Content. Introduction chapter. I. The Middle English and the Modern English Periods

Thе thеmе оf thе cоursе work is about Evolution of English grammatical system 11-18 centuries.
Thе аim оf thе cоursе is tо an exploration of Evolution of English grammatical system 11-18 centuries.
The topicality of the work is to learn about Evolution of English grammatical system 11-18 centuries.
Thе tаsks оf thе invеstigаtiоn includе:

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  Tо givе infоrmаtiоn аbоut grammatical system 11-18 centuries.
  

Thе оbjеct оf thе cоursе of study is tо Exploring grammatical system 11-18 centuries
Thе subjеct оf thе cоursе work is tо cоnduct rеsеаrch аbоut The Middle English and the Modern English Periods
Thе mаin lаnguаgе mаtеriаl оf thе rеsеаrch work hаs bееn gаthеrеd frоm thе litеrаry wоrks оf vаriоus аuthоrs аnd intеrnеt sоurcе. Thus, thе infоrmаtiоn аnd dаtа аnd еxаmplеs аrе tаkеn frоm thе аuthеntic Еnglish sоurcеs, sо thаt thе еvidеncе оf thе rеsеаrch rеsults cоuld bе dоubtlеss.
Thе cоursе pаpеr includеs: intrоductiоn, 2 chаptеrs, cоnclusiоn аnd references.

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  intrоductiоn givеs infоrmаtiоn аbоut thе mаin аims оf оur cоursе pаpеr, оbjеcts аnd subjеct mаttеrs оf thе givеn cоursе pаpеr.
  
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  chаptеr I includеs infоrmаtiоn The Middle English and the Modern English Periods ;
  
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  chаptеr II аlsо includеs EVOLUTION OF THE GRAMMATICAL SYSTEM FROM THE 11TH TO 18TH C;
  
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  cоnclusiоn will еnd thе cоursе pаpеr by giving gеnеrаl, privаtе оpiniоn rеgаrding thе prоcеss оf prеpаring cоursе pаpеr.
  
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  list оf usеd litеrаturе includеs thе nаmеs оf thе bооks аnd mаgаzinеs thаt I utilizеd during thе rеsеаrch.
  

