OLD ENGLISH

MIDDLE ENGLISH
MODERN ENGLISH
 OLD ENGLISH
BEOWULF
THE ANGLO-
SAXON EPIC POEM
 BEOWULF
 Beowulf , written in Old English sometime before the
tenth century A.D., describes the adventures of a great
Scandinavian warrior of the sixth century. A rich fabric
of fact and fancy, Beowulf is the oldest surviving epic
in British literature.
 Beowulf exists in only one manuscript. This copy
survived both the wholesale destruction of religious
artifacts during the dissolution of the monasteries by
Henry VIII and a disastrous fire which destroyed the
library of Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1571-1631).
 The poem still bears the scars of the fire, visible at the
upper left corner of the photograph.
The Beowulf manuscript is now housed in the British
Library, London.
 BEOWULF
OLD ENGLISH
 Gewát ðá néosian syþðan niht becóm
 héän húses· hú hit Hring-Dene
 æfter béorþege hæfdon·
 fand þá ðaér inne æþelinga gedriht
 swefan æfter symble· sorge ne cúðon
 wonsceaft wera· wiht unhaélo
 grim ond graédig gearo sóna wæs
 réoc ond réþe ond on ræste genam
 þrítig þegna· þanon eft gewát
 húðe hrémig tó hám faran
 mid þaére wælfylle wíca néosan.
 Ðá wæs on úhtan mid aérdæge
 Grendles gúðcræft gumum undyrne·
 þá wæs æfter wiste wóp up áhafen
 micel morgenswég. Maére þéoden
 æþeling aérgod unblíðe sæt·
 þolode ðrýðswýð þegnsorge dréah
 syðþan híe þæs láðan lást scéawedon,

MODERN ENGLISH
 He then went to visit and see --when night
came--
 the high house how it, the Ring-Danes
 after the beer-feast, had occupied;
 he found then therein the nobles' company
 slumbering after the feast; they did not know
sorrow,
 misery of men; that damned creature,
 grim and greedy, soon was ready,
 savage and cruel and from their rest seized
 thirty thanes; thence back he went
 proud in plunder to his home, faring
 with the banquet of bodies to seek his shelter.
 Then was in the dark of dawn before the day
 Grendle's war-might revealed to the men;
 GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS
WORD AS USED IN THE TEXT ANALYSIS, NOTES Explanations and Etymology VARIATION OF MODERN
ENGLISH

niht Noun, feminine Old English niht (West night

athematic. night.nom.NIH Saxon neaht,
T Anglian næht,
(genitive nihte,
dative niht),

fand (ġe)fandian, class 2 weak Old English findan find

verb.
Infin. Sing.fandin ; (class III
strong verb; past
tense fand, past
participle funden)

faran class 6 strong Old English faran from go

verb. travel; go. Proto-Germanic *faran
Inf.sing. faran.pl faraþ
 COMMENTARY
 PRONUCIATION
 No one knows exactly how Old English sounded, for no native speakers survive
to inform us.
 When we speak of vowel length in Old English, we are speaking of duration,
that is, how long it takes to pronounce a vowel. Vowel length (that is, duration)
is significant in Old English because it does make a difference in the meanings
of words. For example, Old English is means ‘is’ while īs means ‘ice’, ac means
‘but’ while āc means ‘oak’, and ġe means ‘and’ while ġē means ‘you’ (plural). The
significance of length means that the macrons that appear in the texts you will
be reading are not there only as guides to pronunciation, but also to help you
decide what words mean. If you absent-mindedly read mǣġ ‘kinsman’
as mæġ ‘may’, you will never figure out the meaning of the sentence you are
reading.
 Most Old English consonants are pronounced as in Modern English.
 All Old English words are accented on the first syllable, except that words
beginning with the prefix ġe- are accented on the second syllable, and verbs
beginning with prefixes are accented on the next syllable after the prefix.
MIDDLE
ENGLISH
CANTERBURY TALES BY
G. CHAUCER

The Cook’s Prologue and

Tale
The Cook’s Prologue and Tale
 The Cook particularly enjoys the Reeve’s Tale, and offers to tell
another funny tale. The tale concerns an apprentice named
Perkin who drinks and dances so much that he is called “Perkyn
Reveler.” Finally, Perkin’s master decides that he would rather his
apprentice leave to revel than stay home and corrupt the other
servants. Perkin arranges to stay with a friend who loves drinking
and gambling, and who has a wife who is a prostitute. The tale
breaks off, unfinished, after fifty-eight lines.
 The pilgrimage begins in April, a time of happiness and rebirth.
They pilgrims hope not only to travel in this blessed time, but to
have a rebirth of their own along the way. The pilgrimage
consists of these characters journeying to Canterbury and back,
each telling two tales in each direction, as suggested by the host.
At the conclusion of the tales, the host will decide whose story is
the best.
The Cook’s Prologue and Tale
MIDDLE ENGLISH
 The cook of londoun, whil the reve spak,
For joye him thoughte he clawed him on the
bak.
Ha! ha! quod he, for cristes passion,
This millere hadde a sharp conclusion
Upon his argument of herbergage!
 Wel seyde salomon in his langage,
-- Ne bryng nat every man into thyn hous; --
For herberwynge by nyghte is perilous.
 Wel oghte a man avysed for to be
 Whom that he broghte into his pryvetee.
I pray to god, so yeve me sorwe and care
If evere, sitthe I highte hogge of ware,
Herde I a millere bettre yset a-werk.
MODERN ENGLISH

