The History and Development of the English Language - Essay Example

History and Development of English Language Chaucer, the well-renowned of the Canterbury Tales is known for his contributions to the English language. Chaucer wrote his poetry at a time when the French Anglo-Saxon and Latin languages dominated the court poetry. During Chaucer’s time the Middle English was used by the middle and lower class whereas French was the language employed by the upper nobility. As a result, one can see French influence in his early writings whereas in his middle period he was influenced both by French and Latin. However, as he matured himself as a writer he developed his own unique writing style which could be easily understood by all classes of people. He translated many of the French and Latin works into the Middle English opening the horizons of knowledge even for the ordinary reader who could understand neither French nor Latin. It is generally believed that Chaucer wrote in the London dialect of the ME of his time; his writings, were, therefore meant for the Londoners (Freeborn 1998, p. 231). This paper seeks to analyse the linguistic features in Chaucer’s The Franklin’s Tale with special reference to its rhyme, metric form, use of suffixes, spelling, vocabulary change, foreign influences, morphological differences, syntax and other grammatical features. Rhyme and metric form in Chaucer’s The Franklin’s Tale Elaborating on the rhyme and metric form employed by Chaucer Schofield states that “The Franklin’s Tale is in couplets, not strophes, and has only such interpolations as are regular in Chaucer’s work” (Schofield 2006, P. 182). Each of the couplets in the tale rhyme each other: words such as ‘kinrede- drede’, ‘distresse- worthinesse’, ‘obeysaunce- penaunce’, ‘accord-lord’ etc very well show that the poem is written in couplets. One also need to understand that in many cases final (-e) suffixes in these words are not pronounced even though in certain cases they formed a separate syllable. As Freeborn observes, it shows that “in Chaucer’s day, some final (-e) suffixes were pronounced, and some were not, varying from one dialect area to another as the last of Old English suffixes finally disappeared in pronunciation, and so changed the grammar of the language. Chaucer had a choice which helped him in making his lines of verse flow easily. However, when reading his verse, remember that a final (-e) before a word beginning with a vowel or is elided, and not pronounced….” (Freeborn 1998, p. 239). However, one should keep in mind that this final (-e) contributed to an additional syllable in his metric formation. Spelling A close reading of the text shows that there are considerable difference in the spelling employed by Chaucer in comparison with modern English; however, a modern reader is, to a great extent, able to identify the corresponding modern English spelling. For instance, words such as ‘sonne’, ‘obeysaunce’, ‘heigh’, and ‘peyne’ stand for sun, obedience, noble, and pain respectively. However, the spelling used by Chaucer is consistent enough for the reader to come to a common understanding regarding the spelling changes. Vocabulary change and foreign influences As already mentioned Chaucer’s language was not completely free from the influences of foreign languages such as French, Latin and Scandinavian. The historical context in which the text was written shows that “the period from 1250 to 1350 is a Period of Religious and Secular Literature in English and indicates clearly the wider diffusion of the English language” (Baugh & Cable 1993, p. 152). While French was the language used by the nobility before Chaucer’s period one can find many French, old Latin and Old English loan words in his writings. In The Franklin’s Tale one can come across a large number of Old English loan words. For instance, the etymological roots of words such as ‘lord’, ‘knight’, ‘night’, ‘shame’, ‘kindred’, ‘lady’, ‘greet’ etc can be traced back to Old English vocabulary. On the other hand, the etymological origins of words such as ‘penaunce’, ‘degree’ and ‘accord’ can be found in old French. Examples for words of old Latin origin from the text are ‘large’, ‘noon’, ‘humble’ and ‘rigour’. Thus, it can be concluded that The Franklin’s Tale makes use of loan words from Old English, Latin and French. Morphological Changes The morphological changes in Chaucer’s writing deserve primary attention as one can come across a large number of morphological changes from the modern English. As Hogg & Denison point out Chaucer used ye for second person plural instead of you for both numbers and “verbs had a suffix to mark agreement with plural subjects (hadd-en, be-n). The present third singular verb ending was –th, not –s. The infinitive was marked by a suffix –en (to wynn-en); the verb ‘to be’ used the be-stem for present plural (be-n) rather than modern are” (Hogg & Denison 2006, p. 45). Nouns and pronouns: Chaucer’s formation of nouns by adding suffixes such as –se, -esse, in words such as ‘humblesse’, ‘gentillesees’ and ‘distresse’ is noteworthy and is very much common in present day English to form nouns through suffixation. Similarly, the suffix –ves is used to form the plural of nouns in words such as ‘wyves’ and ‘lyves’ which is also seen in the modern English. With regard to pronouns, the use of ‘hir’ (her) as the third person singular pronoun , and ‘ye’ (you) as the third personal pronoun are examples for Chaucer’s use of pronouns in the text. Verbs and adverbs: Another aspect that is to be focussed is Chaucer’s formation of adverbs and adjectives in the tale. The spellings of many adjectives are wrongly spelt from that of the modern English; examples are the use of adjectives such as ‘meke’ (meek), ‘prively’ (privately), and ‘pacient’ (patient). Similarly, the adverbs in the text are formed by adding irregular suffixes such as –eyn (certeyn), -e (kinde), -ly (saufly) without following any particular set of suffixes. In modern English also many adverbs are formed by adding suffixes to adjectives or nouns and the suffix –ly is widely employed today for the formation of adverbs. Regarding the formation of verbs, one can very often find Chaucer adding –th to the third person singular present verb forms. An example from the text is the use of ‘comth’ instead of ‘comes’. Most of the verbs in the text end with either an unnecessary –e suffix (examples are ‘lede’, ‘folwe’ and ‘seyde’) or the –th suffix (examples are ‘vanquisseth’ and ‘comth’). In modern English one does not find the use of these suffixes at the end of the verb. Syntax and other grammatical features: Another remarkable aspect is the employment of syntax or word order in the text; Chaucer does not follow the regular Subject-verb-object pattern of the modern English language. On the other hand, a close reading of the text shows that the word order in Chaucer’s poetry follow a colloquial style and one can notice a number of displacements in his poetry. One can very often notice the object assuming the front and middle position in his verse. Similarly, there are many end-verb constructions in his poetry. There are also ‘front-shifted’ verbs and ‘front-shifting’ adjectives in his verse. Reviewing the poem under consideration, lines such as ‘Lerneth to suffre, or elles, so moot I goon’, ‘Beteth hise winges, and farewel- he is gon’, and ‘Save that the name of soveraynetee’ are examples for ‘front-shifted’ verbs and the displaced use of normal English word order. Similarly, Chaucer makes use of auxiliaries and modal auxiliaries such as ‘wolde’, ‘wol’ , and ‘sholde’ instead of their modern equivalents ‘would’, ‘will’ and ‘should’. It can thus be concluded that all these morphological changes in syntax, the use of nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs and auxiliaries make it difficult for the Present Day English speaker to comprehend Chaucer’s text. To conclude, analysis of the linguistic features in Chaucer’s The Franklin’s Tale makes one aware of the complexities associated with the true understanding of Chaucer’s poetry due to the changes in morphology, syntax, spelling and the extensive use of foreign loan words from Old English, Latin and French. Among these the morphological changes from the modern English stand out as the most distinctive and complex barrier. However, modern English language has derived certain patterns of inflections and suffixation from Chaucer’s use of language such as the formation of adverbs. Therefore, one needs to have a thorough understanding regarding how Chaucer has employed suffixes, pronouns, verbs, nouns, spelling and even rhyme to see how Chaucer has played a key role in the formation of the modern English. References Baugh, AC & Cable, T 1993, A history of the English language, 4th Illustrated Edition: Routledge. Freeborn, Dennis 1998, From Old English to Standard English: a course book in language variation across time, 2nd Illustrated Edition: University of Ottawa Press. Hogg, R.M & Denison, D 2006, A history of the English language, Illustrated Edition: Cambridge University Press. Schofield, W.H 2006, English Literature from the Norman Conquest to Chaucer, Adamant Media Corporation. 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