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Elizabethan English

Elizabethan English . English I Honors Watt. Early Modern English. Early Modern English is the stage of the English language used from the end of Middle English (1450’s) to the 1650’s.

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Elizabethan English

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  1. Elizabethan English English I Honors Watt

  2. Early Modern English • Early Modern English is the stage of the English language used from the end of Middle English (1450’s) to the 1650’s. • The first edition of the King James Bible and all of Shakespeare’s works were written in Early Modern English.

  3. Early Modern English: Translating • While Early Modern English is usually comprehendible for most readers, difficulties may arise from: • 2nd Person Changes (You) • Sentence Structure • Vocabulary Changes

  4. 2nd Person Changes: • Modern: • You (singular) • You (plural) • Your • Yours, yourself • Elizabethan: • Thou (subject), thee (object) • Ye (subject), ye, you (object) • Thy • thine

  5. 2nd Person Changes: • Examples: • You might be unfaithful. • Thou might be unfaithful. • The thief is you. • The thief is thee. • Be true to yourself. • Be true to thine.

  6. Inflectional Endings: • Review Chart on HO • Examples: • He loves you • He loveth thee • Do you love me? • Lovest thou me?

  7. Sentence Structure • Currently, we use Subject – Verb – Object order. • Example: You walked the dog. • You = Subject • Walked = Verb • The Dog = Object • Early Modern English uses Object – Subject – Verb order. • Example: The dog thou walked. • The Dog = Object • Thou = Subject • Walked = Verb

  8. Sentence Structure • More Examples: • I lost my homework. [Subject, Verb, Object] • Homework, I lost. [Object, Subject, Verb] • You smell the flowers. [SVO] • The flowers thou smellest. [OSV]

  9. Vocabulary Changes • You must memorize the vocabulary list given to you on the EE HO to ensure complete comprehension of R&J. • A few to highlight: • Art thou: are you • Aye: yes • Doth: do • Ere: before • Haply: perhaps • Hither: here • Naught: nothing • Thither: there • ‘Tis: it is • Wherefore: why • Would: wish

  10. Other Translation Tips: • My & Thy: become mine and thine before words beginning with a vowel or the letter h . • Examples: • My eyes: mine eyes • Thy hand: thine hand • Shrift = confession • Chaste = virgin • “Biting a thumb” at someone was considered a serious insult; think of it as a modern-day gesture involving a finger. • “carrying coals” was also a term for taking insults. • We’ll not carry coals = We won’t take insults

  11. Can you translate? • To thine own self be true. • I know thou wilt say aye. • Lov’st thou me? • Do you bite your thumb at me? • Thou mayst prove false. • Hie thee hence.

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