No More Learning

And this love of the vernacular and
confidence in its resources was present with others. Mulcaster
honoured Latin but worshipped English; Sidney maintained that for
‘uttering sweetly and properly the conceits of the mind. . . [English]
hath it equally with any other tongue in the world,' and similar .
sentiments were uttered by Golding and Pettie, while, before the
end of the century, Carew's Epistle on the Excellency of the
English Tongue had appeared! . Under certain conditions, religious
zeal might also account for a purist attitude, as when Fulke, in
his attack of 1583 upon the Rheims translation of the Bible, com-
plains of the number of Latin words used in that version, where
they occur of purpose to darken the sense. . . [and that] it may be
kept [by the Papists] from being understood. '
But there were not a few who held that the vernacular needed
improvement if it was to respond to the demands which were
obviously ahead. To refuse innovation was to neglect the very
1
1 It is contained in the 2nd ed. of Camden’s Remains (1605). See also the
prophecy of the glorious destiny of the English language in Daniel's Musophilus
(1599) (quoted by Courthope, History of English Poetry, vol. ul, p. 23).


## p. 447 (#469) ############################################

6
Conservatism and Reform 447
means by which it had prospered in the past; and it was felt that
the jealous exclusiveness of the extreme purists threatened to
blunt all literary expression and would turn the vernacular into a
clumsy instrument. Many of those whose instincts were conserva-
tive were also alive to the necessity for a certain amount of innova-
tion. Even Cheke made a proviso to the effect that, ‘borrowing,
if it needs must be, should be done with bashfulness,' and both
Pettie and Wilson definitely proposed to improve their language by
Latin borrowings. 'It is the way, remarked the former, 'that all
tongues have taken to enrich themselves. ' Gascoigne, though dis-
liking strange words in general, was bound to admit that, at times,
they might 'draw attentive reading’; while Nashe, complaining of
the way in which English swarmed with the single money of
monosyllables,' proposed to make a royaler show,' by exchanging
his ‘small English . . . four into one . . . according to the Greek, French,
Spanish and Italian. ' Other reasons were elsewhere advanced to
justify innovation; but what is of more importance is that, in actual
practice, the main body of writers were fully in sympathy with the
aims of the movement.
The result of these conflicting tendencies was twofold. The
conservatism of the purists proved a useful drag upon the energies
of the reformers; it tended to preserve from obsolescence the
native element in the language, and was a wholesome reminder of
the necessity for moving slowly in a period of rapid change and hot
enthusiasm. The efforts of the innovators, on the other hand,
made great things possible. The language under their treatment
became more supple, more ornate and more responsive to new
ideas and emotions; but this was only after a certain amount of
licence had been frowned out of existence.
The conservative tendency is revealed, not only in a negative
way, by the general discountenancing of rash innovation, but, also,
by positive efforts made to restore such good and natural English
words as had been long time out of use and almost clean disherited. '
Obsolescent words, no doubt, persisted in the spoken language, for
Ascham, who held 'that good writing involved the speech of the
comon people,' makes use of forms like 'stoure' (fight) and 'freke'
(man), while, in Foxe's Actes and Monuments, which appealed
to provincial and cultured taste alike, are to be found words like
‘spill' (destroy), 'dere' (injure), ‘lin' (cease), ‘spur' (ask), “lese'
(lose) and 'middle-earth' (world). Then, again, works written
under the influence of earlier poetic tradition might, also, contain a
certain amount of the archaic: thus, Wyatt and Surrey have forms


## p. 448 (#470) ############################################

448 Language from Chaucer to Shakespeare
6
6
a
6
like 'eyen' and 'durre' (door), while Gascoigne, who writes under
the influence of Piers the Plowman, uses "sakeless' innocent),
* fearli’ (wonder) and 'grete' (cry). Very frequently, too, there was
deliberate archaising. Sir John Cheke, in his unfinished transla-
tion of the New Testament, took many liberties not always justifi-
able; for 'publican' he writes 'toller'; for "crucify, cross'; for
'centurion,' 'hundreder'; and, for 'lunatic,' 'moond. ' In the
translations of Phaer, Twyne, Golding and North, further archaisms
appear; while Stanyhurst, who was a man of many devices, bas old
forms like 'sib,' 'gadling,' 'quernstone' and 'agryse? ?
In some cases, a definite literary motive might occasion the use
of these forms. Spenser, for instance, in his Shepheards Calender
makes a most liberal use of the language of Lancashire peasants as
well as of obsolete forms. To the former class, probably, belong
such northern forms as 'wae' (woe), "gate' (goat), "sike' (such),
‘mickle' and 'kirke,' and they effectively suggest 'the rusticall
rudenesse of shepheards. ' In his Faerie Queene, while he uses
Chaucerisms like 'gan tel,' 'areed' and 'lustyhed,' to suggest a
medieval tone in keeping with his subject, he also finds such forms
as 'ycled,' 'passen' and 'wawes' of great assistance, not only in
completing the requisite number of syllables in the line, but, also,
in affording riming variants. And, again, in the drama, dialectal
forms were frequently employed to obtain greater verisimilitude.
The west country speech was the conventional form of utterance for
rusticity on the stage; whence the forms 'chad,' 'ichotte,' 'vilthy,'
'zembletee' (semblance), in Ralph Roister Doister, with which
may be compared Edgar's diction in King Lear.
But this use of obsolescent and dialectal forms added nothing
to the permanent literary resources. It was an artificial restoration
of words, honourable enough in the past, but which the language
had naturally discarded; for words rapidly become obsolete in a
period of swiftly advancing culture. Where such words appear,
they add a picturesqueness to Elizabethan diction, but it was
not until the close of the eighteenth century that the full capabilities
of words racy of the soil became properly appreciated, when dialect
added new effects to English expression. For the rest, the ancient
words continued to linger in their rustic obscurity, regardless of the
1 The Gospel according to St Matthew . . . translated from the Greek, with original
notes by Sir John Cheke . . . by James Goodwin. London, 1843.
The rogaes' language then current still survives in modern slang; thus : 'bowse'
(drink), dudes' (clothes), 'fylcho' (rob), 'ken' (house), 'mounch' (eat), 'prygger'
(thief), 'tiplinge-house' (ale-house),'typ' (secret). See Awdeley's Fraternitye, Harman's
Caveat and Chandler's Literature of Roguery, vol. I, pp. 119 ff.
6


