Middle English
Middle English is the language spoken in England, Scotland, and Ireland during the Middle Ages. The marker of the beginning of the Middle English era is The Battle of Hastings and the marker of the end of it is the Great Vowel Shift.
Stages
English has had 4 primary stages:
- Anglo-Saxon also known as Old English
- Middle English
- Early Modern English
- Modern English
The separation of Anglo-Saxon from Middle English is marked by The Battle of Hastings in 1066. The separation of Middle English and the Modern English stages is the Great Vowel Shift.
Modern English words have many different origins, but a majority come from Anglo-Saxon, Old Norman French, and a little Old Norse. However in the global world today, many words from many other languages have entered the English language.
Dialects
There are five major dialects of Middle English. Those are:
West Midlands
East Midlands
Northern Middle English
Southern Middle English
Kentish Middle English
Often the West Midlands and East Midlands dialects are put together and are called Midlands. The Northern dialect is often called Northumbrian dialect.
The Northern Dialect has a heavy influence from Old Norse.
