Middle English Dialects PDF

# Middle English Dialects - **Northern** - West - **Midland** - East - **Southern** ## Middle English Dialects The language of the Middle English period was made up of a number of local dialects. The regional ME dialects had developed from respective OE dialects. The disunity inherited fr...

# Middle English Dialects - **Northern** - West - **Midland** - East - **Southern** ## Middle English Dialects The language of the Middle English period was made up of a number of local dialects. The regional ME dialects had developed from respective OE dialects. The disunity inherited from the Old English times had considerably increased due to the isolation of districts in the feudal state and to the two foreign influences. The table shows the main dialects in Middle English and their Old English sources. It also shows the origin of the mixed dialects of London which shifted from the South Western to the East Midland type in the course of the ME period. ## The Formation of the National Literacy English Language The information covers the early New English period. Henceforth, we can speak of the evolution of a single literary language instead of the similar or different development of the dialects. - There were at least two major external factors which favoured the rise of the national language and the literary standards. - The unification of the country. - The progress of culture. Other historical events, such as increased foreign contacts, affected the language in a less general way. They influenced the growth of the vocabulary.