Text Analysis 2: English 785 | Kimberly Guppy

Middle English
1.
a. Dialects
i. Lay Folks Catechism
1. Northern Dialect
a. The use of the letter k instead of ch as in halikirk
(line 2) is a distinct marker of northern dialects.
b. The use of -and ending for present participle
i. line 13 lastand
ii. line 9 kunnandly
c. The use of th- forms to mark they/them
i. Lines 5, 7, 8, tham
ii. Wyclifs version of the Lay Folks Catechism
1. East Midlands Dialect- Wyclif variation dubbed Central Midlands
variety of the Oxford region which was used in Bible translations
(Brinton & Arnovick, 314)
a. The use of for they
i. Lines 3 & 4
b. The present participle ending -yng
i. Line 8 cunnyngly
ii. Line 11 kunnyngly
iii. Line 12 lastynge
iv. Line 13 bryngge
c. The use of hem for object form of them
i. Lines 7 & 9
b. Pronunciation
i. [hw] or [w] (in the south)
ii. [s]
iii. []
iv. *+
v. *+ or [x]
vi. *+ or *x+
vii. [k]

Text Analysis 2: English 785 | Kimberly Guppy


2. Changes from OE through ME
a. Grammar & Syntax
One of the most significant changes in grammar and syntax from Old
English through Middle English is the loss of inflectional endings, changing
the language from synthetic to analytic. The decay of inflectional endings
affected not only parts of speech (nouns, pronouns, verbs) but also caused a
higher reliance on word order because the words themselves no longer held
those syntactical meanings. In Text 14 from the OE period, we see the
flexibility in word order, as well as the use of inflectional endings. One prime
example of OE word order can be seen in line 12:
1. his gefgene wron
of-him glad they-were
This clause could be formulated in a different order and the message
would remain the same, because the subject is marked by the inflectional
ending on the verb wron. Similarly, the pronoun him is marked in the third
person dative case, and the adjective gefgene has the accusative
inflectional ending, which applies it to the direct object (him). This can be
contrasted to a similar clause from Text 21 (ca. 1300) line 11:
2. me tel of him lute
one counts of him little
Here we see the word order SVO, with meaning being drawn from the
order of the words. If the words in this clause are switched, the meaning of
Text Analysis 2: English 785 | Kimberly Guppy

the clause changes because there are no longer inflectional endings to mark
the clause.
The initial adverb clause, as seen in Text 14 on lines 6-7 (s on eastron
wronte lfred cyning lytle werede geweorc t elinga ige) actually
maintains its word order into ME, however it loses the inflectional markers,
as seen in Text 22 (ca. 1140), line 18:
3. a ferde Eustace e kings sune to France
Then went Eustace the kings son to france
But later, in 1460 as seen in Text 65, line 9, the word order of OE for this
inverted type of clause has changed to the standard SVO:
4. So on a tyme he tolde to kynge Arthure

b. Spelling/pronunciation
Among the changes that occurred within spelling and pronunciation,
vowel and consonant changes played a significant role in shaping Middle
English. Among these changes we also see the loss of certain orthographic
symbols, such as the ash, as well as the merging of sounds and changes in
various diphthongs. In Text 14 we see the ash in use in line 15, fter. By
1140, this word was changing, as we see in Text 22: efter (lines 3 & 12) and
fre (line 8). The loss of the phonemic alphabet and the lack of
standardization during this period can account for the differences in spelling.
As is shown, the ash is still in use but the alternate version is already present.
The ash is used throughout Text 14: t, s, glea, st... but is absent in
Text Analysis 2: English 785 | Kimberly Guppy

both Text 21 and Text 65, where t has become at. Similarly, we see a
decline in the use of the thorn, where its presence slowly dissipates from
Text 14 (s) to Text 21 (at), and is absent completely from Text 65.
Consonant changes also greatly affected the spelling, and perhaps the
pronunciation, of words during these periods. Evidence of these kinds of
changes are seen throughout the texts, in particular with the use of the word
king.
Text 14 cynge (line 4) cyning (line 6) cyng (line 18)
Text 22 king (lines 1, 6, 10) kinges (kings lines 2, 18)
Text 21 king (line 2)
Text 65 kynge (lines 2, 3, 9) kyng (lines 12, 13, 15, 17) (in this
example, we see the transition from i to y, as is seen in East
Midlands/London English dialects in later periods.)
c. Vocabulary
The greatest influence on vocabulary changes during this period comes from
French, and there was a loss of many OE terms. Words were borrowed into
English in many different areas, including legal, governmental, and social terms.
Within these texts, we see the loss of many vocabulary terms, and the inclusion
of new terms in the later texts. One prime example of this is seen with the word
kingdom, which is reflected in both the OE text and the ME text.
In Text 14, the word rice (line 17) represents the word for kingdom, while
in the word reflects ModE with kinedom (line 2).
Text Analysis 2: English 785 | Kimberly Guppy

The texts also show that as time progressed, more words of French origin
appear. Text 22 is limited as it is very closely related to OE, but the word prisun
(line 16) is borrowed from French. The following texts include a variety of words
of French origin:
noble duc (Text 21 line 17)
damesell (Text 65 line 4)
adventure (Text 65 line 18).
3. The incredibly simplified discussion of the major changes from OE through ME
described above has several weaknesses, most notably the lack of scope
throughout each section. Although I commented on the major areas of change
we discussed in class, I was unable to present a thorough number of examples
due to the limited scope of the assignment and the sources provided. For
example, in the section on syntax and grammar I narrowed my discussion to one
point: changes in word order due to loss of inflection. Within this one point, I
provided two different types of examples from the texts, but it is by no means
exhaustive and I may have missed important details across the texts by focusing
on this one point. I could have provided different types of syntactic change if the
focus of the assignment had been simply to address these types of changes.
Upon reflection, I see now why linguists focus so pointedly on one area of
language, because there is a lot to be noted from just syntax alone.
Another weakness as related to the scope of the assignment has to do
with the sources of text we were comparing. There are many factors that come
Text Analysis 2: English 785 | Kimberly Guppy

into play when analyzing written texts, such as location (and dialect), reliability
of the text, the type of text, etc. Since we are just given the texts labeled with
dates and no contextual information, we were putting our faith in documents we
do not know much about and hoping to assess the changes that took place
across these periods of time. For example, Text 22 seemed to provide a decent
midpoint between the OE text and the later texts in terms of the linguistic
differences. However, at the bottom of the text there is a footnote directing the
reader to a commentary about the language being used within the text. Upon
reading the commentary of this text, perhaps my analysis would have come to a
different conclusion about the text. Similarly, I relied heavily on the translation
sections for Text 14 and Text 22, but what if the translations were not done
correctly? Or, if the text being translated is a copy of the original that has been
subject to later editing? There are a variety of things that come in to play in
regards to reliability which could affect the outcome of this assignment.
Additionally, the information being presented in each text is somewhat
different, and that may have had an effect on the syntax within each one. Text
14 and Text 22 seem to provide a written account of events, but Text 21 (written
in a southern dialect, as noted by the source) offers a dreary lament of the loss
of England to Normandy, and Text 65 is very likely a fictional story. In terms of
each of the three areas we examined (grammar/syntax, spelling/pronunciation,
vocabulary,) they may have been influenced differently because of the variety of
purposes of the texts. As we explored earlier with the Recipes assignment, the
Text Analysis 2: English 785 | Kimberly Guppy

purpose of text can greatly affect how a text is written and thus the analysis of
said text.
If a person were to take these text analyses at face value with no prior
knowledge of the history of English, it would appear that not many changes took
place. Similarly, if a person were only exposed to the few points presented in
regards to each text, there would be a lot left to discuss. This assignment asked
for the major changes between OE through ME, and the changes I chose to
show were the ones described in class and in our textbooks as being the most
important changes. This is one of those situations where I do not have the
expertise to say whether the changes I provided are indeed the most influential
ones, but are merely the ones provided to me by others. If I were to do my own
analysis of these texts without regard to these prior notions, I may have come up
with an entirely different set of major changes based solely on the four texts we
were set to analyze. In particular, finding changes in vocabulary throughout
these texts was challenging because I had to scour the lines for words of French
origin, which meant referring to a list of words provided and relying on Baugh &
Cable to direct me to them. Without the idea that French had such a profound
influence on vocabulary, I may have perhaps looked for more words that
changed (such as I provided with rice to kinedom) rather than the introduction
of French vocabulary into the language.