## p. 449 (#471) ############################################

Classical Influence
449
attention or neglect of literary men. That they were already fast
becoming unfamiliar in polite circles would appear from the fact that
a glossary of obscure words was appended to Speght's edition of
Chaucer (1602), a convenience which had not been deemed neces-
sary in the editions of 1542 and 1561.
The case, however, was different when words, instead of being
drawn from a dead past, were taken from a living present, as
elements contributed to the language by the changing thoughts
and movements of the time. English, in the nineteenth century,
assimilated the respective vocabularies of German metaphysics, the
pictorial art and science; and, in the same way, the language of the
sixteenth century was assimilating the phraseology of renascence
learning and reformation zeal, as well as the expressions of travel
and adventure. And, although English, owing to its plastic state,
accepted, for the time being, more of these elements than it was
destined to retain, the ultimate result was linguistic expansion,
and a considerable step was thus taken by the language towards
its modern form.
The influence of the renascence is seen in the classical importa-
tions with which the language became inundated-an influence
parallel to that which induced scholars to turn to the classics for
assistance in remodelling and reforming their literary art. Just as
attempts were made to introduce classical 'decorum ' into the native
drama, to substitute classical prosody for native forms, so free use
was made of classical diction in the attempt to obtain increased
power of literary expression. The beginning of this influence is
seen in the translations, where numerous words of the originals
were, perforce, retained; then, again, in the fashion of introducing
classical quotations into works of various kinds. This latter pro-
cedure was less pedantic than would at first appear, for Latin was
still, to some extent, the traditional language of the learned, and
represented the great link between our own reformers and those of
other lands. It was used by Elizabeth in conversation with foreign
ambassadors, and 'latine ends,' as Chapman put it,' were part of a
gentleman and a good scholler. The inevitable result was an
almost reckless borrowing of classical words, an occasional use of
Latin idiom and, in some cases, an imitation of classical style.
The process of adopting classical and, indeed, all foreign words,
is plainly shown in the various texts. At first they are frankly
inserted as foreign elements and appear in their alien form ; but
they are often followed by explanations added to such phrases as
that is to saie' or as we terme it. ' Then, later, they take their
29
L. L. III.
CH. XX.


## p. 450 (#472) ############################################

450 Language from Chaucer to Shakespeare
<
>
places without any explanation, though, as they appear not un-
frequently in synonyms like 'synchroni or time-fellows,''accersed
and called together,' their respective meanings may still be gathered
from the context.
But all classical importations did not meet with the same fate.
In the struggle for naturalisation, different words obtained different
degrees of success, according to the dictates of that mysterious
arbiter 'the genius of the language'; and, when Puttenham, for
instance, objects to such words as 'audacious,' 'fecundity' and
*compatible,' he only shows the inability of contemporaries to
anticipate the verdict of time. Some of the claimants for naturalisa-
tion were adopted with little or no change of form, as, for instance,
'epitome,''effigies,' 'spondee,''catastrophe'l. Others retained their
original forms for a time, as 'subjectum,' 'energia,''aristocratia' and
'statua', or, again, in the case of inflected forms, critici,''sphinges,'
'chori,' 'ideae,' 'misanthropi' and 'musaea. But, in all cases,
naturalisation ultimately meant the loss of foreign endings, or their
assimilation with the endings and inflections of native origin. Other
classical words never became really adopted; they appeared at the
whim of an individual and then disappeared, as, for instance,
‘acroame' (lecture) and 'polypragmon’(busybody). This class was
fairly large, as almost every writer, in the absence of a standard
literary diction, considered himself at liberty to make experiments.
But, if naturalisation in the case of Latin words meant, generally
speaking, assimilation with native forms and the adoption of endings
similar to those assumed by earlier Latin borrowings derived through
the French, no such precedent offered itself in the case of Greek
words; for now, for the first time, it became possible to borrow
from the Greek direct. Greek words, however, had previously entered
the language through the medium of Latin, and now, when techni-
cal or other words were taken from the Greek, they were trans-
literated into Latin forms, as if they had normally passed through
Latin channels. It became recognised in England and elsewhere
that the Greek K, ai, el, ol, ov, v and should be represented in the
vernaculars by c, ae, i, o, u, y and rh; hence, forms like 'acme,'
'phaenomenon,' oeconomia,''enthusiasm' and 'rhythm',
'
'
Each word thus naturalised was made to conform gradu-
ally with the English mode of accentuation, and to this general
3
1 Also, "caveat,''emphasis,'"enigma,''opprobrium,' 'exterior' and 'parenthesis. '
* Also, 'scaene,' epitheton' and 'parallelon. '
3 ·Absonisme' (solecism), 'charientism' (euphemism), 'commorse' (compassion).
* See Bradley, Making of English, p. 98.


