14th Century Middle English - Englyſſh

Standard 14th Century Middle English vocabulary, numerals and quotations for comparison with other languages


In the 300 years after Normandy conquered England, the English language was transformed from a Germanic language similar in nature to German or Dutch, to a hybrid of English, Norse and French. Old English (or Anglo-Saxon) had now become Middle English.

Old English had a complex grammar, much of which was discarded in the next 300 years, during which time Norman French was the language of prestige in England. Old English had its own spelling rules and its unique version of the Roman alphabet. Middle English, on the other hand, spelt English words using French spelling rules and discarded some of the original Old English letters. French-speaking scribes wrote English "þ" as "th", "ð" also as "th", "ƿ" as "w" and "æ" as "a".

The letter "ƽ" presented a problem. Sometimes it was pronounced as a hard "g" as in "ƽos" (goose) and then the scribes used their letter "g". Sometimes it was used for the consonant "y" as in "ƽear" (year). For that the scribes modified "ƽ" to "ȝ". The letter "ȝ" in time also came to be used for the throaty sound in "dohtor" (daughter) giving "douȝter". This became the "gh" which causes so many problems in Modern English spelling.

The invention of printing brought the use of "þ", "ð", "ƿ", "æ" and "ȝ" to an end because printers usually didn’t have the means to print them.

Because the 14th century was a time of change, alternative spellings are shown for some words.

Speakers included Geoffrey Chaucer, John Wycliffe and William Langland.


1. brother, broþer    brother        1. yea, ȝea    yes          
2. ſiſter    sister        2. nay    no          
3. ſone    son        3. bi þi leue    please          
4. doughter, douȝter    daughter        4.             
5. fader    father                    
6. moder    mother        1. Sonneday    Sunday          
          2. Moneday    Monday          
1. lenten    spring        3. Teweſday    Tuesday          
2. ſomer    summer        4. Wedneſday    Wednesday        1. I am    I am
3. autumpne    autumn        5. Thoreſday, Þoreſday    Thursday        2. thou art, þou art    you are (sing.)
4. wynter    winter        6. Fryday    Friday          
          7. Saterday    Saturday        3. he is    he is
1. hors    horse                  ſhe is    she is
2. hound    dog        1. toun    town        it is    it is
3. cat    cat        2. village    village        1. we be    we are
4. cowe    cow        3. ſtrete    street        2. ye be, ȝe be    you are (plur.)
5. bole    bull        4.             
6. ſwyne    pig        5. brigge    bridge        3. they be, þey be    they are
7. ſchepe    sheep        6. hous    house          
8. wolf    wolf        7. gardyn    garden          
9. mous    mouse        8. chirche    church          
10. foul    bird        9. ſcole    school        1. oon    one
11. goos    goose        10.           2. two    two
12. fyſſh    fish                  3. thre, þre    three
                    4. fowre    four
1. bred    bread        1. blake    black        5. fiue    five
2. appel    apple        2. whyte    white        6. ſyxe    six
3. note    nut        3. blewe    blue        7. ſeuen    seven
4. ſalt    salt        4. grene    green        8. eyghte, eȝte    eight
5. peper    pepper        5. yelowe, ȝelowe    yellow        9. nyne    nine
6. hony    honey        6. rede    red        10. ten    ten
7. mylk    milk                  11. enleuene    eleven
8. butter    butter        1. to ſene    to see        12. twelue    twelve
9. cheſe    cheese        2. to here    to hear        13. threttene, þrettene    thirteen
10. water    water        3. to ete    to eat        20. twenty    twenty
11. wyne    wine        4. to drynke    to drink        30. thritty, þritty    thirty
12. bere    beer        5. to ſyngyn    to sing        100. an hundred    a hundred
                      
1. mount    mountain        1. name    name        1. hand    hand
2. ſee    sea        2. to writen    to write        2. fote    foot
3. lake    lake        3. boke    book        3. herte    heart
4. ryuere    river        4. to ſpeke    to speak        4. blode    blood
5. olde    old        5. day    day        5. heued    head
6. newe    new        6. nyght, nyȝt    night        6. eyghe, eiȝe    eye
7. ſchip    ship        7. wyke    week        7. ere    ear
8.           8. moneth, moneþ    month        8. tothe, toþ    tooth
9.           9. yeer, ȝeer    year        9. here    hair
10. hauen    harbour        10. and    and        10. to ſlepe    to sleep
                      
