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Chapter 2: Middle English: Overview

  • Jeremy J. Smith
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Volume 3 Middle English
This chapter is in the book Volume 3 Middle English

Abstract

Middle English is the period in the history of English when variation is most thoroughly recorded in the spoken mode, and the body of surviving material is very large. In this chapter, the extralinguistic reasons for the survival of variation in Middle English are given, focusing on the relationship between linguistic form and socio-cultural function. Middle English has come down to us directly through manuscripts, and indirectly through reconstruction and through the study of residualisms in Present-day English; the reliability of the evidence for Middle English is assessed. Each level of language in turn is then discussed: writing- and speech-systems (= transmission), grammar, and lexicon. New resources (especially online) for the study of Middle English are flagged, offering exciting possibilities for future research. The aim of the chapter is to offer both a characterization of Middle English itself and a sketch of the resources available for its study.

Abstract

Middle English is the period in the history of English when variation is most thoroughly recorded in the spoken mode, and the body of surviving material is very large. In this chapter, the extralinguistic reasons for the survival of variation in Middle English are given, focusing on the relationship between linguistic form and socio-cultural function. Middle English has come down to us directly through manuscripts, and indirectly through reconstruction and through the study of residualisms in Present-day English; the reliability of the evidence for Middle English is assessed. Each level of language in turn is then discussed: writing- and speech-systems (= transmission), grammar, and lexicon. New resources (especially online) for the study of Middle English are flagged, offering exciting possibilities for future research. The aim of the chapter is to offer both a characterization of Middle English itself and a sketch of the resources available for its study.

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Abbreviations VII
  4. Chapter 1: Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 2: Middle English: Overview 8
  6. Chapter 3: Phonology 29
  7. Chapter 4: Morphology 50
  8. Chapter 5: Syntax 76
  9. Chapter 6: Semantics and Lexicon 96
  10. Chapter 7: Pragmatics and Discourse 116
  11. Chapter 8: Dialects 134
  12. Chapter 9: Language Contact: Multilingualism 165
  13. Chapter 10: Language Contact: French 184
  14. Chapter 11: Standardization 205
  15. Chapter 12: Middle English Creolization 224
  16. Chapter 13: Sociolinguistics 239
  17. Chapter 14: Literary Language 261
  18. Chapter 15: The Language of Chaucer 292
  19. Index 307
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110525328-002

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Abbreviations VII
  4. Chapter 1: Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 2: Middle English: Overview 8
  6. Chapter 3: Phonology 29
  7. Chapter 4: Morphology 50
  8. Chapter 5: Syntax 76
  9. Chapter 6: Semantics and Lexicon 96
  10. Chapter 7: Pragmatics and Discourse 116
  11. Chapter 8: Dialects 134
  12. Chapter 9: Language Contact: Multilingualism 165
  13. Chapter 10: Language Contact: French 184
  14. Chapter 11: Standardization 205
  15. Chapter 12: Middle English Creolization 224
  16. Chapter 13: Sociolinguistics 239
  17. Chapter 14: Literary Language 261
  18. Chapter 15: The Language of Chaucer 292
  19. Index 307
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