## p. 451 (#473) ############################################

Pedantic Spellings
451
>
rule Greek and Latin proper names formed no exception. They
were adopted with or without inflection, and the accent was thrown
as far back as possible, irrespective of quantities: this accounts for
the accentuation of such forms as Hyperion and Andronicus.
It was only natural that these classical borrowings should
retain, at first, their original meanings; and so we find many words
used in a sense from which they have since departed, as, for
instance, ‘fact' (deed), "success' (sequel), “sentence' (opinion),
'prevent' (go before)? Such words as these, being more or less
strange to the common idiom of that age, were well suited to form
part of its literary material; whereas, to a later age, which assigns
to them different meanings, they suggest an archaic flavour, which
is one of the charms of Elizabethan diction. Not unfrequently,
they would deteriorate in meaning; this is true of classical words
to a greater extent than of native words, and of this depreciation,
'impertinent' and officious' are examples.
Sometimes, however, classical enthusiasm would distort word-
forms, which had been derived at an earlier date from Latin through
Romance, and, consequently, attempts were made to restore letters
which had been normally lost in that passage. Thus, b was inserted
in 'doubt' and 'debt,'l in ‘vault' and 'fault,' d in advantage' and
"
'advance,' while ‘apricock' was thus written probably in view of
the Latin in aprico coctus. Then, again, the form 'amicable'
appeared by the side of 'amiable,' 'absency' (Latin 'absentia')
together with the French 'absence'; through the influence of
Greek, 'queriste' became 'choriste,' while 'fantasy' varied with
'phantasy’; and, in other forms like 'fruict,' 'traditour' (traitor),
'feact' (fact), 'traictise' and 'conceipt,' are visible further pedantries
not destined to be permanent. Occasionally, more audacious
changes took place in attempts to suggest a fanciful etymology:
as, for instance, when fere' (O. E. 'gefera, companion) was written
'pheere,' or when 'eclogues' appeared as ‘aeglogues,' as if to connect
it with the Greek ais (goat). The frail foundation upon which most
of such changes rested may be gathered from the statement of one
writer that the words 'wind' and 'way' were derived from the
Latin 'ventus' and 'via,' while the spelling 'abhominable,' as if
from the Latin ab homine, was generally accepted. Indeed,
even in the case of so worthy an antiquary as Camden, we
find the paradox that 'the Old English . . . could call a Comet a
Fixed Starre. . . which is all one with Stella Crinita'? The result
>
6
6
Also, 'expect' (wait), 'record' (remember), 'table' (picture), 'abrupt' (wicked).
That is, crinita'='fixed,' the latter being taken as a derivative of 0. E. 'fear'
(hair) (! ).
29-2


## p. 452 (#474) ############################################

452 Language from Chaucer to Shakespeare
>
?
of all this was the introduction of a number of artificial spellings,
many of which, having been retained, have greatly contributed to
the vagaries of our modern orthography.
The effect of this host of classical borrowings was to increase, in
many ways, the capabilities of the language in the matter of expres-
sion. They formed the language of reasoning, of science and of philo-
sophy; from them, mainly, were drawn artistic and abstract terms,
whereas the language of emotion, particularly that of the drama,
remained very largely Teutonic in kind. Not unseldom, a classical
,
word was borrowed, though its equivalent already existed in English,
and this usage gave rise to frequent synonyms. The use of synonyms
was by no means abnormal in English, nor was it ineffective as a
literary device. They had entered very largely into Old English
verse, and were still a feature of Elizabethan English, as may be
seen from combinations like 'acknowledge and confess,' 'humble
and lowly,' 'assemble and meet together,' in the English liturgy, or
such forms as 'limited and confined,''wonder and admiration,' to
be found elsewhere. Their increased use, at this date, was due
partly to the exuberant character of the age, partly to an increase
in the material available for such forms and partly to the plastic
condition of the language, which made it easy for an unfamiliar
word to be supplemented by one of a more familiar kind. The
result of this usage was to give to the prose style a greater flexi-
bility of rhythm, while, in course of time, the double forms, having
become 'desynonymised, furnished abundant material for the
expression of slight shades of meaning. Another important effect
of a certain section of these classical borrowings was to give an
impetus to the art of forming compounds, which, though much
practised in the earliest English period, had been somewhat
neglected in Middle English times. Chapman's translation of
Homer, in particular, brought before the age many Homeric com-
pounds, such as thunder-loving Jove,' 'the ever-shining eyes,
'fresh-sprung herbs' and 'well-greaved Greeks. Many of these
'
forms were preserved in the language, and from this period date
some of the happiest of Pope's compound epithets.
Besides these new words of classical origin, there were many
Romance forms which were being tentatively used, and which
ultimately went to enrich the English vocabulary. In general, it
may be said that they are less abstract in character than those con-
tributed by the classics. Being drawn from living languages, they
stand in a closer relation to actual life; they represent new objects
rather than new ideas; and so reflect something of the nature
of the current intercourse between England and the Romance


## p. 453 (#475) ############################################

6
6
Influence of Romance Languages 453
countries. There were, in the first place, many new words of French
origin, and their number, undoubtedly, was increased by the fact
that many classical, as well as Italian, works were translated into
English from French versions. They consist, for the most part, of
words of a general kind, though military terms figure somewhat
largely. The following are instances of borrowings connected with
the soldier's trade : 'accoutrement,' 'battery,' 'flank,' pioneer,'
calibre,''cassock' (a military cloak) and colonel' (pronounced in
three syllables). Phrases such as ‘plaine force' and 'body politicke'
were, occasionally, borrowed, besides such common words as ‘chart,'
'gallimaufry' (mixture), 'baies' (baize) and 'bombast' (cotton
wadding). The word 'essay' now, for the first time, became used
in its modern sense owing to Montaigne; 'genteel' represented a
re-adoption of the French 'gentil' which, previously borrowed, had,
by this date, become 'gentle'; 'collcaryour' (messenger) was a
modification of the French 'colporteur,' while ‘horly borly' was
due to the ingenuity of Rabelais. There were, of course, many
instances of words which never became Anglicised, for example :
'bourreau,''bruit,' 'haut,''sanglier,' 'travise,' 'sparple' (scatter),
'mures' (walls) and 'cassed' (discharged). The word “faubourg'
(suburb) and the phrase 'all amort' (à la mort) were naturalised for
a time, but only to be treated as foreign at a later date. French
influence on the orthography was but slight: the strange forms
'doggue, 'pangue, 'publique' are interesting in view of the
modern spelling 'tongue'; 'eguall' represents a blend of both
Latin and French.
Of still greater importance were the additions to the vocabulary
derived from the Spanish. They were very largely connected with
ideas of the New World, more particularly of the West Indies,
where Spain had large interests, and, unlike the classical importa-
tions, they are concerned with the spoken, rather than with the
literary, language. They became familiar in various ways: through
the numerous pamphlets which aimed at supplying information
about Spain, through translations of Spanish works such as
Oviedo's History of the West Indies, or, again, through accounts
of English voyages. But more important than all was the in-
fluence of English adventurers who returned from the west with
wondrous tales and strange new words. Many of the words
thus introduced had been adopted by the Spaniards from the West
Indian (Hayti) language: for example, 'canoe,' 'hurricane,'
“tobacco,' 'maize,' 'cannibal'; but, in the forms ‘mosquito,' 'El
Dorado,' cocoa’and'alligator,' Romance roots had been employed
6
6
9
6


