HISTORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE C – GROUP 4

Desak Putu Salshabila Ardiantari Putri (1801541065)

Alifia Soeryo (1801541066)
Bagus Tryaji Pangestu (1801541067)
I Kadek Maesa Dwi Payana Putra (1801541068)
I Kadek Agus Ari Wibawa (1801541069)

Transcription of Video Week 5:

The Middle English Period

Slide 1
Introduction
Hello everyone! On this occasion, we – Group 4, would like to present material regarding
The Middle English Period, based on the video attached in OASE. First of all, the members of
this group are Salsha, Fia, Tryaji, Maesa, and Agus.
Without further ado, let’s get to the explanation!

Slide 2
A Concise Introduction of Middle English Period
Well, the history of England and English language, as we know it, was divided into
several periods. One of them is the Middle English Period. The beginning of Middle English
Period defined from 1100 – 1500. This period coincided with an important event, the Battle of
Hastings, in the Norman conquest of England in 1066, or to be exact on October 14 th, 1066,
when William the Conqueror defeated King Harold II. After defeating the previous king,
William was crowned as a king, with the name William I, at Westminster Abbey in 1066.

Slide 3
The Main Phases of the Period
Do you know that there are three main phases included in the Middle English Period? If
you do not, here you can find out.
1. The Decline of English (1066-1204)
 Well, this first phase named as the decline of English because of at that time, English
language, social, and political structure were declined and replaced by the new one which was
caused by the Norman conquest. It was such as an almost complete replacement of English
aristocracy by the Norman aristocracy. Furthermore, the conquest also had an enormous impact
of English language, including the lost of the status. This was occurred after 1100, whereby the
English language largely lost its status and became the language of lower classes for over 200
years. English was officially replaced by Latin and French which was used by the ruling classes.
It remained until 1024 and then a new phase occurred.
2. The Ascent of English (1204-1348)
Next, after 200 years, the year 1204 marked the turning point, when King John lost his
English possession in France. Then, it led to a gradual decline of French as an official language
in England. John was the youngest son of Henry II and Eleanor of Akutan. This lost of England
possession in France made French a less important language in England. With the lost that
happened in the prior phase, the second phase began. A considerable decline of interest in French
and an increase of interest in English happened. Another factor leading to the ascent of English
was the growing communication among the English speakers of various regions. By the 13 th and
14th centuries, even the children of English nobility no longer used French as the native language.
Then, English became a new medium of instruction.
3. The English Triumphant (1348-1509)
During this time, two occurrences that sealed the French fates occurred. This phase then
known as the English Triumphant. So, what were the two occurrences? Here they are.
 The Black Death (1348-1351)
The first one, the Black Death. It was one of the worst things that Europe had ever
experienced. It made 1/3 of people in England died, leading to an enormous labor shortage and
an indirectly increase of the prestige of English which was the language of the working class.
 The Hundred Years War (1337-1453)
Besides the Black Death, the Hundred Years War also had affected the situation. This war
led to a loss of all continental holdings without which the English people no longer had an
important reason for learning and using French.

Slide 4
The Linguistics Properties of Middle English
After all the explanations about the things that happened to English language, how about
the linguistics properties themselves during the Middle English Period? Well, we will find out
together in this slide.
1. The Language
 Due to Latin and French influences, a new language had evolved by the mid of 14 th
century. Middle English was clearly Germanic at its core, but it had an extensive romance
vocabularies. Two periods of French influence on Middle English can be distinguished as
follows.
 Anglo-Norman French (late 12th century)
 Central French (13th – the end of 15th century)
The adoption of words from two different kinds of French accounts for differences in the
pronunciation of French loanwords. In the Middle English, the structure complexity of Old
English had disappeared. The many linguistic developments which identify the Middle English
Period are most evident in the poetry and prose of the second half of the 14 century.
2. The Literature
Next, we have the literature. The development of literature in Middle English Period was
quite good without many disturbances, but there were only several surviving texts that can be
found. One of the great authors was John Wickliffe, which produced texts, especially on
religious themes. His renowned and beneficial work was notably the first complete translation of
the Bible into English. He was remembered and honored for his role in Bible translating.
In addition, among the best-known poetic creations of the 14th century is a poem by
William Langland. He renowned for his great works, one of them is Piers Plowman, which was
an allegorical poem in unrhymed alliterative verse, regarded as the greatest Middle English
poem. However, the universally recognized of pinnacle poetic achievement in Middle English
are the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer. He was the most respected poet of his time,
making great contributions to the literary language.

Slide 5
The End of Middle English Period
The period of Middle English met its ending, marked by several historical events where
each of them had an enormous impact of the development of English.
The first, the introduction of the printing press to England in 1476 by William Caxton
which led to a spread of English. Caxton was credited with standardizing the English language,
which was a sort of alignment of regional dialects to a printing. This facilitated the expansion of
English vocabularies and the regularization of inflection and syntax.
The second event was the beginning of colonization from 1500 onwards after the
discovery of America in 1492, which eventually led to a global spread of the English language.
Last but not least, Henry VIII, who was inaugurated in 1509, eventually cut the links
between Rome and the English church. By 1500, English began to obtain to a new possession,
from a regional European language to a global system of communication.
Slide 6
Conclusion and Closing
To sum up, the English language underwent a dramatic development during the Middle
English Period. It was almost condemned to extinction by the dominance of French, but later
when the French dominions on the continent were lost it became popular and used again. The
literature also well-developed by the great authors that existed back at that time. In terms of
linguistics aspects, the Middle English Period contributed to develop wider vocabularies of
English that caused by the influences of French and Latin previously.
Well, this is the end of the presentation. We are apologize for any mistakes or
inconvenience that we do. Hope this helps answering your curiosity and gives insights. Last but
not least, thank you for your attention!