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[0:00]Hello, and welcome back to the series of lectures about the history of the English language. I am Dr. Patrick Catchpole, and in today's lecture, we're going to be talking about the early modern English period. And this is a fascinating period for the English language because it's a period of a lot of change. Now, in the last lecture, we talked about Middle English and how Middle English came to an end. And the reason that Middle English came to an end was largely because of the great vowel shift. Now, the great vowel shift really changed pronunciation in a very profound way, but it happened over a period of about 200 years. So it wasn't an overnight change, but it was a change that really redefined how people pronounced English words. So, just to give you a quick recap of what the great vowel shift was all about, it basically refers to a series of sound changes in English that happened at the end of the Middle English period, and during the early modern English period. So between about 1400 and 1600 AD, and what the great vowel shift did was to change the pronunciation of the long vowels in the English language. So, the long vowels, and we refer to them as long vowels because they're held longer than the short vowels when we say them. Now, the long vowels were actually pronounced further forward and higher in the mouth, and they eventually became the long vowels that we have today. And this had a really profound effect on the English language because it meant that the way that people pronounce words really changed a lot. So, if you remember from our last lecture, we talked about how some words like the word name, which was spelled N A M E, would have been pronounced namah, or something like that, during the Middle English period. But after the great vowel shift, because the long A vowel moved forward and higher in the mouth, it became name. So, you can see how that changed a lot. Now, the great vowel shift is one of the things that defines the break between Middle English and early modern English. But it's not the only thing, because there were also a number of other changes that were happening in the English language during this period. And these changes are largely due to a couple of really significant events in English history. The first one is the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in about 1439. And the second one is the Protestant Reformation, which started in about 1517. Now, both of these events had a really profound effect on the English language. So let's talk about the printing press first. Now, the printing press meant that books could be produced much more cheaply and much more quickly than they had been before. And this meant that literacy rates started to go up. More people were able to read, and more people were able to access books. And what this did was to help to standardize the English language, because before the printing press, there was a lot of variation in spelling and grammar. And this was because scribes would often write words the way that they heard them, or the way that they thought they should be spelled. But with the printing press, because books were being produced in large numbers, it meant that there was a need for some kind of standardization. And so, the printers, the people who were actually printing the books, started to try and standardize spelling and grammar. And this had a really profound effect on the English language because it meant that, gradually, a more standardized form of English started to emerge. Now, the other thing that the printing press did was to increase the number of books that were available in English. And this meant that more people were exposed to English, and it meant that English started to become a more important language. Now, the other significant event that was happening during this period was the Protestant Reformation. And the Protestant Reformation was a religious movement that started in the 16th century, and it really changed the way that people thought about religion. Now, one of the key ideas of the Protestant Reformation was that people should be able to read the Bible in their own language. And this meant that there was a big push to translate the Bible into English. And the most famous of these translations is the King James Bible, which was published in 1611. Now, the King James Bible had a really profound effect on the English language because it meant that a lot of people were exposed to English in a very formal and literary way. And it meant that a lot of phrases and expressions from the King James Bible actually made their way into everyday English. So, for example, phrases like "a drop in the bucket," or "by the skin of your teeth," actually come from the King James Bible. And so, you can see how the King James Bible really helped to shape the English language. Now, the early modern English period is also a period when a lot of new words started to enter the English language. And this was largely because of the Renaissance, which was a period of great intellectual and artistic activity in Europe. And during the Renaissance, there was a lot of interest in classical languages like Latin and Greek. And this meant that a lot of words from Latin and Greek actually started to enter the English language. So, for example, words like "anonymous," or "catastrophe," or "critic," actually come from Greek. And words like "education," or "experiment," or "scientific," actually come from Latin. And so, you can see how the Renaissance really helped to enrich the English vocabulary. Now, the early modern English period is also a period when English started to spread around the world. And this was largely because of the British Empire, which was a period when Britain was colonizing a lot of different parts of the world. And so, as the British Empire expanded, English started to be spoken in a lot of different places. And this meant that English started to come into contact with a lot of different languages. And this led to a lot of words from other languages actually entering the English language. So, for example, words like "shampoo," or "jungle," or "pajamas," actually come from Indian languages. And words like "coffee," or "sugar," or "zero," actually come from Arabic. And so, you can see how the expansion of the British Empire really helped to diversify the English vocabulary. Now, the early modern English period is often divided into two sub-periods. The first one is Elizabethan English, which refers to the English that was spoken during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who reigned from 1558 to 1603. And the second one is Jacobean English, which refers to the English that was spoken during the reign of King James I, who reigned from 1603 to 1625. Now, Elizabethan English is often associated with the plays of William Shakespeare. And Shakespeare's plays are a really important source of information about the English language during this period. Because Shakespeare actually invented a lot of new words and phrases that are still used in English today. So, for example, words like "eyeball," or "swagger," or "generous," actually come from Shakespeare. And phrases like "all that glitters is not gold," or "to be or not to be," actually come from Shakespeare. And so, you can see how Shakespeare really helped to shape the English language. Now, Jacobean English is often associated with the King James Bible, which we've already talked about. And the King James Bible is another really important source of information about the English language during this period. Because it helped to standardize English and to introduce a lot of new words and phrases into the language. So, in conclusion, the early modern English period was a period of great change for the English language. It was a period when the great vowel shift happened, when the printing press was invented, when the Protestant Reformation took place, and when English started to spread around the world. And all of these things helped to shape the English language into the language that we know today. Thank you for joining me for this lecture, and I look forward to seeing you in the next one.