Middle English

Brief History of English

Before delving into the Middle English alphabet and some examples, let's start by acknowledging the four main periods of the English language, which are as follows:

1. Old English

2. Middle English

3. Early Modern English

4. Modern English

Old English

Old English was the earliest form of English, spoken and written from around 450 - 1150 AD. It was very different from the current English we know and was influenced by Latin and Germanic languages.

Middle English

After the Norman Conquest, the English language was slowly replaced by the Anglo-Norman dialect (a dialect of Old Norman French), this eventually evolved into what is known as Middle English. It was heavily influenced by Anglo-Norman French, particularly words relating to law and religion. Middle English was spoken and written from the mid-1100s until the mid-1400s.

FIg. 1 - The Norman Conquest was an invasion of England that started in 1066 and ended in 1075.

Early Modern English

Early Modern English was used from around 1500 until the 1800s. This was the form of English used by Shakespeare. His work was highly influential during this time and helped shape the English language into what it has become now.

Modern English

Modern English has been spoken since the late 17th century. The use of Modern English was due to "The Great Vowel Shift," which refers to the mass change of vowel pronunciations in English. This meant that the vowel sounds (particularly long vowels) were pronounced in a different place in the mouth. The shift occurred between the 1400s and 1700s.

Middle English Period

Now we have a basic understanding of the history of English, let's return to Middle English. The introduction of the Middle English period mostly saw changes in grammar, namely:

• Word order became more fixed

• Fewer inflections (word forms)

• Fewer word endings (suffixes)

• Using word order instead of word endings to express meaning

Also, vocabulary became more extensive as new words were invented and old words became redundant. Vocabulary continues to change to this day, reflecting the evolution of the English language!

What about the differences between Middle and Modern English?

The main changes were:

• The standardization of spelling

• The Great Vowel Shift (changes in the pronunciation of long vowel sounds)

• Changes in vocabulary (new words invented, old words no longer used)

Middle English Alphabet

The English alphabet we know today contains 26 letters. Old English contained 24, but some letters are no longer used. During the evolution of Middle English, some of these letters were dropped or changed. Let's take a look at a few of the dropped letters:

Þ / þ - Thorn

Have you ever seen an old sign that said "Ye olde"? Most of the time, the "ye" is mispronounced as "yee." But in this instance, the "y" actually came from the thorn letter, which made a "the" sound. So "ye" is actually pronounced as "thee." The "þ" was often written similarly to the letter "y," which is why we see the spelling "ye olde" instead of "þe olde." The thorn was later replaced with "th," which is what we still use today.

Ð / ð - Eth

The eth was pronounced as "th" (such as the /th/ sound in "thorn"). However, it soon got replaced by the thorn due to how similar they sounded in certain accents. Nowadays, we combine the letters "t" and "h" to create a /th/ sound instead of using a single letter.

Ȝ / ȝ - Yogh

The yogh was derived from the Old English letter "g." There is no Modern English equivalent of the yogh, but it was pronounced similarly to the "ch" in the Scots word "loch." It was quite a harsh, throaty sound. The yogh was later replaced with "gh." For example, the word "niȝt" became "night."

Æ / æ - Ash

The ash looks like a mix of "a" and "e." It was pronounced the same as the "a" sound in words like "mat" and "bat." It stopped being used around the 14th century, as it was simply replaced with "a."

Œ / œ - Ethel

The ethel looks like a mix of "o" and "e." It was originally pronounced as an "oi" sound (like in the word "foil") but was later pronounced like a mixture of "o" and "e" together. It was later replaced with "e."

Ƿ / ƿ - Wynn

The letter wynn was used in Old English to represent the "w" sound. In Middle English, this changed to two u's, so it looked like: uu. This later changed to the "w" we all know today.

Examples of Middle English

Check out an example of The Lord's Prayer below, written in Middle English. Notice how some words are similar to the Modern English we are familiar with today. One of the main differences is the non-standardized spelling, which makes Middle English more difficult to read!

The Lord’s Prayer - The Wyclif Bible (around 1390)

Modern English translation:

Fig. 2 - Chaucer was nicknamed the Father of English Poetry.

Another example of Middle English comes from English author and poet Geoffrey Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales - a collection of stories by Chaucer - were written in Middle English. Below is an extract:

- The Canterbury Tales: General Prologue (1387)

Modern English Translation:

Middle English Words

Here are some examples of Middle English words. As you read through these, think about how many of them are similar to the modern-day words we use.

Middle English Pronouns

The pronouns used in Middle English were not all the same as the pronouns used in the English language today. Due to spelling not being standardized, many pronouns in Middle English had more than one spelling and pronunciation. Here is a list of Middle English pronouns and their Modern English translations, starting with singular pronouns: