Thursday, May 22, 2008
Assignment 15-16
I think the most important thing that happened to Middle English in this chapter was the immense growth of the lexicon. This includes word borrowing, as well as using methods such as compounding and affixing to create new words originally. The thing that I found most interesting and would like to learn more about is the dialectical situation. Why did the Norman Conquest contribute to the increased division of dialectical features and why were dialects so different among each of the areas? I would also like to learn more about the Wycliffite translation of the Bible, and how that came about. I think it's really interesting that sacred texts were so prolific during this period, especially since it is considered the time of the Apostasy and the Dark Ages, which usually seems somewhat godless or without religion.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The Norman Conquest contributed to an already diverse dialectal situation in England. The West Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, Frisian) were already speaking different dialects. They merged with the invading North Germanic tribes (Danish and Norse Vikings). The Normans were ethnically Norse and linguistically Vulgate Latin. In other words, William the Conqueror had Scandinavian roots, Anglo-Saxon ties, and yet was speaking proto-French as a second language. The dialectal diversity was also enhanced by geography. Certain tribes settled in specific areas and mixed with Welsh, Scots, and Gaelic substrata dialects.
The Wycliffe Bible tradition originated with Martin Luther's bold move to translate the Bible into German as part of the Reformation. Then Gutenberg of Germany invented the printing press and printed the Bible before any other book. That made the Bible even more available to the general public. Once ordinary people were able to read the Bible in German, people like Wycliffe wanted to translate it into English. The best place to learn is the book Wide As the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution It Inspired by Benson Bobrick.
Post a Comment