Page images
PDF
EPUB

CHAPTER V.

PERIODS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

40. ALL living languages, in being handed down from one genera. tion to another, undergo changes and modifications. These go on so gradually as to be almost imperceptible, and it is only by looking back to past periods that we become sensible that the language has changed. A language that possesses a literature is enabled to register the changes that are taking place. Now the English language possesses a most copious literature, which goes as far back as the end of the eighth century, so that it is possible to mark out with some distinctness different periods in the growth or history of our language.'

I. The English of the First Period.

(A.D. 450-1100.)

(a) The grammar of this period is synthetic or inflectional, while that of modern English is analytical.1

(b) The vocabulary contains no foreign elements.

(c) The chief grammatical differences between the oldest English and the English of the present day are these :

(1) Grammatical Gender.-As in Latin and Greek, gender is marked by the termination of the nominative, and also by other case endings. Substantives and adjectives have three genders-masculine, feminine, and neuter.

(2) Declensions of Substantives.-There were various declensions, and at least five cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, and ablative or instrumental). distinguished by various endings.

(3) The Definite Article was inflected, and was also used both as a demonstrative and a relative pronoun.

(4) Pronouns had a dual number.

[ocr errors][merged small]

(5) The infinitive of Verbs ended in -an, the dative infinitive in -anne (-enne).

(6) Only the dative infinitive was preceded by the preposition

to.

(7) The present participle ended in -ende.

(8) The passive participle was preceded by the prefix ge-.
(9) Active and passive participles were declined like adjectives.
(10) In the present tense plural indicative the endings were,
(1) -ath; (2) -ath; (3) -ath.

(11) In the present pl. subjunctive they were -on, -on, -on.1
(12) In the preterite tense plural indicative the endings were
-on (sometimes -an).

(13) The second person singular in the preterite tense of weak
verbs ended in -st, as lufode-st thou loved-est; the

=

corresponding suffix of strong verbs was -e, as—

at-e, thou atest or didst eat.

slep-e, thou slept-est.

(14) The future tense was supplied by the present, and shall and will were not usually tense auxiliaries.

(15) Prepositions governed various cases.

II. The English of the Second Period.

(A.D. 1100 to about 1250.)

41. Before the Norman Conquest the English language showed a tendency to substitute an analytical for a synthetical structure, and probably, had there been no Norman invasion, English would have arrived at the same simplification of its grammar as nearly every other nation of the Low German stock has done. The Danish invasion had already in some parts of the country produced this result; but the Norman invasion caused these changes, more or less inherent in all languages, to take place more rapidly and more generally.

The first change which took place affected the orthography; and this is to be traced in documents written about the beginning of the twelfth century, and constitutes the only important modification of the older language.

This change consisted in a general weakening of the terminations of words.

i. The older vowel endings, a, o, u, were reduced to e.

I-en is an earlier form of this suffix.

E

This change affected the oblique cases of nouns and adjectives as well as the nominative, so that the termination

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

ii. Cork is often softened to ch, and g to y or w.

To make these changes clearer, we give―

(1) A portion of Elfric's homily, "De Initio Creature," in the English of the first period; (2) the same in the English of the beginning of the twelfth century; and (3 and 4) the same a few years later.2

I. An anginn is ealra þinga, þæt is God Almightig.
2. An anginn is ealra thingen, þæt is God Almightig.
3. An angin is alræðinga, þæt is God almihti3.

[blocks in formation]

5. One beginning is there of all things, that is God Almighty. 1. He is ordfruma and ende: he is ordfruma forði þe he wæs æfre.

2. He is ordfruma and ænde: he is ordfrume for þan þe he wæs æfre.

3. He is ordfruma and ende: he is ordfrume for þi de he was æfre.

4 [He is] hordfruma and ænde: he is ord for he wes efre. 5. He is beginning and end: he is beginning, for-that that he was ever.

