Tales, gives the reader a profound insight into the life of the fourteenth century people in England through direct and indirect characterization. Chaucer effectively reveals the character's thoughts, words, and action through the use of his "Prologue" to the Canterbury Tales. His work shows his…

Over the course of this year, dual credit english has been a fun and working class. Starting from correct grammar, to writing essays, then to writing well-developed essays. The topics were great to work with and creating ideas and typing the one-thousand plus words were the easy part to finish. In this high school English class, It started off boring the first two weeks of the semester where a lot of grammar based worksheets came to play so we could type a-near-perfect essay. Commas,…

There is always a desire as a reader to be able to identify a hidden meaning in a tale or story, especially middle English literature. Geoffrey Chaucer and John Gower were two famous authors of that time and conveniently wrote tales that seem to relate to each other in many ways, and are opposite in many ways as well. Both tales have knights being asked to make a choice, one that will affect their knighthood as well as their future. Both tales have an old hag challenging the morals of the…