CHAPTER.I. The Middle English and the Modern English Periods
1.1. Development of the Classical Middle English
Historical Background of the development of English from the 11th to the 15th с.
The Old English period in the history of the language corresponds to the traditional stage from the slave-owing and tribal system to the feudal system in the history of Britain. In the 11^th century feudalism was already well established. According to the survey made in late 11^th century slaves and freeman were declining classes. The majority of the agricultural population was bound to their lord and land. Under natural economy, characteristic of feudalism, most of the things needed for the life of the lord and the villain were produced on the estate. Feudal manors were separated from their neighbours by tolls, local feuds, and various restrictions concerning settlement, travelling and employment. These historical conditions produced a certain influence on the development of the language. In Early Middle English the difference between the regional dialects grew. Never in history was the historical background more favourable for dialectical differentiation. The main dialectal division in England goes back to the feudal stage of British history. It survived in later ages with some slight modification of boundaries and considerable dialect mixture. In the age of poor communication dialect boundaries often coincided with geographical barriers such as rivers, marshes, forests and mountains. These barriers would hinder the diffusion of linguistic features. In addition to economic, geographical and social conditions, dialectal differences in Early Middle English were accentuated by some historical events, namely the Scandinavian invasion and the Norman Conquest. Though the Scandinavian invasion of England is dated in the Old English period, its effect on the language is particular apparent in Middle English. In the areas of the heaviest settlement the Scandinavians outnumbered the Anglo=Saxon population. This fact is attested by geographical names. Altogether more than 1,400 English villages and towns bear names of Scandinavian origin with the element –thorp, meaning "village" (Woodthorp, Linthorp); with the element –toft, meaning "a piece of land" (Brimtoft, Lowestoft). Probably in many districts people became bilingual, with either Old Norse or English prevailing. Eventually the Scandinavians were absorbed into the local population both ethnically and linguistically. They merged with the society around them, but the impact on the linguistic situation and on the further development of the English language was quite profound.
In the battle of Hastings fought in October 1066, Harold Godwin King of England was killed and the English were defeated. This date is commonly known as the date of the Norman Conquest, though the military occupation of the country was not completed within a few years later. The Norman Conquest was not only a great event in British political history, but also the greatest single event in the history if the English language. Its earliest effect was a drastic change in the linguistic situation. The Norman Conquest of England had originally come from Scandinavia. About one hundred and fifty years before they had seized the valley of the Seine and settled in what was henceforth known as Normandy. They were swiftly assimilated by the French and in the 11^th century came to Britain as French speakers and bearers of French culture. They spoke the Norman dialect of French. It differed in some points from Central, Parisian French. Their tongue in Britain is often referred to as "Anglo-French" or "Anglo-Norman". But it may just as well be called French, since we are less concerned here with the distinction of French dialects than with the continuous French influence upon English, both in the Norman period of history and a long while after the Anglo-Norman language had ceased to exist.
Linguistic Situation
The most immediate consequences of the Norman domination in Britain are to be seen in the wide use of the French language in many spheres of life. For almost for three hundred years French was the official language of administration. It was the language of the king's court, the law court, the church, the army and the castle. It was also the everyday language of many nobles, of the higher clergy and of many towns-people in the South. The intellectual life, literature and education were in the hands of French-speaking people. French, alongside Latin, was the language of writing. Teaching was largely conducted in French and boys at school were taught to translate their Latin into French instead of English. For all that, England never stopped being an English-speaking country. The bulk of population held fast to their own tongue. They continued to speak English and looked upon French as foreign and hostile. Since most of the people were illiterate, the English language was almost exclusively used for spoken communication. At first the two languages existed side by side without mingling. Then they began to permeate each other. The Norman barons and the French town-dwellers had to pick up English words to make them understood, while the English began to use French words in current speech. A good knowledge of French would mark a person of higher standing giving him a certain social prestige. Probably people became bilingual and had a fair command of both languages.
These peculiar linguistic conditions could not remained static. The struggle between French and English was bound to end in the complete victory of English, for English was the living language of the entire people, while French was restricted to certain social spheres and to writing. Yet, the final victory was still a long way off. In the 13^th century only a few steps were made in that direction. The earliest sign of the official recognition of English by the Norman kings was the famous Proclamation issued by Henry III in 1258 to the councilors in Parliament. It was written in three languages: French, Latin and English.
The early French borrowings reflect accurately the spheres of Norman influence upon English life. Later borrowings can be attributed to the continued cultural, economic and political contacts between the countries. The French influence added new features to the regional and social differentiation of the language. New words coming from French could not be adopted simultaneously by all the speakers of English. They were first used in some varieties of the language, namely in the regional dialects of Southern England and in the speech of the upper classes, but they were unknown in the other varieties. This led to growing dialectal differences, regional and social. The use of a foreign tongue as the state language, the diversity of the dialects and the decline of the written form of English created a situation extremely favourable for increased variation and for more intensive linguistic change.
