Middle English 1

1204 - 1348            

1348 – 1457          

1066 – 1204      

1166 – 1248 

break with the Norman tradition of allegiance to the Roman church

decay of Anglo-Saxon traditions

invention of the printing machine by William Caxton

Black Death 

Norman invasion

invention of the printing machine

separation of French and English nobility

Eastern

Western

Northern

Southern

Midland

Central

Eastern                    

Western                 

Northern                                   

Southern                   

Central

Midland                     

Eastern                    

Western                 

Northern                                   

Southern                   

Central

Midland                     

a dialectal variant of English having specific features 

a written form of English used by government bureaucracy and for other official purposes from the late 14th century

the original language of Geoffrey Chaucer

the East Midland dialect

the Southern dialect

the Northern dialect 

þ is sporadically replaced by -w

þ is sporadically replaced by -th

ρ is sporadically replaced by -w

ρ is sporadically replaced by - uu

ρ is sporadically replaced by - th

ʒ is replaced by –g

ʒ is replaced by –z

æ is replaced by a 

appearance of long –s symbol

gh instead of h[х]

ch instead of cʒ

introduction of French letters k, z, v and j

sc turned into dʒ

hw turned into wh

kn cluster lost the first phoneme

prefix ge- lost initial consonant and was reduced to y or i

a word in which -u was replaced by -o

a phenomena of changing –u for –o which took place in front of – u, m, v, w (uu)

short vertical stroke of a pen which in adjacent position is difficult to read

u replaced by ou 

ʒ palatal merged with the preceding front vowel into a diphthong

disappearance of schwa - Ə

complete loss of final -e

disappearance of diphthong –[oi]

lengthening of short vowels before certain consonant clusters –ld, -nd, –mb, etc.

changing - er for - ar

Scandinavian dialects bordering with English in 9-11th c.

French influence

change of linguistic thinking