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ðåôåðàòû, ñêà÷àòü ðåôåðàò, ñîâðåìåííûå ðåôåðàòû, ðåôåðàò íà òåìó, ðåôåðàòû áåñïëàòíî, áàíê ðåôåðàòîâ, ðåôåðàò êóëüòóðà, âèäû ðåôåðàòîâ, áåñïëàòíûå ðåôåðàòû, ýêîíîìè÷åñêèé ðåôåðàò

"ÑÀÌÛÉ ÁÎËÜØÎÉ ÁÀÍÊ ÐÅÔÅÐÀÒÎÂ"

Ïîðòàë Ðåôåðàòîâ

ðåôåðàòû
ðåôåðàòû
ðåôåðàòû

Ðåôåðàò: Historical Background of the Middle English Period

“Historical Background of the Middle English Period”

Plan.

1. The problem of periodization. The role of the Middle English Period

in the history of English language.

2. The influence of the Scandinavian invasions.

3. The Norman Conquest.

4. Early Middle English dialects. Neighborhood of three languages in

England.

5. Written records of the M. E. P.

6. Late M. E. P.

7. Development of English dialects and the rise of London dialect.

The historical development of a language is a continuous, uninterrupted

process without sudden breaks or rapid transformations. Therefore any

periodisation imposed on language history by linguists, with precise dates,

might appear artificial. There are some periodizations of the history of

English language. The author of the first scientific historical phonetic and

grammar of En. Language. H. Sweet suggested the periodization that

corresponds to the morphological structure of different centures. He called

the Old English Period – ‘The period of full endings ‘, the M. E. P. – ‘The

period of reduced endings’ , the New En. P. – ‘The period of lost endings.’

But this periodization is not full because it is not quite right to devide

the logical features, but phonological or syntactical ones (they were not

mentioned in the periodization.) So, thus I consider that any periodization

is based on some principles, but can’t touch all the sides of the language.

One of the prominent and well-known English scientists Henry Sweet worked out

several periodisations of the history of English language. He suggested to

single out the period of transition and to subdivide the transitional stage

between the Old and the Middle English Periods cover 1100-1200. H. Sweet

reckoned 1200 to be the limning of the Middle English based on morphological

phenomena the Middle English Period is considered to le the Period of

Levelled English.

Another periodization is extralinguistical. It’s based on the historical

events, which influenced on the English language. I must notice that this one

is the most traditional. The commonly accepted traditional periodization

divides English language history into three periods: Old English, Middle

English and New English with boundaries attached to definite dates and

historical effects affecting the language. Old English is connected with the

German settle in Britain (5th century) and with the beginning of

writing (7th century) and ends with the Norman Conquest (1066).

Middle English begins with Norman Conquest end ends on the introduction of

printing (1475). The Middle English period itself may be also divided into two

smaller ones – Early Middle English and Late Middle English.

Early Middle English covers the main events of the 14th century. It

is the stage of greatest dialectal divergence caused by the feudal system and

by foreign influences-Scandinavian and French. The dialectal division of

present-day English owes its origin to this period of history. Great changes of

the language took place at all the levels, especially in lexis and grammar.

Later 14th till the end of the 15th century is a time

known as Late or Classical Middle English. This period umbra’s the age of

Chaucer, the greatest English medieval writer and forerunner of the English

Renaissanu, and is characterized by restoration of English to the position of

the state and literary language and by literary flourishing, which has a

stabilizing effect on language, so that the rate of linguistic changes was

slowed down. At the same time the written forms of the language developed and

improved.

The Old English period in the history of the language corresponds to the

position of the state and literary language corresponds to the transitional

stage from the slave-owning and tribal system to the feudal system in the

history of Britain. In the 11th century feudalism was already well

established. According to a survey made in the late 11th c. slaves

and freemen were declining classes. The majority of the agricultural population

(and also of the total population, which amounted to about 2.000.000 people)

was bound to their lord and land. Under natural economy, characteristre of

feudalism, most of the things needed for the life of the lord and the villain

were produced on the estate. Feudal manors were separated from their neighbors

by tells, local feuds, and various restrictions concerning settlement,

traveling and employment. These historical conditions produced a certain

influence on the development of the language.

