A Brief History of the English Language and Literature, Vol. 2 | Page 5

the fourteenth century is very great, but the difference between the
English of the fourteenth and that of the thirteenth century is very
small.
4. +Ancient English or Anglo-Saxon, 450-1100.+-- This form of
English differed from modern English in having a much larger number
of inflexions. The noun had five cases, and there were several
declensions, just as in Latin; adjectives were declined, and had three
genders; some pronouns had a dual as well as a plural number; and the
verb had a much larger number of inflexions than it has now. The
vocabulary of the language contained very few foreign elements. The
poetry of the language employed head-rhyme or alliteration, and not
end-rhyme, as we do now. The works of the poet +Caedmon+ and the
great prose-writer +King Alfred+ belong to this Anglo-Saxon period.

5. +Early English, 1100-1250.+-- The coming of the Normans in 1066
made many changes in the land, many changes in the Church and in the
State, and it also introduced many changes into the language. The
inflexions of our speech began to drop off, because they were used less
and less; and though we never adopted new inflexions from French or
from any other language, new French words began to creep in. In some
parts of the country English had ceased to be written in books; the
language existed as a spoken language only; and hence accuracy in the
use of words and the inflexions of words could not be ensured. Two
notable books-- written, not printed, for there was no printing in this
island till the year 1474-- belong to this period. These are the
+Ormulum+, by +Orm+ or +Ormin+, and the +Brut+, by a monk
called +Layamon+ or +Laweman+. The latter tells the story of Brutus,
who was believed to have been the son of Æneas of Troy; to have
escaped after the downfall of that city; to have sailed through the
Mediterranean, ever farther and farther to the west; to have landed in
Britain, settled here, and given the country its name.
6. +Middle English, 1250-1485.+-- Most of the inflexions of nouns and
adjectives have in this period-- between the middle of the thirteenth and
the end of the fifteenth century-- completely disappeared. The inflexions
of verbs are also greatly reduced in number. The +strong+[1] mode of
inflexion has ceased to be employed for verbs that are new-comers, and
the +weak+ mode has been adopted in its place. During the earlier
part of this period, even country-people tried to speak French, and in
this and other modes many French words found their way into English.
A writer of the thirteenth century, John de Trevisa, says that
country-people "fondeth [that is, try] with great bysynes for to speke
Freynsch for to be more y-told of." The country-people did not succeed
very well, as the ordinary proverb shows: "Jack would be a gentleman
if he could speak French." Boys at school were expected to turn their
Latin into French, and in the courts of law French only was allowed to
be spoken. But in 1362 Edward III. gave his assent to an Act of
Parliament allowing English to be used instead of Norman-French.
"The yer of oure Lord," says John de Trevisa, "a thousond thre
hondred foure score and fyve of the secunde Kyng Richard after the
conquest, in al the gramer scoles of Engelond children leveth Freynsch,

and construeth and turneth an Englysch." To the first half of this period
belong a +Metrical Chronicle+, attributed to +Robert of Gloucester+;
+Langtoft's+ Metrical Chronicle, translated by +Robert de Brunne+;
the +Agenbite of Inwit+, by Dan Michel of Northgate in Kent; and a
few others. But to the second half belong the rich and varied
productions of +Geoffrey Chaucer+, our first great poet and always
one of our greatest writers; the alliterative poems of +William
Langley+ or +Langlande+; the more learned poems of +John Gower+;
and the translation of the Bible and theological works of the reformer
+John Wyclif+.
[Footnote 1: See p. 43.]
7. +Tudor English, 1485-1603.+-- Before the end of the sixteenth
century almost all our inflexions had disappeared. The great dramatist
Ben Jonson (1574-1637) laments the loss of the plural ending +en+ for
verbs, because wenten and hopen were much more musical and more
useful in verse than went or hope; but its recovery was already past
praying for. This period is remarkable for the introduction of an
enormous number of Latin words, and this was due to the new interest
taken in the literature of the Romans-- an interest produced by what is
called the +Revival of Letters+. But the most striking, as it is also the
most important fact relating to this period, is the appearance of a
group of dramatic writers, the greatest the world has ever seen. Chief
among these was