## p. 454 (#476) ############################################

454 Language from Chaucer to Shakespeare
6
6
6
6
6
to denote the new phenomena. Of the remaining words, which were
largely bound up with war, commerce or religion, a certain number
ended in -o (-ado), as, cargo,' 'embargo,' desperado,' renegado. '
Hence, in numerous others, the -ado ending is affected where the
Spanish equivalents had -ada : for example, "armado' (armada),
'ambuscado,' 'bastinado, 'bravado,' 'carbonado,' 'palisado,'
“strappado. Other adaptations are, 'Canary,' 'Bilbo' (sword),
* fico' (fig), 'flamingo' and 'grandee'; sometimes phrases were
borrowed as 'paucas palabris'' (in short) and 'miching mallhecho. '
A great number of Italian words, also, were introduced at this
time, but, as they often came through French, for instance,
'gazette' and 'carnival,' their identification is not always easy.
Much of the Italianate English of which Ascham complains never
became naturalised; the use of the Italian adverb ‘via' (go on), and
'ben venuto' (welcome), was merely temporary, while words like
'bona-roba,''amoretti' and 'borachio,' which promised to become
permanent, were soon regarded as foreign. But English travellers,
English traders and English translators could not fail to add some-
thing to their native vocabulary, and such words as 'duello, compli-
mento' and 'bandetto'; 'argosy," magnifico’and 'Bergomask” (rustic
dance); canto,' 'stanza' and 'sonnet,' were among the additions.
Architectural terms, too, were borrowed from Italy, for, in
Elizabeth's reign, the Tudor style was being modified by the
Cinque-cento, English buildings were being constructed after Italian
designs and Italian treatises were being turned into English ; in
consequence, such words as 'belvedere,' 'antic,' 'grotta’ and
'portico' became familiar. The jargon of the Italian fencing-
schools also became fashionable, as a result of the displacement of
the old broadsword by the foreign rapier : the Bobadils of the day
talked freely of the 'punto,' 'reverso,' stoccato' and 'passado?
Dutch borrowings must also be mentioned, though not numeri-
cally large. They were introduced by English adventurers who
had fought against Spain in the Netherlands, and who, on their
return home, larded their conversation with Dutch phrases there
acquired: 'easterling,' 'beleaguer,' 'burgomaster,''domineer' and
' forlorn hope' are instances of such additions. Similarly, oriental
words, such as 'caraway,''garbled, gong,''dervish' and 'divan,'
witness to extended nautical enterprise ; each account of a
voyage contained a host of such words, which might or might
not become naturalised.
While the language, so far as its vocabulary was concerued,
1 Corruption of Span. pocas palabras. See Taming of the Shrew, Ind. 1. 5.
? For commercial terms derived from the Italian, see Einstein, L. , The Italian
Renaissance in England (1902), p. 281.
>


## p. 455 (#477) ############################################

Literary Influence on the Vocabulary 455
thus kept pace with the expansion of national life and thought, by
means of borrowing from abroad, it was also subject to certain
internal influences. Literary men, in general, extended the vo-
cabulary by indulging in coinages; but more important than this
was the vogue given to certain words and phrases in consequence
of their happy use by some of the great writers. Such ex-
pressions were stamped with permanency and became current coin
of the highest value.
In the first place, new formations, devised by contemporary
writers out of material ready at hand, represent an appreciable
extension of the normal vocabulary, though, in many cases, they
were not to prove permanent. A host of newly-coined compounds
are scattered in the works of the time and represent the operation
of various devices upon a plastic stage of the language. A spirited
style would produce sonorous compounds like 'sky-bred chirpers,'
'heart-scalding sighs,' 'home-keeping wits' and 'cloud-capt towers. '
A satirical effect might be obtained by onomatopoeic reduplication
such as 'rif-raf,' 'tag-rag' and 'hugger-mugger,' though this
formation, being crude and mechanical, failed to maintain a
literary rank. A word like 'find-fault' would be coined with an
eye to alliterative effect, 'gravel-blind' with a view to a play upon
the word 'sand-blind' (i. e. sam-blind); while other coinages, like
‘ablesse' and `idlesse,' 'goddise' (deity) and 'grandity,' 'mobocracy'
'fathership,' 'foehood,''praecel' (excel) and "Turkishness' (bar-
barism), though they represent a blending of material, intelligible
then and now, were rendered unnecessary by forms otherwise con-
structed, which, in some way or other, have maintained themselves.
Then, again, literary influences at work on the elements of the
native vocabulary often resulted in the formation of expressions
and phrases to which their authors, indirectly, gave a wide currency
and a permanent value. Many of them were to enter into daily
conversation, while their innate beauty still renders them fit for
the highest literary usage. The main sources of this influence
were the works of Spenser and Shakespeare, and the English
Bible. From Spenser, we get such forms as 'elfin,''Braggadochio,
'blatant,' 'derring-do' and 'squire oi dames’; from Shakespeare,
such expressions as 'benedict,' 'the undiscovered country,' 'the
primrose path,''single blessedness,''to die by inches,''to eat the
leek,''this working-day world' and 'coign of vantage'; while from
the English Bible come the forms, ‘loving-kindness,' “heavy-laden,'
'peacemaker,' 'scapegoat,''shibboleth,' 'mammon,' 'Babel' and
'helpmeet, as well as the phrases, the fat of the land,' 'the
6
2
>
6
>
9
6
>


