5 General survey of grammar changes in Middle English

Grammar system of the language on the Middle English underwent radical changes. As we remember the principal means of expressing grammatical relations in Old English were the following:

• suffixation

• -vowel interchange

• - use of suppletive forms

• All these means being synthetic

In Middle English and New English many grammatical notions formerly expressed synthetically either disappeared from the grammar system of the language or came to be expressed by analytical means.

There developed the use of analytical forms consisting of a form word and a notional word, also word order, special use of prepositions, etc. – analytical means.

In Middle English and New English we observe the process of gradual loss of declension by many parts of speech, formerly declined. Thus in Middle English there remained only three declined parts of speech: the noun, the pronoun and the adjectives, against five existing in Old English (plus the infinitive and participle).

In New English the noun and the pronoun are the only parts of speech that are declined.

6 Grammatical categories

There are only two grammatical categories in the declension of nouns: number and case, the category of gender having been lost at the beginning of the Middle English period.

Number

There are two number forms: Singular and Plural

fisc – fiscas fish

stan – stanas stone

Case

The number of cases in Middle English is reduced. There are only two cases: Common and Genitive.

Common – stōn Genitive – stōnes

7 Vocabulary

General characteristics

An analysis of the vocabulary shows great instability and constant, and rapid change. Many words became obsolete, and if preserved, then only in some dialects, many appeared in the rapidly developing language to reflect the ever-changing life of the speakers and under the influence of contacts with other nations.

The principal means of enriching vocabulary in Middle English are not internal, but external – borrowings. Scandinavian and French- were two languages which enriched the vocabulary.

• Scandinavian Borrowings

Due to contacts between the Scandinavian and the English-speaking people many words were borrowed from the Scandinavian language.

Nouns: law, fellow, sky, skirt, skill, skin, egg, anger, bloom, knife, bull, cake, husband,

Leg, wing, guest, loan, race

Adjectives: big, week, wrong, ugly, twin

Verbs: call, cast, take, happen, scare, want, gape, kindle

• French borrowings

French borrowings mainly connected with the social and political spheres of life.

• government and legislature:

government, noble, baron, prince, duke, court, justice, judge, crime, prison, sentence, parliament, etc.

-military life:

army, battle, peace, banner, victory, general, colonel, major, etc.

• religion:

religion, prey, saint, charity

• city crafts:

painter, tailor, carpenter

• pleasure and entertainment:

music, art, feast, pleasure, leisure, supper, dinner, pork, beef, mutton,

• words of everyday life:

air, place, river, large, age, boil, branch, brush, catch, chain, chair, table, choice, cry, cost

-relationship

Aunt, uncle, nephew, cousin

Compare English and French variants preserved and stylistically different:

English French

to begin to abandon

life existence

look regard

ship vessel

English-French hybrids:

fulfillment, amazement,

readable, eatable, unbearable