Re: In Defense of Bourgeois Pedants

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

Rick Kirkham wrote:


> A speaker of Middle English (early 1200s) communicate with a speaker of
> Anglo-Saxon (that is, Old English -- 750 AD)? Not a chance. Not at all.
> (Still less "fairly easily".) The vocabularies were almost totally
> different, and the grammar was different too. Anglo-Saxon was a
> Scandinavian-Germanic language with a grammar of inflected word endings.

I disagree strongly. If you read the vernacular poems of the 1200s,
the vocabulary and grammar differs very little from what might be
called the classic Old English poems. If anything, the English of
the 1200s is simpler, and reads almost like a Basic Old English. 

It's true that Old English was more strongly inflected than modern
English. However, from the 11th century onwards, inflection started
to dwindle. If you read some of the prose, it's clear that, despite
some of the convoluted sentences in Beowulf, English was already
well on its way to becoming an analytical language (that is, one in
which the order of words is more important to meaning than
inflection). In the memorable phrase of one of my old professors,
"the degeneration of the language in the 11th century is as pathetic
as it is obvious."

> Middle English had the relatively uninflected grammar of modern English. And
> I believe that contemporary French and contemporary English share more
> vocabulary that middle and old English did.

Actually, Middle English is far more intelligible if you have a
basic Old English vocabulary (French and Latin help, too, of
course). One proof is the survival of Old English/Old Norse words in
dialects in Scotland and the North of England, all of which are far
closer to Middle English than standard English: for example, "ken"
for "understand," "gang" for "walk" or "go" and so on. The northern,
late middle ages poem "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" is
especially interesting in this respect.

> I'm willing to be convinced otherwise, however, if you can cite a reliable
> source for your claim.

It's not a matter of authority but direct evidence. Compare the
poems in "The Exeter Book" to "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight," and
you'll see the continuity for yourself.

I'm not saying that no differences exist, just that Alfred the Great
or Harald Godwinson could probably follow enough of "Sir Gawain" to
enjoy it.

For that matter, we often under-estimate the differences between us
and the speakers of the last five hundred years. We'd shock
Victorians by our use of "making love" (they used it to mean
"flirting"). And, if we described someone as "cute" they'd think we
mant the person was clever or sly. Probably, they'd also think us
abrupt to the point of rudeness in our writing.

-- 
Bruce Byfield, Outlaw Communications
Contributing Editor, Maximum Linux
604.421.7189 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"The squire has a piece of paper that says he owns the land,
The bishop has a bible that says our souls are damned,
Mackenzie had a printing press, it's soaking in the bay,
And if Mackenzie comes again, there will be hell to pay."
-Dennis Lee, "Mackenzie"

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