Early Modern English (1500 - 1650)

Early Modern English (also often called Renaissance English) was used from the beginning of the Tudor Period until the Interregnum (1649-1660) and Restoration in England (1660).

However, it's quite hard to say the exact day of the Early Modern English period. Many scholars claim that it took place from 1500 till 1650, while others say that it continued until 1800. It can be explained by the fact that from around the 1690s England experienced a period of relative peace and stability, without any invasions and wars.

The Tudors

The transition from Middle English to Early Modern English was a gradual change in the language that had many factors. One of them is the Great Vowel Shift which took place during the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. It is sometimes believed that this Shift had started long before and continued long after the 18th century.

Great Vowel Shift was a change of how people pronounced English vowels.

They started to be pronounced more towards the front of the mouth. The causes of this change in pronunciation are still debated. One of the most important factors of this though is a huge number of loanwords that came to English at that time, which required different pronunciation and it affected both native words as well as borrowings from Latin and French.

Thanks to the Great Vowel Shift, the pronunciation of some words became much more as we pronounce them today. These are the main changes:

the end letter E on many words became voiceless;
the letters U and V that were quite interchangeable in Middle English became a vowel and a consonant respectively;
[b] at the end of a word - mb also became voiceless (e.g. comb, dumb);
[l] became voiceless too between A or O and a consonant (e.g. half, walk, talk, etc.)

English of that time was filling with new words, not because of any invasions like it was in the previous periods, but only thanks to borrowings (mostly from Greek and Latin)

At that time Latin was still considered the language of literacy and education. Up to the XVII century, English was rarely used in scientific works.

Such scholars as Isaak Newton, Thomas More, and many others, wrote their works in Latin. A lot of words from Latin were transmitted to English and many works were later translated.

Here are some words that were borrowed from Latin and Greek: focus, antenna, anthology, enthusiasm, orbit, skeleton, system, anatomy, atmosphere, anonymous, etc.

As we already know the Middle English period finished with the introduction of the printing press in England by William Caxton in 1476 (which was originally invented by Johann Gutenberg in about 1450, in Germany). In the following century, many thousands of books were printed! Buying and reading books stopped being something impossible and literacy grew up incredibly. Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and Thoma Malory's Tales of King Arthur became very popular.

During the Early Modern English period, some of the most influential English literature masterpieces were published.

For example, the Book of Common Prayer published in 1549. It was a translation of the Church liturgy in English.

And the King James Version of the Bible (1611). The English people finally were able to read the Bible in their native language.

The King James Bible is often considered a masterpiece of the English language. Many words and phrases started to appear in every-day speech, which we use even nowadays: cast pearls before swine; a broken heart; eye for eye, tooth for tooth; fall from grace; for every thing there is a reason; forbidden fruit, etc.

King James Bible

First English dictionary 1604 by Robert Cawdrey

Also, the Early Modern English period is famous for the creation of the first English dictionary - Table Alphabetical, publish by a schoolteacher Robert Cawdrey in 1604. It consisted of 2,543 words and a brief definition for each one. However, this work didn't prove to be very useful by scholars.

Renaissance English is also sometimes referred to as the Elizabethan Era or the Age of Shakespeare (because of the most important and famous writer and queen of that time).

Shakespeare

Shakespeare was a man who played a crucial role in the development of the English language in that period. He invented some 2,000 new words and neologisms that people of that time had never heard of!

e.g. majestic, bare-faced, courtship, excellent, hurry, hot-blooded, lonely, gloomy, etc.

Shakespeare introduced so many new phrases we're still using: it's Greek to me; sea change; we have seen better days; the clothes make the man; cruel to be kind, and many others!

Sometimes we use his words without even realizing it because many of his sayings became English proverbs.

On the background of all those changes, British naval supremacy was growing too. During the XVI and XVII centuries, International Trade expanded a lot, so more and more loanwords started coming to English from other different languages.

The language of the Elizabethan age is more similar to our Modern English than the language of Chaucer.

If we listen to the English of the Age of Shakespeare, we would be able to understand something. In contrast, Middle English would be pronounced much more difficult.

Borrowed words in English from other languages

The Early Modern English period was finishing and the next one, Late Modern English, was ready to appear. However, pronunciation and grammar continued to be the same. The thing that differs these 2 periods is vocabulary. Click here to read more about the next English period!

Films about Renaissance in Britain!

Here are some films that will help you learn more about the Renaissance period in Britain.

The Other Boleyn Girl

Shakespeare In Love

1. The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

A historical romantic drama that shows the life in the 16th century and tells a story of King Henry VIII's mistress Mary Boleyn and her sister Anne Boleyn who becomes the king's second wife.

2. Shakespeare in Love (1998)

Another historical romantic film which tells a story about William Shakespeare who falls in love with a girl while working on his most famous play Romeo and Juliet.

3. Elizabeth (1998)

A British historical drama which is based on the early years of Elizabeth I's reign after her half-sister's, Mary I of England, death. The film represents the suffering of the Queen who faces many plots and threats during those years.

4. A Very British Renaissance

BBC series in which an art historian James Fox tells about the greatest British artists who were creating during the Renaissance period in Britain.

Elizabeth

A Very British Renaissance

What do you think about these films? Have you watched any or know better ones about the Renaissance in Britain?