Middelenglisc sprǣc

Þis gewrit hæfþ wordcwide on Nīwenglisce.

Middel Englisc spæcen Engla and Scottas in þæm middelyldum in missenlicum agansprǣcum, and man secgþ þe þisses gereordes ylde wæs þrēo hund gearena of þæm ende þæs 12. gearhund oþ þæs 15. gearhundes ende ac man ne mōt fæste bedælan Englisc sprǣc fram ǣrgeara Middelenglisc noððe Nīwu Englisc fram æfterweardum Middelenglisce and efne in Heanrices VIII Cyninges dæg fint man Middel Englisc scopcræft in Speke Parott þæm lēode þone wrāt Iohannes Skelton lārtēow and scop.

Middel Englisc grēow ūt Englisc sprǣc æfter þæm Norman tōcyme in 1066. Wīde wæs he gesprōcen þurh þære Plantagenetylde (1154–1485). Sēo Middelenglisc yld endode ymbe 1470, þæn scēaw 'Cancelere Seles Bysen', se wæs of Lundenes aganssprǣc, and begann to weardenne widespread æfter þe Willelm Caxton brōhtede þone printing press on Bryten. Be þissa ylde wæs Norþhymbra agansprǣc strang on Scottum and in norþernum Englaland and of him forþatyddrede Scotta Englisc and þone gereorde se todæg hæfþ his sceadwe on Geordie.

Æfter 1470 oþ 1650 wæs Engla gereord Early Modern English.

Frūma

Ǣr Normadiges cyningas wæs Englisc þæs cynelican hired þæs sprǣce gesprōcen on West Seaxum, oððæt ðe oft mōt man rēadan geweorcas on Miercena sprǣc. Middel Englisc wæs of manigum læppan, ac his gesetlede bysen in þæm cancelleres sele wæs of Miercum, and Westseaxena gereordes ierfan forþferde.

Scopas and writeras

Fēa Middel Englisc scopas cunnan we þæs 12. gearhundes oððe þæs and 13. gearhundes forþæm þe on þæm hired wrāt man on Lǣden oððe Frencisc. In þæm 14. gearhund arāsen scopas on him wæron Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and se ungenemneda Perl Scop. Chaucer wæs se mǣsta scop on Englacynn siððan Cynewulfes dæg.

Ēac þā Lollardas wrāt on hiera agansprǣce þe hie mōtan bringan Godes word þæm folce būtan Rōmes handum. Iohannes Wycliffe and Iohannes Purvey wrāten in swylce wīse.

In 1470 brōhtede Willelm Caxton ge þryccræft to Englalande and Chauceres Canterwaraburg Spellas (Tales of Caunterbury) geþrycede he in 1478.

History

Important texts for the reconstruction of the evolution of Middle English out of Old English are the Ormulum (12th century), the Ancrene Wisse and the Katherine Group (early 13th century) and Ayenbite of Inwyt (ca. 1340).

Gewrit on Middelenglisce

Ormulum, 12. gearhund

This passage explains the background to the Nativity:

Forrþrihht anan se time comm   þatt ure Drihhtin wollde ben borenn i þiss middellærd   forr all mannkinne nede he chæs himm sone kinnessmenn   all swillke summ he wollde and whær he wollde borenn ben   he chæs all att hiss wille.

Forþriht þæn cwōm þone tīm þe ūr Dryhten wolde bēo geboren in þissum middangearde for eallum mancynne sake@, cēas he sōna kinsmen, eall swylc he wolde, and þaer wolde he bēon geboren cēas he eall æt his wille.

(3494–501)

Epitaph of John the smyth, died 1371

Bysen:Further An epitaph from a monumental brass in an Oxfordshire parish church:

Original text man com & se how schal alle ded li: wen yolk comes bad & bare moth have ben ve awaẏ fare: All ẏs wermēs yt ve for care:— bot yt ve do for god ẏs luf ve haue nothyng yare: yis graue lẏs John ye smẏth god yif his soule hewn grit

Onwendod Man, cyme and sēo hū sceallon eall dēada menn liegan: þæn cymþ bad and bare, we have nothing when we away fare: all that we care for is worms:— except for that which we do for God's sake, we have nothing ready: under this grave lies John the smith, God give his soul heavenly peace

Wycliffes Biblioþece, 1384

From the Wycliffe's Bible, (1384):
Bysen:Quote

Chaucer, 1390s

The following is the beginning of the general Prologue from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. The text was written in a dialect associated with London and spellings associated with the then-emergent Chancery Standard.

Original in Middle English: Whan that Aprill, with his shoures soote The droghte of March hath perced to the roote And bathed every veyne in swich licour, Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open ye (So priketh hem Nature in hir corages); Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; And specially from every shires ende Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke That hem hath holpen, whan that they were seeke.

Onwended on Englisce: When in April the sweet showers fall And pierce the drought of March to the root, and all The veins are bathed in liquor of such power As brings about the engendering of the flower, When also Zephyrus with his sweet breath Exhales an air in every grove and heath Upon the tender shoots, and the young sun His half course in the sign of the Ram has run And the small fowl are making melody That sleep away the night with open eye, (So nature pricks them and their heart engages) Then folk long to go on pilgrimages, And palmers long to seek the stranger strands Of far off saints, hallowed in sundry lands, And specially from every shires' end Of England, down to Canterbury they wend The holy blissful martyr, quick To give his help to them when they were sick

Gower, 1390

The following is the beginning of the Prologue from Confessio Amantis by John Gower.

Original in Middle English: Of hem that writen ous tofore The bokes duelle, and we therfore Ben tawht of that was write tho: Forthi good is that we also In oure tyme among ous hiere Do wryte of newe som matiere, Essampled of these olde wyse So that it myhte in such a wyse, Whan we ben dede and elleswhere, Beleve to the worldes eere In tyme comende after this. Bot for men sein, and soth it is, That who that al of wisdom writ It dulleth ofte a mannes wit To him that schal it aldai rede, For thilke cause, if that ye rede, I wolde go the middel weie And wryte a bok betwen the tweie, Somwhat of lust, somewhat of lore, That of the lasse or of the more Som man mai lyke of that I wryte:

Onwended on Englisce: (by Richard Brodie) Of those who wrote before our lives Their precious legacy survives; From what was written then, we learn, And so it's well that we in turn, In our allotted time on earth Do write anew some things of worth, Like those we from these sages cite, So that such in like manner might, When we have left this mortal sphere, Remain for all the world to hear In ages following our own. But it is so that men are prone To say that when one only reads Of wisdom all day long, one breeds A paucity of wit, and so If you agree I'll choose to go Along a kind of middle ground Sometimes I'll write of things profound, And sometimes for amusement's sake A lighter path of pleasure take So all can something pleasing find.

Frūman

• Brunner, Karl (1962) Abriss der mittelenglischen Grammatik; 5. Auflage. Tübingen: M. Niemeyer (1st ed. Halle (Saale): M. Niemeyer, 1938)
• Brunner, Karl (1963) An Outline of Middle English Grammar; translated by Grahame Johnston. Oxford: Blackwell

Ūtwearda hlencas

• A. L. Mayhew and Walter William Skeat. A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580
• Middle English Glossary
• in Oliver Farrar Emerson, A.M., Ph.D.: A Middle English Reader.  With grammatical introduction, notes, and glossary.