"Classical" Middle English
The flourishing of literature marks the second half of the 14^th century. Apart from its cultural significance it testifies to be the complete reestablishment of English as the language of writing. Some authors wrote in their local dialect from outside London, but most of them used the London dialect, or forms of the language combining London and provincial traits. Towards the end of the century the London dialect had become the principal type of language used in literature. It was a sort of literary "pattern" to be imitated by provincial authors. The literary texts of the late 14^th century preserved in numerous manuscripts, belong to a variety of genres. Translations continued, but original compositions were produced in abundance. Poetry was more prolific than prose. This period of literary florescence is known as the "Age of Chaucer", the greatest name in English literature before Shakespeare. Other writers are referred to as "Chaucer's contemporaries". Chaucer wrote in a dialect which in the main coincided with that used in documents produced in London shortly before his time and for a long time after. Although he did not really create the literary language, as a poet of outstanding talent he made better use of it than his contemporaries. He set up a pattern to be followed in the 15^th century. His poems were copied so many times that over sixty manuscripts of "The Canterbury Tales" have survived to this day. Chaucer's books were among the first to be printed, a hundred years after their composition. Chaucer's literary language based on the mixed (largely East Midland) London dialect is known as classical Middle English. In the 15^th and 16^th centuries it became the basis of the National literary English language.
Economic and political unification. Conditions for linguistic unity
The formation of the national literary English language covers the Early New English period (1475-1660). There were at least two major external factors, which favoured the rise of the national language and literary standards: the unification of the country and the progress of culture.
Other historical events, such as increased foreign contacts, affected the language in a sell general way. They influenced the growth of the vocabulary. As early as the 13^th century within the feudal system new economic relations began to take shape. The 15^th and the 16^th centuries saw other striking changes in the life of the country. While feudal relations were decaying, bourgeois relations and the capitalist mode of production were developing rapidly. Trade had extended beyond the local boundaries. In addition to farming and cattle-breeding an important wool industry was carried on in the countryside. Britain began to export woolen cloth produced by the first big enterprises, "the manufactures". The new nobility, who traded in wool, fused with the rich townspeople to form a new class, the bourgeoisie, while the evicted farmers, the poor artisans and monastic servants turned into farm labourers, wage workers and paupers.
The change in the economic and social conditions led to the intermixture of people who came from different regions and to strengthening of social toes between the various parts of the country. Economic and social changes were accompanied by political unification. In the last quarter of the 15^th century England became a centralized state. The economic and political unification played a decisive role in the development of the English language. All over the world the victory of capitalism over feudalism was linked up with the consolidation of people into nations, with the formation of national languages and the growth of super dialect forms of language to be used as a national standard. The rise of capitalism helped to knit together the people and to unify their language.
Progress of culture. Introduction of printing
The 15^th and the 16^th centuries in Western Europe are marked by a renewed interest in classical art and literature and by a general efflorescence of culture. The rise of a new vigorous social class – the bourgeoisie – proved an enormous stimulus to the progress of learning, science, literature and art. The Universities at Oxford and Cambridge became the centers of new humanistic learning. Education had ceased to be the privilege of the clergy. It spread to laymen and people of lower social ranks. After the reformation teachers and tutors could be laymen as well as clergymen. As before, the main subject in schools was Latin. The English language was labeled as "a rude and barren tongue", fit only to serve as an instrument in teaching Latin. Scientific and philosophical treatises were written in Latin. Latin was not only the language of the church but also the language of philosophy and science. The influence of classical languages on English grew and was reflected in the enrichment of the vocabulary.
The invention of printing was one of the outstanding achievements of this great age. It had the most immediate effect on the development of the language, its written form in particular. Printing was then called "artificial writing". It was invented in Germany in 1438 by Johann Gutenberg. The first printer of English books was William Caxton (1422-1491). William Caxton was born in Kent. In 1441 he moved to Flanders, where he spent over three decades of his life. During a visit to Cologne he learned the method of printing and in 1475 opened up his own printing press in Bruges (Belgium). The first English book printed in Bruges in 1475 was Caxton's translation of the story of Troy "Recuyell of the Histories of Troye". A few years later he brought his press to England and set up in Westminster, not far outside the city of London. All in all about one hundred books were issued by his press and about a score of them were either translated or edited by Caxton. Among the earliest publications were the poems of Chaucer, still the most popular poet in England, the poems of Gower, the compositions of Lydgate, the most voluminous poet of the age, and others.
Both Caxton and his associates took a great interest in the works of medieval literature. In preparing the manuscripts for publication Caxton and his successors edited them so as to bring them into conformity with the London form of English used by their contemporaries. In doing this they sometimes distorted the manuscripts considerably. Their corrections enable us to see some of the linguistic changes that had occurred since the time when the texts were first written. It is difficult to overestimate the influence of the first printers in fixing and spreading the London literary English. The London literary English was established since "the age of Chaucer" and slightly modified in accordance with the linguistic change that had taken place during the intervening hundred years. Cheap printed books became available to a greater number of readers and the London form of speech was carried to other written works produced all over England.