In Early M.E. the differences between the regional dialects grew. Never in

history, before or after, was the historical background more favorable for

dialectal differentiation. The main is the dialectal division in England,

which survived in later ages with some slight modification of the feudal

stage of British history.

In the age poor communication dialect boundaries often coincided with

geographical barriers such as rivers, mashes, forests, and mountains, as

these barriers would hinder the diffusion of linguistic features.

In addition to economic, geographical and social conditions, dialectal

differences in Early M.E. were accentuated by some historical events, namely

the Scandinavian invasions and the Norman Conquest.

Though the Scandinavian invasions of England are dated in the Old English

period, there effect on the language is particularly apparent in M.E.

Eventually the Scandinavians were absorbed into the local population both

ethnically and linguistically, because new settlers and the English

intermarried and intermixed; they lived close together and didn’t differ

either in social rank or in the level of culture and customs; they

intermingled the more easily as there was no linguistic barrier between them.

The increased regional differences of English in the Scandinavian influence

in the areas of the heaviest settlement the Scandinavians outnumbered the

Anglo-Saxon population, which is attested by geographical names. In

Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Northumberland, Cumberland-up to 75 per cent of the

place-names is Danish or Norwegian. Altogether more than 1.400 English

villages and towns bear names of Scandinavian origin (with the element

“thorp” meaning “village”, e.g. Woodthorp, Linthorp; “toft”, “a piece of

land”, e. g. “Brimtoft”, “Lowestoft”). Probably, in many districts people

became bilingual, with either Old Norse or English prevailing. Besides due to

the contacts and mixture with O Seand, the Northern dialects (chiefly North

Umbrian and East Mercian) had acquired lasting and something indelible

Scandinavian features. We find a large admixture of Scandinavian words in

Early M.E. records coming from the North East whereas contemporary text from

other regions are practically devoid of Scandinavian borrowings.

In later ages the Scandinavian element passed into other regions. The

incorporation of the Scandinavian element in the London dialect and Standard

English was brought about by the changing linguistic situation in England:

the mixture if the dialects and the grooving linguistic unification.

Soon after Canute’s death (1042) and the collapse of his empire the old

Anglo-Saxon line was restored but their reign was short-lived. The new

English king, Edward the Confessor (1942-1066), who had been reared in

France, brought over many Norman advisors and favorites; he distributed among

them English lands and wealth to the considerable resentment of the Anglo-

Saxon nobility and church hierarchy. He not only spoke French himself but

insisted on it being spoken by the nobles at his court. William, Duke of

Normandy, visited his court and it was rumored that Edward appointed him his

successor. In many respites Edward paved the for Norman infiltration long

before the Norman Conquest. However, the government of the country was still

in the hands of Anglo-Saxon feudal lords, headed by the powerful Earl Godwin

of Wessex.

In 1066, upon Edward’s death, the Elders of England proclaimed Harold Godwin

king of the English. As soon as the news reached William of Normandy, he

mustered a big army by promise of land and plunder (one third of his soldiers

were Normans, other, mercenaries from all over Europe) and, with the support

of the Pope, landed in Britain.

In the battle of Hastings, fought in October 1066, Harold was killed and the

English were defeated. This date is commonly known as the date of the Norman

Conquest, though the military occupation of the country was not completed

until a few years later. After the victory of Hastings, William by passed

London cutting it off from the North and made the William of London and the

bishops at Westminster Abbey crown him king. William his barons laid waster

many lands in England, burning down villages and estates. They conducted a

relentless campaign of subjugation, devastated and almost depopulated

Northumbria and Mercia, which tried to rise against the conquerors. Huge

stone Norman castles if earthen forts and wooden stockades, built during the

campaign, soon replaced scores. Most of the lands of the Anglo-Saxon lords

passed into the hands of the Norman barons, William’s own possession

comprising about one third of the country. The Normans occupied all the

important ports in the church, in thee government and in the army.

Following the conquest hundreds of people from France crossed the Channel to

make their home in Britain were also dukes of Normandy and, about a hundred

years later, took possession of the whole western half of France, thus

bringing England into still closer contact with the continent. French monks,

tradesmen and craftsmen flooded the southwestern towns, so that not only the

higher nobility but also much of the middle class was French.

The Norman Conquest was not only a great event in British political history

but also the greatest single event in the history of the English language.

