The Development of Middle and Modern English
How Middle English Became the Modern English of Today
Oct 7, 2009
Before Middle English developed, the language spoken in England was Old English, a language derived from Old German and altered by the forces of history, adding French, Celtic and Scandinavian words, phrases and grammar to the mix.
The Transition from Old to Middle English
The transition between Old and Middle English was not a sharp one. What is called Middle English today was being spoken in England long before the 1300s, but written records in that dialect became prominent during that century. Middle English is mainly defined by the addition of many French words and grammatical structures as well as some pronunciation differences.
Ancient English Words and Old English Structure
While most Old English seems far removed from what is spoken and read today, some words have been retained from Old English to Middle English to Modern. "He", "him", "and", and "of" are examples.
Other words underwent minor changes but are still somewhat recognizable. For example, "nama" became "name" and "beon" became "be."
However, many words were very different. "Eft," the Old English word for "again" and "hi", meaning "they", are unfamiliar to Modern English speakers.
The Change from Middle to Modern English
The transition between Middle and Modern English is also difficult to define. It is marked mainly by an event called the Great Vowel Shift. This shift occurred between 1450 and 1750 AD., when the pronunciation of long vowels changed.
Scholars aren't sure exactly when the Great Vowel Shift occurred, but the results are well documented. The sound of "e" in "sheep" is one striking example. In Middle English "e" sounded like the modern "a" sound, so the written word "sheep" would sound like "shape". The other long vowels were similarly affected and Modern English was born.
In 1569, a man named John Hart tried to create a new alphabet to adjust the English language to this new way of pronouncing sounds, but his book "Orthographie" and its new spelling methods never caught on.
Since short vowels were not affected by the shift, modern English ended up with related pairs of words in which the vowel is pronounced differently in each word. The "e" sound in sheep , for example, sounds different from the "e" in shepherd, even though they share the same word origin. Other word pairs that exhibit this trait are ride and ridden, nose and nostril, and south and southern.
How Old is Modern English
Many people think that Modern English has only been spoken for the past hundred years or so. But despite how different the language of Shakespeare sounds to modern ears, it is actually grouped in the Modern English category, since Shakespeare used the modern vowel sounds, not those of Old or Middle English.
The tale of the English language does not end here, however. It is still being created, as masters like Shakespeare, Melville, Hemmingway, and great writers yet to come move English forward by creating new words, grammatical structures, and ways of thinking about the English language.
For More Information about the Development of Middle and Modern English:
Scott Shay, The History of English. Wardja Press, 2008
Charles Barber, The English Language: A Historical Introduction. Cambridge University Press, 2000.
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