Merja Stenroos: ‘Who is speaking to whom? Identity and intelligibility in Middle English scribal transmission’

Duration: 23 mins 47 secs

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Description:	The standardisation of English is often taken to begin in the fifteenth century. Scholars may consider written English to be largely ‘standardised’ by 1500; at the same time, written language continues to be highly variable well into the seventeenth century. There is a tendency among scholars to relate variation in this period to an ongoing process of standardisation, often interpreting forms that are identical to those which survive in later standard English as ‘progressive’ and other forms as ‘conservative’ or ‘recessive’. This paper argues that strong regional usages could be actively chosen and preferred throughout the fifteenth century, and that modern conceptions of ‘standard’ usages, with their social and educational connotations, may be misleading when applied to late medieval materials.

Description:

The standardisation of English is often taken to begin in the fifteenth century. Scholars may consider written English to be largely ‘standardised’ by 1500; at the same time, written language continues to be highly variable well into the seventeenth century. There is a tendency among scholars to relate variation in this period to an ongoing process of standardisation, often interpreting forms that are identical to those which survive in later standard English as ‘progressive’ and other forms as ‘conservative’ or ‘recessive’. This paper argues that strong regional usages could be actively chosen and preferred throughout the fifteenth century, and that modern conceptions of ‘standard’ usages, with their social and educational connotations, may be misleading when applied to late medieval materials.


Created:	2012-02-29 17:51
Collection:	Scribes as Agents of Language Change
Publisher:	University of Cambridge
Copyright:	E-M. Wagner
Language:	eng (English)
Keywords:	standardisation; regionalisation; English; progressive; conservative;


Abstract:	The standardisation of English is often taken to begin in the fifteenth century; however, the term is used differently by scholars depending on their focus and interests. Scholars who focus on geographical variation may consider written English to be largely ‘standardised’ by 1500; at the same time, written language continues to be highly variable well into the seventeenth century. While there seems to have been little active pressure towards uniformity, there is a tendency among scholars to relate variation in this period to an ongoing process of standardisation, often interpreting forms that are identical to those which survive in later standard English as ‘progressive’ and other forms as ‘conservative’ or ‘recessive’. This paper argues that such a perspective may result in a skewed view of the actual variation, and that terms such as ‘standard’ and ‘standardisation’ may not be very useful when applied to fifteenth-century materials. It presents two case studies of texts that do not fit into a unidirectional view of the standardisation process: a field survey from the East Riding of Yorkshire and a lectionary from the West Midlands, prefixed to a Wycliffite New Testament. These texts show that strongly regional usages could be actively chosen and preferred throughout the fifteenth century, and that modern conceptions of ‘standard’ usages, with their social and educational connotations, may be misleading when applied to late medieval materials.

Abstract:

The standardisation of English is often taken to begin in the fifteenth century; however, the term is used differently by scholars depending on their focus and interests. Scholars who focus on geographical variation may consider written English to be largely ‘standardised’ by 1500; at the same time, written language continues to be highly variable well into the seventeenth century. While there seems to have been little active pressure towards uniformity, there is a tendency among scholars to relate variation in this period to an ongoing process of standardisation, often interpreting forms that are identical to those which survive in later standard English as ‘progressive’ and other forms as ‘conservative’ or ‘recessive’.

This paper argues that such a perspective may result in a skewed view of the actual variation, and that terms such as ‘standard’ and ‘standardisation’ may not be very useful when applied to fifteenth-century materials. It presents two case studies of texts that do not fit into a unidirectional view of the standardisation process: a field survey from the East Riding of Yorkshire and a lectionary from the West Midlands, prefixed to a Wycliffite New Testament. These texts show that strongly regional usages could be actively chosen and preferred throughout the fifteenth century, and that modern conceptions of ‘standard’ usages, with their social and educational connotations, may be misleading when applied to late medieval materials.

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