Its earliest effect was a drastre change in the linguistic situation.

The Norman Conquerors of England had originally come from Scandinavia. About one

hundred and fifty years before they scized the valley of the Scine and settled

in what was henceworth known as Normandy. They were swiftly assimilated by the

French and in the 11th century came to Britain as French speakers

and bearers of French culture. They spoke the Northern dialect if French, which

differed in some points from Central, Parisian French. Their tongue in Britain

is often reffered to as ‘Anglo-French’ or ‘Anglo-Norman’, but may just as well

be called French, since we are less concerned here with the distinction of

French dialects than with the continuous French influence upon English, both in

the Norman period of history and a long while after the Anglo-Norman language

had ceased to exist.

In the early 13th c., as a result of lengthy and inefficient wars

with France John Lackland lost the French provinces, including the dukedom of

Normandy. Among other consequences the loss of the lands in France cut off the

Normans in Britain from France, which speeded up the Anglo-France, which

speeded up the decline of the Anglo-French language.

The most immediate consequence of the Norman domination in Britain is to be

seen in the wide use of the French language in many spheres of life. For

almost free hundred years French was the official language of administration:

it was the language of the king’s court, the law courts, the church, the army

and the castle. It was also every day language of many nobles, of the higher

clergy and of many townspeople in the South. The intellectual life,

literature and education were in the hands of French-speaking people; French,

alongside Latin, was the language of writing. Teaching was largely conducted

in French and boys at school were taught to translate their Latin into French

instead of English.

For all that, England never stopped being an English-speaking country. The

bulk of the population held fast to their own tongue: the lower classes in

the towns, and especially in the country-side, those who lived in the

Midlands and up north, continued to speak English and looked upon French as

foreign and hostile. Since most of the people were illiterate, the English

language was almost exclusively used for spoken communication.

At first the two languages existed side by side without mingling. Then,

slowly and quickly, they began to permeate each other. The Norman barons and

the French town-dwellers had to pick up English words to make themselves

understood while the English began to use French words in current speech. A

good knowledge of French would mark a person of higher standing giving him a

certain social prestige probably many people become bilingual and had a fair

command of both languages.

These peculiar linguistic conditions could not remain static. The struggle

between French and English was bound to end ion the complete victory of

English, for English was the living language of the entire people, while French

was restricted to certain social spheres and to writing. Yet the final victory

as still a long way off. In the 13th c. only a few steps were made

in that direction. The earliest sign of the official recognition of English by

the Norman hinges was the famous Proclamation issued by Henry 3 in 1258 to the

councilors in Parliament. It was written in three languages: French, Latin and

English.

The three hundreds years of the domination of French affected English more

than any other foreign influence before or after. The early French borrowings

reflect accurately the spheres of Norman influence upon English life; later

borrowings can by attributed to the continued cultural, economic and

political contacts between the countries. The French influence added new

features to the regional and social differentiation of the language. New

words, coming from French, could not be adopted simultaneously by all the

speakers if English; they were first used in some varieties of the language,

namely in the regional dialects of Southern England and in the speech if the

upper classes, but were unknown in the other varieties of the language.

The use of a foreign tongue as the state language, the diversity of the

dialects and the decline of the written form of English created a situation

extremely favorable for increased variation and for more intensive linguistic

change.

The regional M.E. dialects had developed from respective OE dialects. A

precise map of all the dialects will probably never be made, for available

sources are scare and unreliable: localized and their approximate boundaries

have been determined largely by inference; for later ME the difficulty lies

in the growing dialect mixture.

With these reservation the following dialect groups can be distinguished in

Early M.E.

The Southern group included the Kentish and the South-Western dialects. Kentish

was a direct descendant of the O.E. Saxon dialects, - not only West Saxon, but

also East Saxon. The East Saxon dialect was not prominent in OE but became more

important in Early M.E., since it made the basis of the dialect of London in

the 12th and 13th c. Among the dialects of this group the

Gloucestes dialect and the London dialect may be mentioned.

The group of Midland (‘Central’) dialect – corresponding to the OE Mercian

dialect – is divided into West Midland and East Midland as two main areas,

with further subdivisions within: South-East midland and North-East Midland,

South-west Midland and North-West Midland. In M.E. the Midland area became

more diversified linguistically than the OE Mercian kingdom occupying

approximately the same territory: from the Thames in the South to the Welsh-

speaking area in the West and up north to the river Humber.