## p. 456 (#478) ############################################

456 Language from Chaucer to Shakespeare
eleventh hour,' the shadow of death,' a soft answer' and 'a labour
of love'l. Many of these expressions have attained the dignity of
unidentified quotations, but, nevertheless, they are contributions
to the growth of the language, and, as such, are possessed of
as much significance as separate additions to the vocabulary.
While these changes, due, largely, to external influences, were
taking place in the vocabulary, the language was also undergoing
further changes in its grammatical structure, its syntax and its
pronunciation, such modifications being due to those internal
influences continually at work upon a living language.
In the first place, it is only natural to find that, while Old
English inflections had, for the most part, been levelled, traces of
earlier constructions still remained, and in larger quantity than at
a later date. Disregarding archaic forms such as 'perishen' (they
perish) and ‘killen' (they kill), which appear in Pericles as obsolete
expressions, we find other constructions, which, while they preserve
something of the archaic, are still legitimate survivals. For
instance, the adverbial form ‘moe' is distinguished from the
adjectival ‘more,' the one indicating ‘more in number,' the other,
'greater in size. ' 'Can' and 'may’are still capable of being used in
their earlier senses? As in Old English, a verb of motion is some-
times omitted after will’and ‘shall,' 'must' and 'be,' while the old
imperative is still in use in the expressions go we,' 'praise ye the
Lord,' though periphrastic forms like ‘let us go' are far more
general. The subjunctive is still used in principal sentences to
.
express a wish, also in conditional and concessive clauses, and in
temporal clauses introduced by 'ere,' or 'before. ' But already
this use is obsolete in the spoken language, and, as a result, its
appearance in literary English is somewhat irregular.
The pronominal inflections, as in modern English, are, for the
most part, retained, owing to the monosyllabic character of the
words. The -8 of the old genitive, of course, survived, though the
modern apostrophe was not employed as yet. With this inflection
is found, occasionally, the older word-order, as in ‘Yorick's skull the
king's jester. ' This construction, owing to the uninflected character
of the word in apposition, in this case 'jester,' involved a certain
ambiguity, which had been wanting in Old English, and the idiom,
consequently, was not destined to survive. Of still greater interest,
however, is the use of his,' instead of the genitive -8, in phrases
like 'Sejanus his Fall,' 'Purchas his Pilgrimage,' 'Christ His sake'
1 See Bradley's Making of English, ch. vi.
2 Cf. they can well on horseback' and 'I muy (can) never believe. '
6
9
6


## p. 457 (#479) ############################################

Results of Loss of Inflections
457
and 'Pompey his preparation. This construction, which appears, at
first sight, to be a popular adaptation of the regular suffix -8,
represents, in point of fact, the survival of an idiom found in Old
English and other Germanic languages, and which can be traced in
Middle English, in such phrases as 'Bevis is hed. ' It was, doubt-
less, a form which had come down in colloquial speech, for its
early use in literature is only occasional, and it still occurs in
modern dialectal and colloquial expressions. Its more extended use
in Elizabethan English points to the close connection which then
existed between the spoken and literary languages. Another
survival of an Old English form was that of participles in -ed,
adjectival in their force and derived from nouns. In Old English,
there had occurred occasional words such as "hoferede' (hunch-
backed), and, in Elizabethan times, the manufacture of such forms
as 'high-minded' and 'barefaced’ proceeded apace and added
considerably to the power of expression.
The earlier loss of inflections had begun by this date, however,
to produce certain marked effects. What had once been a
synthetic language had now become analytic, and it was in process
of developing its expression under the new conditions. The im-
mediate result was a vast number of experiments which often led
to confused expressions, more especially as the brevity and concise-
ness formerly obtained with inflectional aids was still sought. Thus,
ellipses were frequent, and almost any word that could be supplied
from the context might be omitted. Intransitive verbs were used
as transitive! , ordinary verbs as causal”, and the infinitive was used
with the utmost freedom, for it had to represent active, passive and
gerundial constructions.
But if the loss of native inflections resulted in a certain
freedom of expression, together with a corresponding amount of
vagueness and confusion, it also led to some new and permanent
usages. In consequence of the fact that final -e had now become
mute, many of the distinctions formerly effected by that suffix
were levelled, and the various parts of speech became inter-
changeable, as in modern English. Thus, adjectives could be used
as adverbs, or, again, as nouns, and nouns could be used as verbs 6.
The old grammatical gender had, moreover, been lost, together
1 Cf. depart the field,' moralise this spectacle. '
3 Cf. "to fear (to terrify) the valiant. '
3 Cf. “he is to teach' (=he is to be taught) : 'why blame you me to love you' (for.
loving you).
6
6
6
* Cf. "to run fast,' 'to rage fierce. ' 5 Cf. the good,''the just. '
6 Cf. to man,' 'to paper. '
.
)


