Study Questions and Exercises
- Describe the basic features of Early Modern English,
providing examples to illustrate its pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar,
and written form. In what important ways is Modern English different from
Middle English? What factors led to the changes that took place in the
language?
- Describe the development of printing in England. What
impact did this development have on the English language?
- Describe the growth of the English lexicon during this
period. What factors led to this growth?
- In what ways do William Shakespeare's plays and the King
James Bible illustrate the fluid state of the language in the early 1600s?
- Analyze a passage from one of William Shakespeare's plays.
What can we learn about the characters and their relationships from their
use of "you" and "thou"?
- Trace the history and impact of dictionaries from Samuel
Johnson's Dictionary (1755) to Joseph Worcester's A Dictionary
of the English Language(1860).
- From 449 to almost 1500, the English language largely
evolved freely, responding to changes that speakers and writers made unconsciously.
After 1475, however, people such as William Caxton, Jonathan Swift, and
Noah Webster had some successes--and some failures--in trying to shape
the language deliberately. Describe the efforts of these and other language
reformers in the Modern English era and evaluate their success.
- Analyze a literary work by George Eliot, Henry James,
or another novelist from the 19th century. Identify a passage that, because
of an archaic lexical or syntactic feature, might confuse or mislead a
modern reader. Translate the passage into the form of English spoken today.
You may need to refer to the Oxford English Dictionary or another
reference work. Explain how understanding this passage helps us to interpret
the work as a whole.
- In what ways did the English language change in America
in the 18th and 19th centuries? Explain the factors that brought about
these changes.
- Describe the way English has evolved in a country other
than the United States or England. What factors shaped this evolution?
Bibliography
- Crystal, David. "Early Modern English." The
Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1995. 56-74.
- ---. "Modern English." The Cambridge Encyclopedia
of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
75-91.
- ---. "World English." The Cambridge Encyclopedia
of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
92-115.
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People
- William Caxton
- William Tyndale
- William Shakespeare
- Quakers
- Samuel Johnson
- Robert Lowth
- Lindley Murray
- Noah Webster
Places
- London
- United States
- Canada
- Australia
- New Zealand
- South Africa
- India
Works
- The King James Bible
- First Folio
- Short Introduction to English Grammar
- English Grammar
- American Spelling Book
- An American Dictionary of the English Language
Terms
- Early Modern English
- inkhorn words
- borrowing
- printing press
- idiom
- archaism
- punctuation
- mechanics
- Modern English
- lexicographer
- prescriptive grammar
- descriptive grammar
- Standard English
Chronology
1476: Caxton establishes first
printing press in England
1607: English settle Jamestown, Virginia
1611: King James Bible published
1755: Johnson completes his dictionary |