The Northern dialect had developed from OE Northumbrian. In Early M.E. the

Northern dialects included several provincial dialects, e.g. the Yorkshire

and the Lancashire dialects, and also what later became known as Scottish.

In the course Early M.E. the area if the English language in the British Isles

grew. Fallowing the Norman Conquest the former Celtic kingdoms fell under

Norman recluse. Wales was subjugated in the late 12th c. the English

made their first attempts to conquest Ireland. The invaders settled among the

Irish and were soon assimilated, a large proportion of the invaders being

Welshmen. Though part of Ireland was ruled from England, the country remained

divided and had little contact with England. The English language was used

there alongside Celtic languages-Irish and Welsh – and was influenced by

Celtic.

The E.M.E. dialectal division was preserved in the succeeding centuries,

though even in Late M.E. the linguistic situation changed. In Early M.E.

while the state language and the main language of literature was French, the

local dialects were relatively equal. In Late M.E., when English had been

reestablished as the main language of administration and writing, one of the

regional dialects, the London dialect, prevailed over the others.

For a long time after the Norman Conquest there were two written languages in

England, both of them foreign: Latin and French. English was held in disdain

as a tongue used only by common illiterate people and not fit for writing. In

some dialects the gap in the written tradition spanned almost two hundred

years.

The earliest samples of Early M.E. prose are the new entries made in the

Anglo-Saxon Chronicles from the year 1122 to the year 1154, known as the

Peterborough Chronicle.

The works in the vernacular, which began to appear towards the end of the 12

th c., were mostly of a religions nature. The great mass of these works

are homilies, sermons in prose and verse, paraphrases from the Bible, psalms

and prayers. The earliest of these religious works, the Poema Morala (‘Moral

Ode’) represent the Kentish dialect of the late 12th or the early

13th.

Of particular interest for the history of the language is ‘Ormulum’, a poem

composed by the monk Orm in about 1200 in the North-East Midland dialect

(Lineolnshire). It consist of unrhymed metrical paraphrases of the Gospels.

The text abounds in Scandinavianists and lacs French borrowings. Its most

outstanding feature is the spelling system devised by the author. He doubled

the consonants after short vowels in closed syllables and used special

semicircular marks over short vowels in open syllables. Here are some lines

from the poem where the author recommends that these rules should be

followed I copying the poem.

Among other works of religious nature we can mention ‘Ancrene Riwle’ (‘The

Rule of Anchorites’), a prose treatise in the Northern dialect: ‘Cursor

Mundi’, an amplified version of the Gospels, and ‘the Pricke of Conscience’,

a translation attributed to Richard Rolle of Hampole.

Alongside these religious works there sprang up a new kind of secular

literature inspired by the French romances of chivalry. Romances were long

composition in verse or prose, describing the life and adventures of knights.

The great majority of romances fell into groups or cycles concerned with a

limited number of matters. Those relating to the ‘matter of Britain’ were

probably the most popular and original works of English poets, though many

of them were paraphrased from French.

One of the earliest poems of this type was ‘Brut’ composed by Layamon in the

early 13th c. It is a free rendering of the 12th c.,

which tells the story of the legendary foundation of Britain by Brutus, the

alleged great grandson of Aeneas of Troy; the last third of the poem is devoted

to Brut’s most famous descendant, the mythical British King Arthur and his

‘Knights of the Round Table’, Who became the favourite subject of English

knightly romances. The poem is written in alliterative verse with a

considerable number of rhymes. It is noteworthy that the West Midland dialect

of Brut, thought nearly a century and a half after the Norman Conquest,

contains very few French words; evidently the West Midlands were as yet little

affected by French influence.

Some romances deal with more resemnt events and distinctly English themes:

episodes of the Crusades of Scandinavian invasions. ‘Havelock the Dane (East

Midland dialect of the later 13th c.) narrates the adventures of a

Danish prince who was saved by a fisherman, Grim (the founder of Grimsby).

Another poem in the same dialect and century, ‘King Horn’, is more of a love

story. Doth poems make use of characters and plots found in French sources but

are nevertheless original English productions.

