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Early Modern English

this period overlaps with the evolution of English labelled as Early Modern English

a) Protestant Reformation (Henry VIII 1509 – 47) – the closing of monasteries and the establishment of the king as the head of the church – led to a reduction of the importance of Latin in church and in schools and the translation of the Bible

b) the victory of the English over the Spanish Armada (Elisabeth I) in 1588 – the expansion to overseas territories – the colonization of North America

c) the Renaissance – interest in Ancient Greek and Roman literature, history and philosophy – the translation of ancient work but also many new vernacular writers such as Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Ben Johnson, Sir Thomas Wyatt

d) Puritanism – it started in opposition to Papacy but then became conservative, limiting the Renaissance atmosphere of freedom and tolerance – including the freedom of the lg use

Latin occupied the position of the perfect lg which was exclusively capable of handling the scholarly concepts and thoughts

English was criticized by various authorities as vulgar or barbaric and lacking in words, this criticism disappeared by 1580’s and at the beginning of the 17th cent English started to be praised as superior to other lgs

elementary education was conducted in English, but secondary mainly in Latin and scientific works of people such as Copernicus, Galileo, Cartesius, Newton or Bacon were in Latin,

also professional such as physicians did not want their knowledge to spread too easily to ordinary people (professional jealousy)

The status of English

Much criticism concerning freedom of choice in orthographic, lexical and grammatical forms as well as the freedom of selection of one of several existing phonetic forms

the need for the regulation of usage led to the rise of grammars and dictionaries of the English lg – 16th and 17th

Borrowings

Latin: allusion, accent, disability, drama, excursion, elegy, fiction, invisibility, phrase, appropriate, expensive, external, habitual, hereditary, insane, benefit, consolidate, disregard, eradicate, exist, extinguish, harass, medicate

Greek words that entered English through Latin: anachronism, atmosphere, autograph, chaos, chronology, climax, crisis, dogma, enthusiasm, parasite, pathetic, scheme, skeleton, system

Greek words borrowed directly: anonymous, catastrophy, criterion, lexicon, ostracize, polemic, thermometre, tonic

French borrowings: alloy, anatomy, bigot, bizarre, counterpoint, comrade, duel, entrance, equip, essay, explore, judge, invoice, moustache, naturalize, probability, progress, shock, surpass, volunteer

Italian borrowings: algebra, artisan, balcony, citadel, design, granite, grotto, carnival, gondola, fresco, bandit, contraband, stanza, violin, volcano

Spanish and Portuguese words: alligator, apricot, armada, banana, barricade, cocoa, corral, desperado, embargo, galleon, maize, mosquito, mulatto, negro

Low Countries: dock, yacht, smuggler, uproar, brandy-wine (shortened later to brandy), knapsack (rucksack), tap-too (later tattoo), landscape, easel, sketch, revel, drill, onslaught

Indigenous American lgs: potato, tabacco, hammock, hurricane, cannibal, chocolate, tomato, wigwam, tomahawk, squaw

Spread of the English language: Scotland

English was already spoken in Southern Scotland in OE times, until c. 975 part of this country was under Anglo-Saxon rule. The population of the highlands still spoke Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic lg.

Scottish English was based on Northern English with Celtic, Scandinavian and French influences, it developed into a national lg which functioned until the early 17th cent.

In 1707, when Scotland was formally united with England, Scots became reduced to a regional dialect, but still remained a literary lg in the 18th cent: Burns, Ramsey, Ferguson

Spread of the English language: Ireland

In Middle Ages Ireland became a colony due to the conquest by Henry II, and Eng. administration, army and clergy began to arrive bringing their lg.

Indigenous population was oppressed not only politically and economically, but also only Eng was taught at schools, children who spoke Gaelic were punished.

English usage in Ireland declined in the 15th cent, due to migration back to England and the coming of Norman families which were never English.

In the 16th and 17th cent, Eng was brought back due to the policy of Queen Mary which led to the settlement of large number of (Protestant) Scots in Ulster and the Cromwellian Act of Settlement which ordered the Irish to leave three provinces.

Spread of the English Language: America

In 1607 – Eng was brought to America by English colonies by colonists who established the settlement in Jamestown in Virginia.

In 1620 – The Mayflower brought the colonists who established Plymouth, in 1628 Puritans started the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

In a few years colonists began to expand along the Atlantic coast. Connecticut was founded in 1633, Rhode Island in 1636, next came Maine and New Hampshire (referred to as New England, as the majority came from the eastern counties of England).

In 15th cent started a major systematic change called the Great Vowel Shift and it was completed by late 16th cent, or early 17th.