Foreign contacts and expansion of English
The Tudors encouraged the development of trade inside and outside the country. The great geographical discoveries (beginning with the discovery of the New World in 1492) gave a new impetus to the progress of foreign trade. English set forth on daring journeys in search of gold and treasures. Under the late Tudors England became one of the biggest trade and sea powers.
The main events of the reign of Queen Elizabeth (1558-1603) were connected with the rise of merchant capital. Ousting their rivals from many markets England became involved in the political struggle of the European countries for supremacy. Most complicated were its relations with France, Spain and Portugal. In 1588 England defeated the Spanish fleet, the Invincible Armada, thus dealing a final blow to Spain, its main rival in overseas trade and in colonial expansion. In the late 16^th century England founded its first colonies abroad. The contacts of England with foreign nations, although not necessarily friendly, became closer, which had an inevitable influence on the growth of the vocabulary. As Britain consolidated into a single powerful state, it extended its borders to include Wales, Scotland and part of Ireland. By the end of the Early New English period the area of English had expanded to embrace the whole of the British Isles with the exception of some mountainous parts of Wales and Scotland, the Isle of Man, Cornwall, and some parts of Ireland, - though even in most of these regions the people were becoming bilingual.
Establishment of the Written Standards
Towards the end of Early New English, that is by the middle of the 17^th century, one of the forms of the national literary language – its Written Standard – had probably been established. Its growth and recognition as the correct or "prestige" form of the language of writing had been brought about by the factors: the economic and political unification of the country, the progress of culture and education and the flourishing of literature. In the 15^th and the 16^th centuries the speech of London became still more mixed owing to increased intermixture of the population. The capital attracted newcomers from different regions of the country. Elements of various provincial dialects were incorporated in the spoken and written forms of London speech. The written Standard of the early 17^th century was, however, far less stabilized and normalized than the literary standards of later ages.
The writings of the Renaissance display a wide range of variations at all linguistic levels: in spelling, in the sphere of grammatical forms and word-building devices, in syntactical patterns and in choice and use of words. Variants are employed as equivalents or "near-equivalents" without any noticeable dialectal or stylistic connotations, although they may have originated from different localities, social groups or literary genres. This linguistic "freedom" is accounted for by the wide social and geographical foundation of the literary language, by broad contacts of the literary language with folklore and oral speech, and by the increased amount of written matter produced. They were scientific and philosophical compositions, letters and diaries, poetry and literary prose, drama and official papers.
The existence of prestige form of English in Early New English, which may be regarded as a sort of Standard, is confirmed by some statements of contemporary scholars. The victory of English over French in the sphere of belles-letters was already a matter of the past. But its rivalry with Latin in the sphere of science, philosophy, and didactics continued during the Renaissance period. It is note worthy that writers used to preface their work with explanations why they chose to write in English instead of Latin.
The age of literary Renaissance, which enriched the language in many ways and was marked by great linguistic freedom, was followed by the period of "normalization" or a period of "fixing the language". This age set great store by correctness and simplicity of expressions. The language of Shakespeare and his contemporaries struck the authors the authors of the late 17^th century as rude and unpolished, though neo-classicists never reached the heights of the Renaissance writers. The 18^th century is remarkable for deliberate attempts to fix the language and interfere with its evolution. Among the exponents of this movement were the writer J.Swift (1667-1745), the founders of the first English newspaper R.Steele and J.Addison, the authors of prescriptive English grammar and the great 18^th century lexicographers.
The grammars of the 18^th century were influenced both by the descriptions of classical languages and by the principles of logic. They wished to present language as a strictly logical system. The main purpose of these grammars was to formulate rules based on logical considerations and to present them as fixed and obligatory. Grammars were designed to restrict and direct linguistic change. This type of grammars is known as "prescriptive" or "normative" grammars. The grammars and dictionaries of the 18^th century succeeded in formulating the rules of usage, partly from observation but largely from the "doctrine of correctness", and laid them down as norms to be taught as patterns of correct English. Codification of norms of usage by means of conscious efforts on the part of man helped in standardizing the language and in fixing its Written and Spoken Standards. The Written Standard had probably been fixed and recognized by the beginning of the 17^th century.
The next stage in the growth of the national literary language was the development of the spoken Standard. The dating of this event appears to be more problematic. It seems obvious that in the 18^th century the speech of educated people differed from that of common, uneducated people – in pronunciation, in the choice of words and in grammatical construction. The number of educated people was growing and their way of speaking was regarded as correct. The earliest feasible date for the emergence of the Spoken Standard is the late 17^th century. Some authors refer it to the end of the "normalization" period. The latter date 9the end of the 18^th century) seems to be more realistic, as by that time current usage had been subjected to conscious regulation and had become more uniform. The rules formulated in the prescriptive grammars and dictionaries must have had their effect not only on the written but also on the spoken forms of the language. The spoken forms, even when standardized, were never as stable as the Written Standard. Oral speech changed under the influence of sub-standard forms of the language, more easily than the written forms. Thus by the end of the 18^th century the formation of the national literary English language may be regarded as complete, for now it possessed both a Written and a Spoken Standards.