1. Ianuarie    January        7. Iuyl    July        1. ſonne    sun
2. Februari    February        8. augſt    August        2. mone    moon
3. Marche    March        9. ſeptembre    September        3. ſterre    star
4. Aprille    April        10. octobre    October        4. wynd    wind
5. May    May        11. nouembre    November        5. reyn    rain
6. Iune    June        12. Decembre    December        6. ſnow    snow
                    7. yſe    ice
1. colde    cold        1. hoot    hot        8. fyre    fire
2. litel    small        2. greet    large        9. ſtoon    stone
3. thynne, þynne    thin        3. thykke, þykke    thick        10. ſiluer    silver
4. ſoure    sour        4. ſwete    sweet          
                      
1. mouth, mouþ    mouth        1. to yeue, to ȝeue    to give        1. defe    deaf
2. tonge    tongue        2. to begge    to buy        2. deepe    deep
3. word    word        3. to ſitte    to sit        3. ful    full
4. ſpeche    language        4. to rede    to read        4. yong, ȝong    young
5. flour    flower        5. market    market        5. good    good
6. ſope    soap        6. dore    door        6. kyng    king


* * * * * * * *

For god louede ſo þe world / þat he ȝaf his oon bigetun ſone / þat ech man þat bileueþ in him periſche not / but haue euerlaſtynge lijf.

For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. John 3,16

* * * * * * * *

1 Nyle ȝe deme / þat ȝe be nat demyd; 2 for in what dome ȝe demen / ȝe ſchulen ben demyd / and in what meſure ȝe meten / it ſchal be meten aȝen to ȝou.

1 Do not judge, so that you won’t be judged. 2 For you will be judged by the same standard with which you judge others, and you will be measured by the same measure you use. Matthew 7

* * * * * * * *

Þerfor alle þingis / what euere þingis ȝee wolen þat men don to ȝou / do ȝe to hem.

In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you Matthew 7,12

* * * * * * * *

Þou ſchalt loue thi neiȝebore as thi ſelf.

Love others as much as you love yourself. Matthew 22,39

* * * * * * * *

9 Oure fadir þat art in heuenes / halewid be þi name; 10 þi kyngdoom come to; be þi wille don in erþe as in heuene; 11 ȝyue to vs þis day oure breed ouer oþir ſubſtaunce; 12 and forȝyue to vs oure dettis / as we forȝyuen to oure dettouris; 13 and lede vs not in to temptacioun / but delyuere vs fro yuel.

9 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Matthew 6

* * * * * * * *


14th Century Middle English was spoken in:

Lunden (London)
Brestol (Bristol)
York
Norwiche (Norwich)
Oxenford (Oxford)
Shrovesbury (Shrewsbury)
Caunterbury (Canterbury)
Gloster (Gloucester)
Winchestre (Winchester)



Some Approximate Pronunciations
14C Middle English as in was pronounced as in UK English
h- here; hand h- hear; hand
ſ-; -ſ- ſpeke; cheſe s; z speak; cheese
-u- ryuere; fiue -v- river; five
v- vs u full; push
i- Ianuarie; Iuyl j- January; July
th; þ thre; þre th thin or then randomly
broþer; brother brother or broth
ȝ- ȝeer; ȝong y- year; young
-gh-; -ȝ- nyght; nyȝt -ch- Scots loch
ou toun; mous oo cool


My other websites:
Languages of the World
New Nutshell
Christianity in a Nutshell

My wife's websites:
Meaning of Life
Bits




I wanted to share with you why I think Christianity is such a great religion. A person who lives to 70 has a life of 613,200 hours. Christianity promises that the next life will be in ideal surroundings with friendly, happy people. There will be perfect health and no crime. Of course you’re free to reject it.

Isn’t it worth, though, spending at least part of one of your 613,200 hours just checking it out. Then if you reject it, at least you’ll have made an informed decision. Is it just possible that your world view could be wrong and Christianity might actually be true? Where would that leave you if you choose to turn down the offer of eternal life?


These are some of my wife's thoughts and ideas:



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