## p. 458 (#480) ############################################

458 Language from Chaucer to Shakespeare
with the noun-suffixes upon which it was based, and, therefore, in
addition to the modern gender based upon sex, poetic gender
became possible, which meant, from the literary point of view, a
more lively presentment of various phenomena. Flectionless
words permitted any gender to be assigned to them, according to
the imagination of the writer ; thus, words which suggested
strength, as, for instance, 'sun,' 'death,''war' and 'winter,' could
be treated as masculine, while words like 'patience,' 'beauty,'
church,' 'ship' and 'nightingale,' with more gentle associations,
could be regarded as feminine. Although the basis of this personi-
fication was mainly psychological in character, it was sometimes
influenced by other considerations. In some cases, old mytho-
logical notions directed the choice, as when 'Love' is treated as
masculine, 'Fortune'as feminine. Ben Jonson, on the other hand,
was wont to consider the etymology of the word. But, whatever
the method of assigning poetic gender, it was a literary device that
only became possible in consequence of levelled inflections?
Further changes, due, very largely, to the same cause, were the
development of the passive forms characteristic of modern English,
and of personal constructions in preference to impersonal. In older
English, the passive had been rare, the usual form having been the
active with the indefinite nominative 'man' (Mid. Eng. 'me') .
But, with the loss of inflections in the oblique cases of nouns, an
earlier object was easily taken as the new subject; and, since the
indefinite 'man' had become obsolete, and was not yet replaced
by the modern form 'one,' the verb naturally assumed a passive
form. The result of this change was to render the interest personal
throughout; the psychological and the grammatical subjects fell
together and the expression gained in directness.
Similarly, the number of impersonal verbs, which had figured
largely in earlier constructions, became, during this period, con-
siderably reduced. This was due, in part, to the levelling of case-
forms in nouns; for an impersonal construction with an uninflected
dative would thus readily pass into a personal construction with a
direct nominatives. Other causes, no doubt, contributed to this
change, one being the influence of analogy exercised by the
numerous personal constructions upon the much rarer forms
of an impersonal kind; and this influence would be inevitable
1 See Franz, Shakespeare-Grammatik, $ 50.
9 Cf. his brofor Horsan man ofsloh' (his brother Horsa was slain), O. E. Chron. 455.
3 Thus, the quarto reading of Richard III, Act II, sc. 2. 99 is that it please your
lordship,' while, in the folio, it stands, 'that your lordship please to ask. ' See Franz,
Shakespeare-Grammatik, $ 473.
6


## p. 459 (#481) ############################################

Influences on Elizabethan Idiom
459
in a sentence such as This aunswer Alexander both lyked and
rewarded,' where the impersonal form 'lyked' is linked with a verb
of the personal type.
The classical influence upon Elizabethan idiom was but slight,
for grammars, unlike vocabularies, never mix: the borrowing of
grammatical forms on any considerable scale would involve a
change in the method of thought, which is an inconceivable step
in the history of any language. Occasional traces of classical idiom,
of course, exist in Elizabethan literary English. The Latin use of
quin is seen in such a sentence as 'I do not deny but,' and the Latin
participial construction in the phrase 'upon occasion offered. ' Com-
paratives are sometimes used where no comparison is intended, as
in 'a plainer (rather plain) sort,' while a phrase such as of all
others? the greatest' (i. e. the greatest of all) is, plainly, a Grecism.
Individual authors, such as Hooker, will, sometimes, be found to
omit auxiliary forms, or to give to certain emphatic words a
Latinised importance of position. But, in general, attempts to
convey Latin idiom into Elizabethan English were few, and, where
they existed, they added no new grace. Such attempts were, in-
deed, foredoomed to failure, for their object was to imitate, in a
language almost stripped of inflections, certain constructions which,
in their original language, had depended upon inflections as aids to
clearness. And this was the reason why the oratio obliqua was a
dangerous experiment, while the long Latin sentence, with its
involved relative clauses, simply tended to create a confused and
inelegant method of expression.
With regard to Elizabethan pronunciation, certain differences,
as compared with the sound-values of earlier and later times, may,
perhaps, be noted. By 1600, Caxton's pronunciation had undergone
certain changes, but it has also to be remembered that the sound of
a given word might vary even within one and the same period, and
this was due not only to the existence of doublets and dialectal
variants at an earlier date, but, also, to the survival of sounds
which were becoming archaic alongside their later developments.
The Middle English open ē (seen in ‘leaf' and 'heat') retained the
fifteenth century sound (heard in pail'), which prevailed down to
the eighteenth century, but it was frequently shortened in closed
syllables, particularly before dentals, though no change was made
in the orthography (cf. 'bread' and 'death '). The Middle English
close ē (seen in 'deep' and 'bleed') also retained its fifteenth century
sound (heard in 'pail'), but, at the same time, it was adopting a more
modern value, namely, the sound heard in 'peel': before r, however,
1 See Bacon's Essays, ed. West, A. S. , p. 293.
6


## p. 460 (#482) ############################################

460 Language from Chaucer to Shakespeare
6
6
an open value might still be retained (cf. ‘hear'). In the spellings
'indide' (indeed), 'quin' (queen), 'bin' (been), the classical i
stands for this later sound of the Middle English close e Middle
English open 7 (seen in 'goad' and 'stone') also retained its
fifteenth century value (heard in 'pole '), and, to this, the word
'one' is no exception. The modern pronunciation of this word, as
if with an initial w, was certainly not usual in Elizabethan times,
and this is plainly suggested by such forms as 'such an one,'
'th'one,' and, also, by Shakespeare's rime of 'one' with "Scone. '
It seems, however, to have been general in the seventeenth century
and may have been a provincialism in the sixteenth: the form 'whole-
some,' with the w, appears in 1550. The Middle English close 7
(seen in 'doom'), while it retained its fifteenth century sound
ard in 'pole'), also approximated its modern value (heard in
'pool'); and, about this date, Middle English i and ū (ou) seem to
have developed diphthongal values. The earlier value 7 (heard in
he') moves on towards the modern sound heard in while'; and,
similarly, the earlier sound of ū (heard in ‘boot') approximated
the modern diphthongal value heard in ‘house'?
With regard to consonants, the differences between Elizabethan
and modern pronunciation are comparatively slight. It would
appear that re was strongly trilled, for 'fire' and 'bire' appear in
Shakespeare as dissyllabic, 'Henry' and 'angry' as trisyllabic; and,
again, the pronunciation of gh (as f) seems to have been more
frequent than at a later date, when, however, we have it in words
such as “laugh' and 'draught. ' In Chapman, 'wrought' and
taught' appear with this sound-value; in Shakespeare, after' is
found riming with daughter's,
The task of ascertaining these sixteenth century sound-values
was one of some difficulty, owing to the fact that Caxton's spelling
was no longer capable of representing any changes in pronunciation.
Fortunately, however, these values were preserved as a result of a
series of attempts made by certain scholars * to denote the current
pronunciation with the help of phonetic symbols. The works
proceeded from various motives: one aimed at amending English
orthography, another at teaching the pronunciation of Greek; but,
3
1 Letters of Queen Elizabeth (Ellis's collection 1553—76).
Further differences between Elizabethan and modern pronunciation are suggested
by the rimes 'all,' 'shall’; “racks,' takes'; 'steel,' 'well'; 'concert,' 'right'; 'join,'
‘shine'; 'seas,' 'press’; although rimes are not invariably correct tests of pro-
nunciation.
3 The Taming of the Shrew, Act I, so. 1. 244-5.
* See bibliography.