Among the Early M. E. texts in the South-Western dialects we should mention ‘

The London Proclamation’ of the year 1258 and the political poems of the early

14th c. which voiced the complaint of the poor against their

oppressors. In the poem ‘Evil Times of Edward2’ the unknown author described

the vices of the clergy and the nobility as the causes of the wretched

condition of the people. Those were the earliest M.E. texts in the London

dialect.

Early M.E. written records represent different local dialects, which were

relatively equal as forms of the written language, beneath the twofold

oppression of Anglo-Norman and Latin writing. They retained a certain literary

authority until it was overshadowed in the 14th c. by the prestige

of the London written language.

The domination of the French language in England came to an end in the source of

the 14th c. The victory of English was predetermined and prepared

for by previous events and historical conditions. Little by little the Normans

and English drew together and intermingled. In the 14th c.

Anglo-Norman was a dead language; it appeared as corrupt French to those who

had access to the French of Paris through books, education or direct contacts.

The number of people who Knew French had fallen; Anglo-Norman and French

literary compositions had lost their audience and had to be translated into

English.

Towards the end of the 14th c. the English language had taken the

place of French as the language of literature and administration. English was

once more the dominant speech of all social classes in all regions. It had

ousted French since it had always remained the mother tongue and the only

spoken language of the bulk of the population.

It may be interesting to mention some facts showing how the transition came

about. In 1362 Edward 3 gave his consent to an act of Parliament ordaining that

English be used in the law courts, sine ‘French has become much unknown in the

realm’. This reform, however, was not carried out for years to come: French, as

well as Latin, continued to be used by lawyers alongside English until the 16

th c. Yet many legal documents which have survived from the late 14th

and 15th c. are written in English: wills, municipal acts, petitions.

In 1363, for the first tome in history, Parliament was opened by the King’s

chancellor with an address in English. In 1399 King Henry 4 used English in his

official speech when accepting the throne. In 1404 English diplomats refused to

conduct negotiations with France in French, claiming that the language was

unknown to them. All these events testify to the recognition of English as the

state language.

Howly and inevitably English regained supremey in the field of education. As

early as 1349 it was ruled that English should be used at school in teaching

Latin, but it was not until 1385 that the practice became general, and even

the universities began to conduct their curricula in English. By the 15th

c. the ability to speak French had come to be regarded as a special

accomplishment, and French like Latin, was learnt as a foreign language. At the

end of the 15th c. William Caxton, the first English printer,

observed: ‘the most quantity of the people understand not Latin nor French here

in this noble realm of England’.

One might have expected that the triumph of English would lead to weakening of

the French influence upon English. In reality, however, the impact of French

became more apparent. As seen from the surviving written texts, French

loan-words multiplied at the very time when English became a medium of general

communication. The large-scale influx of French loads can be attributed to

several causes. It is probably that many French words had been in current use

for quite a long time before they were first recorded. As it was aforementioned

records in Early M.E. were scare and came mostly from the Northern and Western

regions, which were least affected by French influence. Later M.N. texts were

produced in London and in the neighboring areas, with a mixed and largely

bilingual population. In numerous translation from French – which became

necessary when the French language was going out of use-many loan-words were

employed for the sake of greater precision, for want of a suitable native

equivalent or due to the translator’s inefficiency. It is also important that

in the course of the 14th c. the local dialects were brought into

closer contact; they intermixed and influenced one another: therefore the

infiltration of French borrowings into all the local and social varieties of

English progressed more rapidly.

As with other foreign influences, the impact of French is to be found, first

and foremost, in the vocabulary. The layers and the semantic spheres of the

French borrowings reflect the relations between the Norman rulers and the

English population, the dominance of the French language in literature and

the contacts with French culture. The prevalence of French as the language of

writing led to numerous changes in English spelling.

The dialect division which evolved in Early M.E. was on the whole preserved in

later periods. In the 14th and 15th c. the same grouping

of dialects was present: the Southern group. Including Kentish and the

South-Western dialects, the Midland group with its minute subdivision and the

Northern group. And yet the relations among them were changing. The extension

of trade beyond the conjines of local boundaries, the growth of towns with a

mixed population favored the intermixture and amalgamation of the regional

dialects. More intensive inter-influence of the dialects, among other facts is

attested by the penetration of Scandinavian loan-words into the West-Midland

and Southern dialects from the North and by the spread of French borrowings in

the reverse direction. The most important went in changing linguistic situation

was the rise of the London dialect as the prevalent written form of language.