 The cook from London, while the reeve yet
spoke,
Patted his back with pleasure at the joke.
"Ha, ha!" laughed he, "by Christ's great
suffering,
This miller had a mighty sharp ending
Upon his argument of harborage!
For well says Solomon, in his language,
'Bring thou not every man into thane house;'
For harboring by night is dangerous.
Well ought a man to know the man that he
Has brought into his own security.
I pray God give me sorrow and much care
If ever, since I have been Hodge of Ware,
Heard I of miller better brought to mark.
A wicked jest was played him in the dark.
But God forbid that we should leave off here;
And therefore, if you'll lend me now an ear,
From what I know, who am but a poor man,
I will relate, as well as ever I can,
A little trick was played in our city."

GRAMMATICAL ANALYSIS
Word from the text Analysis and etymology ME variation

joye "feeling of pleasure and delight;", pleasure

"source of pleasure or happiness,"
from Latin gaudia, plural
of gaudium"joy,"
from gaudere "rejoice," from PIE
root *gau- "to rejoice"
londoun chief city and capital of England, London
Latin Londinium often explained as
"place belonging to a man named
Londinos," a supposed Celtic
personal name meaning "the wild
one," ".
sorwe Old English sorgian, sorrow
from sorg : Sorrowed; sorrowing.
Compare Dutch zorgen,
German sorgen, Gothic saurgan.
 COMMENTARY
 Many OE words have Germanic origin as we know there were great
influence of Germanic dialects, Norse influence is great ,Latin
borrowings ,so English is considered a borrowing language. It belongs
to Germanic groups of languages. Some differences:
 ME-leik OE- lak MOE-ness
 ME-fraa OE-fram MoE-from a>o
 By default, the letters /th/ and /f/ are voiceless like in "thing" and
"fish". They are only voiced (like "this" and "of") between two vowels:
 ferne, fowles, forward, oft VS. fyfe, ofer, efer
The /k/ is pronounced in word initial /kn/:
 knight (or kniht)
 Long /o/ sometimes sounds like "boo" and other times like British
"rock" (both for a slightly longer time). Short /o/ always sounds like the
/o/ in British "rock"
EARLY MODERN
ENGLISH
W. SHAKESPEARE
SONNET 130
 SONNET 130
EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
 My Miſtres eyes are nothing like the
Sunne,
Currall is farre more red,then her lips red,
If ſnow be white,why then her breſts are
dun:
If haires be wiers,black wiers grow on her
head:
I haue ſeene Roſes damaskt,red and white,
But no ſuch Roſes ſee I in her cheekes,
And in ſome perfumes is there more
delight,
Then in the breath that from my Miſtres
reekes.
I loue to heare her ſpeake,yet well I know,
That Muſicke hath a farre more pleaſing
ſound:
I graunt I neuer ſaw a goddeſſe goe,
My Miſtres when ſ hee walkes treads on the
groun d.
And yet by heauen I thinke my loue as
rare,
As any ſ he beli'd with falſe compare.
PARAPHRASE
 My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
Coral is far more red, than her lips red:
If snow be white, why then her breasts are
dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her
head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress
reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound:
I grant I never saw a goddess go,
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the
ground:
And yet by heaven, I think my love as rare,
As any she belied with false compare
 ANALYSIS
 dun: a dull brownish gray.
roses damasked, red and white : This line is possibly an allusion to
the rose known as the York and Lancaster variety, which the House of
Tudor adopted as its symbol after the War of the Roses. The York and
Lancaster rose is red and white streaked, symbolic of the union of the
Red Rose of Lancaster and the White Rose of York. Shakespeare
mentions the damask rose often in his plays.
 than the breath...reeks : i.e., than in the breath that comes out of
(reeks from) my mistress.
 rare : special.
 belied: misrepresented.
 with false compare: i.e., by unbelievable, ridiculous comparisons
 But no such roses see I in her cheeks
 gives an illustration of a beauty literally portrayed according to the
extravagant conceits of the time.
 COMMENTARY
 96 of Shakespeare’s sonnets contain rhymes which do not
work in MoE. The divergence cannot be explained by
invoking a notion of visual rhyme, but only by recognizing
the phonological changes that have taken place between
Early Modern English and Modern English.
 There are 3 possible explanations for these problems. 1.
Shakespeare was not as good a poet as we thought,
especially when it comes to finding rhymes. 2. Shakespeare
is making copious use of visual rhymes. 3. The
pronunciation of certain words has changed between Early
Modern English and today, so that these lines would have
rhymed in Shakespeare’s times.
 The last words
 Shakespeare expanded the vocabulary of English
language. Moreover, he invented around 1700 words
that we use today by adding suffixes and prefixes and
changing the nouns into verbs and verbs into
adjectives. This gave a new shape to the English
language. He played an important role in modernizing
English with new phrases that are quoted to date. He
coined 135 new phrases in English which are still in
use.