## p. 461 (#483) ############################################

Elizabethan English as a Literary Medium 461
whatever their objects, their phonetic systems have preserved
sixteenth century sound-values. The most important of these
contributions was due to William Salesbury, who, in 1547, compiled
A Dictionary of Englishe and Welshe, and, subsequently, wrote a
tract on the pronunciation of Welsh (1567). In the dictionary, he
had transcribed into Welsh characters some 150 English words;
and, since he had clearly denoted in his tract the sound-values of
Welsh letters, the pronunciation of the transliterated English
words may thus be easily inferred.
Some of the main points in the development of the language
during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries have now been touched
upon: namely, the evolution and development of a standard literary
dialect, the rapid extension of the vocabulary and the completion
of the change from an inflected to an uninflected character. It
now remains to attempt an estimate of Elizabethan English as a
literary medium, so far as such an estimate is possible.
In the first place, the language, at this date, was in an eminently
plastic condition, which made the utmost freedom of expression
possible. Men wrote very much as they spoke; the literary
language has probably never stood nearer to the colloquial, and,
consequently, it was peculiarly adapted to express the exuberant
thought and feeling of the age.
But, while this freedom gave to Elizabethan utterance a
naturalness and a force which have never been surpassed, it also
led to numerous structural anomalies, frequent and even natural
in ordinary speech. Literary expression was now less hampered
than ever by inflectional considerations, and writers, not cognisant
as yet of the logic which was to underlie the new grammar,
indulged in expressions which set rules of concord at defiance.
Thus, the form of a verb might be determined by the character of
the nearest substantive, or two constructions might be confused
and merged into one: almost any arrangement seemed justified,
provided the sense were reasonably well conveyed. And this
irregularity, the inevitable concomitant of Elizabethan freedom
of expression, is, also, one of its disabilities, for it introduced an
element of vagueness and ambiguity into contemporary writing.
But such irregularity was not wholly due to the influence of
colloquial speech: it could arise out of the undeveloped condition
of the grammatical machinery then in existence. The conjunctions
often gave but slight indications of the relation of the sentences
which they joined: a word like 'but' would have to convey
Dumerous meanings and would be represented in modern English


## p. 462 (#484) ############################################

462 Language from Chaucer to Shakespeare
by 'if not,' 'except,' 'when,' 'that,''without that. Prepositions,
too, were used in a manner far from definite: 'in' and 'on,' 'of'
and 'from,' 'with' and 'by,' were yet to be distinguished, while
'for' would have to do duty for the phrases 'as regards,' 'in spite
of,' 'for want of.
' Then, again, the subjective and objective
genitives were not clearly distinguished ; a phrase like your
injuries' had to stand for either, and the same indefiniteness
occurs in such phrases as 'distressful bread' (bread hardly-won)
and 'feeling sorrows' (sorrows deeply felt). The context, in each
case, had to correct what was ambiguous in the expression and to
supply its actual meaning.
Some efforts, were, of course, made to obtain greater clearness
and precision, for the uninflected language was beginning to work
out its expression under the new conditions. For instance, the
neuter form 'its,' which aimed at avoiding the confusion caused by
the older use of ‘his,' for both masculine and neuter, occurs as
early as 1598, though it was not until the second half of the
seventeenth century that it was fully recognised. The suffix 'self'
was used more frequently to indicate reflexives, and a pronoun
would often be inserted to help out an expression. But, generally
speaking, clearness was not always the first aim, and, as often as
not, writers were content with an expression which sacrificed pre-
cision to brevity and pregnancy of utterance.
With all its tendencies to run into confused expression,
Elizabethan English was, however, pre-eminently the language
of feeling, and it was such in virtue of its concrete and pictur-
esque character and its various devices for increasing vividness
of presentment. In the first place, it contained precisely the material
for expressing thought with a concreteness and a force not since
possible. Comparatively poor in abstract and learned words,
though these were being rapidly acquired, it abounded in words
which had a physical signification, and which conveyed their meaning
with splendid strength and simplicity. And this accounts for the
felicitous diction of the Bible translations. The Hebrew narratives
were made up of simple concrete terms and objective facts, and
the English of that time, from its very constitution, reproduced
these elements with a success that would have been impossible for
the more highly developed idiom of later times. Between the
Hebrew idiom and that of the Elizabethan, in short, there existed
certain clear affinities, which Tindale had fully appreciated.
Then, again, this absence of general and abstract terms gave to
Elizabethan English a picturesqueness all its own. The description
a