The history of the London dialect reveals the sources of the literary

language in Late M.E. and also the main source and basis of the Literary

Standard, both in its written and spoken forms.

The Early M.E. records made in London-beginning with the Proclamation of 1258

– show that the dialect of London was fundamentally East Saxon; in terms of

the M.E. division, it belonged to the South-Western dialect group. Later

records indicate that the speech of London was becoming more mixed, with East

Midland features gradually prevailing over the Southern features. The most

likely explanation for the change if the dialect type and for the mixed

character of London English lies in the history of the London population.

In the 12th and 13th c. the inhabitants of London came

from the south-western district. In the middle of the 14th c. London

was practically depopulated during the ‘Black Death’ (1348) and later outbreaks

of bubonic plague. It has bun estimated that about one third of the population

of Britain died in the epidemies, the highest proportion of deaths occurring in

London. The depopulation was speedily made good and in 1377 London had over

35.000 inhabitants.

Most of the new arrivals came from the East Midlands: Norfolk, Suffolk, and

other populous and wealthy counties of Malieval England, although not bordering

immediately on the capital. As a result the speech of Londoners was brought

much closer to the East Midland dialect. The official and literary papers

produced in London in the late 14th c. display obvious East Midland

in features. The London dialect became more Anglian than Saxon in character.

This mixed dialect of London, which had extended to the two universities (in

Oxford and Cambridge) ousted French from official spheres and from the sphere

of writing.

The flourishing of literature, which marks the seconds half of the 14th

c., apart from its cultural significance, testifies, to the complete

rustablishment of English as the language of writing. Some authors wrote in

their local dialect from outside London, but most of them used the London

dialect or forms of the language combining London and provincial traits.

Towards the end of the century the London dialect had become the principal type

of language used in literature a sort of literary ‘pattern’ to be imitated by

provincial authors.

The literary text of the late 14th c. preserved in numerous

manuscripts, belong to a variety of genres. Translation continued, but original

composition were produced in abundance; party was more prolific than prose.

This period of literary florescence is known as the ‘age of Chaucer’; the

greatest name in English literature before Shakespeare other writers are

referred to as ‘Chaucer’s contemporaries’).

One of the prominent authors of the time was John de Trevisa of Cornwall. In

1387 he completed the translation of seven books on world history -

‘Polychronicon’ by R. Higden – from Latin into the South-Western dialect of

English. Among other information it contains some curious remarks about

languages used in English: ‘ Trevisa:.gentle men have now left to teach (i.e.

‘stopped teaching’) their children French. .Higden: It sums a great wonder

how Englishmen and their own language and tongue is so diverse in sound in

this one island and the language of Normandy coming from another land has one

manner of sound among all men that speak it right in England.men of the East

with men of the West, as it were under the same pared of heaven, award more

in the sound of their speech than men if the North with men of the South.

Of Greatest linguistic consequence was the activity of John Wyclif (1324-

1384), the forerunner of the English Reformation. His most important

contribution to English prose was his (and his pupils’) translation of the

Bible completed in 1384. He also wrote pamphlet protesting against the

corruption of the Church. Wyelif’s Bible was copied in manuscript and read by

many people all over the country. Written in the London dialect, it played an

important role in spreading this form of English.

The chief poets of the time, besides Chaucer, were John Gower, William

Langland and, probably, the unknown author of ‘Sir Gawaine and the Green

Knight’).

The remarkable poem of William Langland ‘The Vision Coneerning Piers the

Plowman’ was written in a dialect combining West Midland and London features;

it has survived in three versions, from 1362 to 1390; it is an allegory and a

satire attacking the vises and weaknesses of various social classes and

sympathizing with the wretchedness of the poor. It is presented as a series

of visions appearing to the poet in his dreams. He susdiverse people and

personifications of vices and virtues and explains the way to salvation,

which is to serve Truth by work and love. The poem is written in the old

alliterative verse and shows no touch of Anglo-Norman influence.

