The Ages of EnglishBy David Crystal |
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 Excerpt from the printed edition of the prologue to 'Eneydos' by William Caxton (1490) in which Caxton comments on misunderstandings in the English language ©
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Prologue to 'Eneydos' – William Caxton (1490)
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The Invention of the Printing Press 1476
The arrival of the printing press is a major step towards a standard writing system – and initiates an enormous boom in the production of printed resources in English.
Once luxury items, books are now more affordable, and the spread of literacy suddenly makes publishing a profitable business. Over 20,000 titles appear following the setting up of England’s first printing press by William Caxton in 1476.
Literary output in Scotland reaches an all time high in the 15th century, driven by the works of writers like Robert Henryson and William Dunbar.
Language development
The 'Great Vowel Shift' takes place during the 15th century, and represents a major development in pronunciation which resulted in many words coming to be pronounced more like they are today. A speaker in Chaucer's era pronounced 'time' like the modern English 'team', 'see' like 'say', 'fame' like 'farm'.
The dialect of the East Midlands begins to establish itself as a form of 'standard English'. This is the most populous region of England and home to important social, administrative, and educational centres, including the royal court at London. Spelling also becomes more standardised and the pace of grammatical change slows down.
But more dialects emerge, compared to the Old English era. West Saxon is now Southern; Northumbrian is Northern; Mercian splits into West Midlands and East Midlands; Kentish still encompasses the south east. In Scotland, the dialect diverges radically from its English cousins, adopting Gaelic words and developing a unique pronunciation. The change is dubbed by some ‘Middle Scots’ to distinguish it from 'Middle English'.
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