## p. 463 (#485) ############################################

6
a
6
Its Musical Resources 463
of the Psalmist's despair as a 'sinking in deep mire,' or a'coming
into deep waters,' is paralleled in character on almost every page
of Elizabethan work; and it was this abundance of figurative
language which favoured Euphuism, and which constituted something
of the later charms of Fuller and Sir Thomas Browne. Nor can the
effect of a number of picturesque intensives be overlooked, as
seen in the phrases 'clean starved,' 'passing strange,' shrewdly
vexed' and 'to strike home. The discarding of these intensives
and the substitution of eighteenth century forms like 'vastly'
and 'prodigiously,' and the nineteenth century'very' and 'quite,'
have resulted in a distinct loss of vigour and colour? .
Further, the Elizabethan writer had at his command certain
means for heightening the emotional character of a passage and
for increasing the vividness of presentment. Thus, the dis-
criminating use of 'thou' and 'you' could depict a variety of
feeling in a way, and with a subtlety, no longer possible. 'You' was
the unimpassioned form which prevailed in ordinary speech among
the educated classes, whereas 'thou' could express numerous
emotions such as anger, contempt, familiarity, superiority, or love.
The ethical dative, too, added to the vividness of expression,
suggesting, as it did, the interest felt by either the speaker or
the hearer; while even the illogical double negatives and double
comparatives* were capable of producing a heightening effect in
the language of passion.
The freedom and brevity, the concrete and picturesque character,
of Elizabethan English, were, therefore, among the qualities which
rendered it an effective medium of literary thought. At the same
time, the language is seen to lend itself easily to rhythnical and
harmonious expression, and it is not improbable that the sixteenth
century translators of the Bible were among the first to realise
with any adequacy the musical resources of the vernacular, they
themselves having been inspired by the harmonies of their Latin
models. The language of the Vulgate was certainly familiar to
sixteenth century readers, and the translators must have worked
with its rhythm and its tones ringing in their ears; while the close
resemblance between the constructions and word-order of the
Latin text and those used in English would render it an easier
task to reproduce other qualities of that text. At all events, in
)
1 Cf. , also, the substitution of certainly,' 'indeed,' for 'i'faith,'. i'sooth,' iwis,'
certes. '
2 E. g. 'villain knock me this gate. ' 8 E. g. nor no further in sport neither. '
* E. g. 'more elder. '
6


## p. 464 (#486) ############################################

464 Language from Chaucer to Shakespeare
a
the Biblical translations and the liturgy of the sixteenth century
we find the broad vowels, the musical rhythm and the tones which
bad been the glory of the Vulgate: the English ear had become
attuned, for the first time, to the vocalic music of the vernacular.
Consonantal effects, which were still more characteristic of English,
had long been turned to account in the native alliteration.
For the purpose of working out these rhythmical effects and of
heightening the natural harmonies of the spoken language, certain
linguistic aids were available. In the unsettled state of the lan-
.
guage, there were certain variant forms, some of which were
obsolete, which could still be utilised in prose as well as in verse.
For instance, verbal forms in -eth (3rd pers. pres. sing. ) were seldom
used in ordinary speech; but, in a line like 'It blesseth him that gives
and him that takes,' both the archaic and the current forms appear,
to the improvement of the rhythm. Similarly, final -ed could be
pronounced or not according to the required rhythm, as in the line
'Thou changed and self-cover'd thing,' and these devices have since
remained with the poets. Then, again, the particle 'the could, if
necessary, be omitted in archaic fashion, for its modern definitive
character had not yet been assumed. Advantage might, also, be
taken of the unsettled state of the accent in Latin words, like
'complete' and 'extreme,' to accentuate such words in accordance
with metrical exigencies; while the unemphatic 'do,' though ob-
solescent at this date, might frequently help out the rhythm in
both verse and prose?
As regards its musical resources, however, Elizabethan English,
as well as later English, had certain marked limitations. It was a
language overloaded with consonants, many of them harsh and
dissonant in character; and it was the prevalence of consonantal
endings that made the language poor in rimes, as contrasted with
the Italian, which abounded in words with vowel terminations.
It also possessed a great abundance of half-pronounced vowels,
which were neither long nor short and which defeated the
attempts of the Areopagites to make the language run into
classical moulds. The choice of metrical forms, as a matter of
fact, was largely determined by the native method of accentua-
tion; the majority of words of more than one syllable developed,
naturally, a trochaic, iambic, or dactylic rhythm, and these were
the elements out of which the stately blank verse and the many
lyrical forms were built. Another inherent disability under which
6
6
1 E. g. 'Why should he stay, whom love doth press to go. ' See Franz, Shak. -Gram.
§ 444.


## p. 465 (#487) ############################################

Elizabethan and Modern English
465
Elizabethan English laboured was that its word-order was neces-
sarily more fixed, and, therefore, less elastic, than was the case
with the highly-inflected languages of antiquity, which required no
such rigidity of position. Furthermore, its grammatical forms lacked
variety and, while it abounded in monosyllabic words, it was short
of the much-resounding polysyllabic words, so that a rhythmical
grace was not so inevitable as in Latin or Greek.
In the centuries which have followed the age of Elizabeth, the
language has undergone many changes, and these changes may be
roughly summarised, first, as the extension of the vocabulary to
keep pace with the ever-widening thought, and, secondly, as the
adaptation of the structure of the language to clearer and more
precise expression. In the course of time, the numerous national
activities, the pursuits of science and art, of commerce and politics,
have enriched its expression with their various terminologies.
Literal uses have become metaphorical, concrete terms, abstract;
many words have depreciated in meaning, and the line has been
drawn more rigidly between words literary and non-literary. There
has been in the language what Coleridge calls 'an instinct of
growth. . . working progressively to desynonymise those words of
originally the same meaning,' and this division of labour has enabled
the language to express finer shades of thought. The verbal con-
jugation has been enriched, the elements which made for vagueness
have been removed and in every way the language has adapted
itself to a scientific age, which requires, before all things, clear,
accurate and precise expression.
But Elizabethan English, alone among the earlier stages of our
language, still plays a part in modern intellectual life. Thanks to
the English Bible, the prayer-book and Shakespeare, it has never
become really obsolete. Its diction and its idioms are still familiar,
endeared and consecrated by sacred association. It yet remains the
inspiration of our noblest styles, for beyond its concrete strength,
its picturesque simplicity and its forceful directness, English expres-
sion cannot go. And so, in moments of exaltation the old phrases
are recalled, untainted by any mingling in the market place, and, with
their rich suggestiveness, they heighten the passion or beauty which
a more explicit idiom would destroy. Modern English is the fitting
medium of an age which leaves little unexplained; while Eliza-
bethan English stands for an age too hasty to analyse what it felt.
The one has the virtues of maturity, a logic, uncompromising and
clear: the other, a vigour and a felicity, the saving graces of youth.
E. L. III.
CH.