Early Modern English

Early Modern English
English
Region	England, southern Scotland and British colonies
Extinct	developed into Modern English
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Anglo-Frisian Anglic Early Modern English
Language codes
ISO 639-1	en
ISO 639-3	–

Shakespeare's writings are universally associated with Early Modern English

Early Modern English refers to the stage of the English language used from about the end of the Middle English period (the latter half of the 15th century) to 1650. Thus, the first edition of the King James Bible and the works of William Shakespeare both belong to the late phase of Early Modern English, although the King James Bible intentionally keeps some archaisms that were not common even when it was published. Prior to and following the accession of James VI to the English throne the emerging English standard began to influence the spoken and written Middle Scots of Scotland. Current readers of English are generally able to understand Early Modern English, though occasionally with difficulties arising from grammar changes, changes in the meanings of some words, and spelling differences. The standardisation of English spelling falls within the Early Modern English period, and is influenced by conventions predating the Great Vowel Shift, explaining much of the non-phonetic spelling of contemporary Modern English.

Pronouns

In Early Modern English, there were two second-person personal pronouns: thou, the informal singular pronoun, and ye, which was both the plural pronoun and the formal singular pronoun (like modern French tu and vous or the German du and Sie). (Thou was already falling out of use in the Early Modern English period, but remained customary for addressing God and certain other solemn occasions, and sometimes for addressing inferiors.) Like other personal pronouns, thou and ye had different forms depending on their grammatical case; specifically, thou's objective form was thee, its possessive forms were thy and thine, and its reflexive or emphatic form was thyself, while ye's objective form was you, its possessive forms were your and yours, and its reflexive or emphatic forms were yourself and yourselves.

In other respects, the pronouns were much the same as today. One difference is that, much as a becomes an before a vowel, my and thy became mine and thine before vowels as well; hence, mine eyes, thine uncle, and so on.

Orthographic conventions

The orthography in Early Modern English was fairly similar to that of today, but spelling was phonetic and unstable; for example, the word acuity could be spelled either <acuity> or <acuitie>. Further, there were a number of features of spelling that have not been retained:

• The letter <S> had two distinct lowercase forms: <s> as today, and <ſ> (long s). The former was used at the end of a word, and the latter everywhere else, except that by the turn of the seventeenth century, double-lowercase-S was written <sſ> (instead of the older <ſſ>); hence earlier happineſſe and later happinesſe.
• <u> and <v> were not two distinct letters, but different forms of the same letter; <v> was used at the start of a word, and <u> in its interior; hence vnmoued (for modern unmoved), vſe (for use), and loue (for love).
• Latin-derived words that today end in <-al> often ended in <-all>; hence maternall, actuall.
• The capital letter <v> was written double for capital <w>; hence VVeather, VVhen.
• Due to French influence, a silent <e> was often appended to words. One-syllable words often doubled the last consonant before adding this <e>; hence ſpeake, cowarde, manne (for man), runne (for run).
• Also due to French influence, words that today end in <-ic> and <-ac> were often spelled with <-ique> or <-aque>. Later, these words began to be spelled with <-ick> or <-ack>; hence prophetique, zodiaque.
• Words and adjectives denoting a person's origin that today end in <-an> but not <-ian> were often written with <-ain> or <-aine>; hence Romain, Germaine.
• The sound /ʌ/ was often written <o>; hence ſommer, plombe (for modern summer, plumb).
• The pronouns me and ye were often written mee and yee, respectively (like thee).
• When, in poetry, the /ə/ of a preterite or past participle was dropped, the ending was written simply <-'d> or <-t>; hence touch'd, curſt.

Verbs

Verb conjugations in the "thou" form (second person informal singular) end in -(e)st (e.g. "thou takest"). In Early Modern English, third person singular conjugations end in -(e)th instead of -s (e.g. "he taketh"). Both the second person informal singular and third person singular lost their endings in the subjunctive, which utilizes the bare stem of the verb.

From Middle English to Early Modern English

The change from Middle English to Early Modern English was not just a matter of vocabulary or pronunciation changing: it was the beginning of a new era in the history of English.

The introduction of printing meant that more books were produced, and more people would have had access to books. People who already read books would have read a greater number of different books, and the average literate person's vocabulary would have been enlarged. Greater political stability and prosperity led to a flowering of lasting literature, which would have helped to stabilise the language and broaden its vocabulary. Greater prosperity would also have led to more trade, with people from different parts of England coming into contact with each other. English was used in church services, making the general population more familiar with a standard version of the language, rather than the liturgy being in Latin, which was completely incomprehensible to most people. The great differences between the Middle English dialects would have started to be ironed out to some extent.

An era of linguistic change in a language with large variations in dialect was replaced by a new era of a more standardised language with a richer lexicon and an established (and lasting) literature. Shakespeare's plays are familiar and comprehensible today, 400 years after they were written, but the works of Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland, written only 200 years earlier, are considerably more difficult for the average reader.

Timeline: Early Modern English

• 1476 — William Caxton starts printing in Westminster, but the language he uses reflects the variety of styles and dialects used by the authors whose work he prints.
• 1485 — Tudor dynasty established — start of period of (relative) political and social stability.
• 1491 or 1492 — Richard Pynson starts printing in London — his style tends to prefer Chancery Standard, the form of English used by government.
• c1509 — Pynson becomes the king's official printer.
• From 1525 — Publication of William Tyndale's Bible translation (which was initially banned).
• 1539 — Publication of the Great Bible, the first officially authorised Bible in English, edited by Myles Coverdale, largely from the work of Tyndale. This Bible is read to congregations regularly in churches, familiarising much of the population of England with a standard form of the language.
• 1549 — Publication of the first Book of Common Prayer in English, under the supervision of Thomas Cranmer. This book standardises much of the wording of church services.
• 1557 — Publication of Tottel's Miscellany.
• c1590 to c1612 — Shakespeare's plays written — they are still widely read and familiar in the 21st century.
• 1611 — The King James Bible is published, largely based on Tyndale's translation. It remains the standard Bible in the Church of England for many years.
• c1640–1660 — Period of social upheaval in England (the English Civil War and the era of Oliver Cromwell).
• 1662 — New edition of the Book of Common Prayer, largely based on the 1549 and subsequent editions. This also long remains a standard work in English.
• 1667 — Publication of Paradise Lost by John Milton.

From Early Modern to Modern English

The 17th century was a time of political and social upheaval in England, particularly the period from about 1640 to 1660. Certain forms of pronunciation or vocabulary may have lost or gained prestige, as parts of the upper echelons of society were replaced by people from lower classes. The increase in trade around the world meant that the English port towns (and their forms of speech) would have gained in influence over the old county towns. England experienced a new period of internal peace and relative stability, encouraging the arts including literature, from around the 1690s onwards. Another important episode in the development of the English language started around 1600: the British settlement of America.

See also

• Early Modern Britain
• History of the English language
• Middle English
• Modern English