1. He is ende butan ælcere geendunge, for ðan þe he bio æfre unge-endod.

2. He is ændæ abuten ælcere geændunge, for þan be he by æfre unge-ændod.

3. He is ende buton ælcre endunge, for þan de he bið æfre un3e-endod.

4. He is ænde buton ælcere Ziendunge

5. He is end without any ending, for-that that he is ever unended.

1. He is ealra cyninga cyning, and ealra hlaforda hlaford. 2. He is ealra kingene kinge, and ealra hlaforde hlaford.

In sometimes disappears.

2 Examples 3 and 4 were probably written in different parts of England before

3. He is alra kynge kyng, and alre laforde laford.
4. Heo is alra kingene king, and alra hlaforden hlaford.
5. He is of all kings King, and of all lords Lord.

1. He hylt mid his mihte heofanas and eorðan and ealle.
2. He healt mid his mihte heofonas and eorðan and ealle.
3. He halt mid his mihte heofenæs and eorðan and alle.
4. He halt mid his mihte hefene and eorde and alle.
5. He hoideth with his might heavens and earth and all.

1. Gesceafta butan geswince.

2. Gesceafte [buten] geswynce.
3. Isceafte buton swinke.

4 3esceafte buton 3eswince.

5. Creatures without swink (toil).

The next example is given, (1) in the oldest English; (2) in that of 1100; (3) in that of about 1150.

1. Twelf unbeawas syndon on byssere worulde to hearme
2. Twelf undeawes synden on byssen wurlde to hearme
3. Twelf unbeawes beod on bissere weorlde to hermen
4. Twelve vices are there in this world for harm

1. Eallum mannum gif hi moton ricsian and hi alecgað
2. Eallen mannen gyf heo moten rixigen and heo alecgeð
3. Alle monnen 3if hi moten rixian and hi alleggað
4. To all men, if they might hold sway, and they put down

1. Rihtwisnysse and bone geleafan amyrrað and mancynn
gebringað

2. Rihtwisnysse and bone geleafe amerred and mancynn gebringed

3. Rihtwisnesse and bene ileafan amerra and moncun bringe 4. Righteousness and (the) belief mar, and mankind bring

1. Gif hi moton to helle.
2. Gyf heo moten to helle.
3. 3if hi motan to helle.
4. If they might to hell.

From 1150 to 1200 numerous grammatical changes took place, the most important of which were

1. The indefinite article an (a) is developed out of the numeral. It is frequently inflected.

2. The definite article becomes þe, þeo, þe, (pat), instead of se, seo, pæt.1

It frequently drops the older inflections, especially in the

feminine.

We find pe often used as a plural instead of pa or þo. 3 Nominative plural of nouns end in -en (or e) instead of a or u, thus conforming to plurals of the n declension.

4. Plurals in -es sometimes take the place of those in -en (-an),
the genitive plural ends in -ene or -e, and occasionally
in -es.

5. The dative plural (originally -um) becomes e and en.
6. Some confusion is seen in the gender of nouns.

[ocr errors]

7. Adjectives show a tendency to drop certain case-endings:-
(1) The genitive singular masculine of the indefinite

declension.

(2) The genitive and dative feminine of the indefinite declension.

(3) The plural -en of the definite declension frequently becomes e.

8. The dual forms are still in use, but less frequently employed. The dative him, hem, are used instead of the accusative. 9. New pronominal forms come into use, as ha=he, she, they; is her; is=them; me=one.

10. Then in min, thin, are often dropped before consonants, but retained in the plural and oblique cases.

11. The infinitive of verbs frequently drops the final n, as smelle smellen, to smell; herie-herien, to praise. To is sometimes used before infinitives.

12. The gerundial or dative infinitive ends often in -en or -e instead of -enne (-anne).

13. The n of the passive participle is often dropped, as icume =icumen=come.

14. The present participle ends in -inde, and is frequently used instead of the gerundial infinitive, as to swiminde=to swimeneto swim.

15. Shall and will began to be used as tense auxiliaries of the

future.

Traces of sc and si are found in the Kentish dialect of the thirteenth century.

« PreviousContinue »