John Gover, Chaucer’s friend and an outstanding poet of the time, was born in

Kent, but there are not many Kentisins in his London dialect. His first poems

were written in Anglo-Norman and in Latin. His longest poem ‘Vox Clamantis’

(’the Voice of the Crying in the Wilderness’) is in Latin; it deals with

Watiyler’s rebellion and condemns all roans of Society for the sins which

brought about the terrible revolt. His last long poem I is in English:

Confession Amantis (‘The Lover’s Confession), a composition of 40000 acto-

syllabis . It contains a vast collection of stories drawn from various

sources and arranged to illustrate the seven deadly sins. John Gower told

his tales easily and vividly and for long was almost as popular as Chaucer.

There was one more poet whose name is unknown. Four poems found in a single

manuscript of the 14th c. – ‘Peasl’, ‘Patience’, ‘Cleanness’, and

‘Sir Gawaineand the Green Knight’ – have been attributed to the same author.

Incidentally, the latter poet belongs to the popular Arthurian cycle of

Knightly romances, though the episodes narrated as well as the form are

entirely original. The poems are a blending of collaborate alliteration, in

line with the OE tradition, and new rhymed verse, with a variety of difficult

rhyme schemes.

Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1400) was by far the most outstanding figure of the

time. A hundred years later William Caxon, the first English printer, called

him ‘the worshipful father and fist founder and embellisher of ornate

eloquence in our language. ‘In many books on the history of English

literature and the history of English Chaucer is described as the founder of

the literary language.

His carried works more of less imitative if other authors – Latin, French or

Italian – though they bear abundant evidence of his skill. He never wrote in

any other language than English. The culmination of Chaucer ‘s work as a

poet ; his great unfinished collection of stories ‘The Canterbury Tales’.

Chaucer wrote in a dialect which in the main coincided with that used in

documents produced in London shortly before his time and for a long time after.

Although he did not really create the literary language, as a poet of

outstanding talent he made better use if it than contemporaries and set up 2

pattern to be followed in the 15th c. His poems were copied so many

times that over sixty manuscripts of ‘The Cantervary Tales’ have survived to

this day. No books were among the first to be printed, a hundred years after

their Compositon.

Chauser’s literary language, based in the mixed (lavgely East Midland) London

dialect is known as classical M.E. In the 15th and 16th

c. it became the basis of the national literary English language.

The 15th c. could produce nothing worthy to rank with Chaucer. The

two prominent poets, Thomas Hoccleve and John Lydgate, were chicfly

translators and imitators. The style of Caucer’s successors is believed to have

drawn farther away from everyday speech; it was highly effected in character,

abounding in abstact words and strongly influenced by Latin rhetoric (it is

termed ‘aureate language’).

Whereas in English literature the decline after Chaucer is apparent, the

literature of Scotland forms a Northern dialect of English flourished from the

13th until the 16th c. ‘The Bruce’ , written by John

Barbour between 1373 and 1378 is a national epic, which describes the real

history of Rolert Bruce a hero and military chief who defeated the army of

Edward 2 at Bannockburn in 1314 and secured the independence of Scotland. This

poem was followed by others, composed by prominent 15th c. poets:

e.g. ‘Wallace’ attributed to Henry the Minstel; ‘ Kind’s Quhair’ (King’s

Book’) by King James of Scotland.

Bibliography

  1. Iliyish B. ‘History of the English Language’, Leningrad, 1983,

    351p.

  2. Rastorgueva T.A. ‘A History of English’, Moscow, 1983,

    347p.

  3. ßðöåâà Â. Í. ‘Ðàçâèòèå íàöèîíàëüíîãî ëèòåðàòóðíîãî

    àíãëèéñêîãî ÿçûêà’, Ì., 1969.

  4. Êîñòþ÷åíêî Þ. Ï. ‘Èñòîðèÿ

    àíãëèéñêîãî ÿçûêà’, Ê. 1953á 360ñ.

  5. ßðöåâà Â. Í. ‘Èñòîðèÿ

    àíãëèéñêîãî ÿçûêà 9-15 â. â.’, Ì

  6. Èâàíîâà, ×àõîÿí, Áåëÿåâà.

    «Èñòîðèÿ àíãëèéñêîãî ÿçûêà», Ê.: 1996

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