Transcript Elizabethan English - Village Christian School

Elizabethan English
Please put these notes in the
Literature section of your notebook.
Harper Lee’s To Kill A Mockingbird
1960
When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his
arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed,
and Jem's fears of never being able to play football
were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious
about his injury. His left arm was somewhat
shorter than his right; when he stood or walked,
the back of his hand was at right angles to his
body, his thumb parallel to his thigh. He couldn't
have cared less, so long as he could pass and punt.
Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities, 1859
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it
was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it
was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it
was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it
was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had
everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were
all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the
other way--in short, the period was so far like the present
period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its
being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative
degree of comparison only.
Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer
Night’s Dream” 1594
•
PUCK
If we shadows have offended,
Think but this, and all is mended,
That you have but slumber'd here
While these visions did appear.
And this weak and idle theme,
No more yielding but a dream,
Gentles, do not reprehend:
if you pardon, we will mend:
And, as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to 'scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call;
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.
Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, 1400
Here bygynneth the Book of the tales of
Caunterbury.
10
1
Whan that Aprille, with hise shoures soote,
11
2
The droghte of March hath perced to the
roote
12
3
And bathed every veyne in swich licour,
13
4
Of which vertu engendred is the flour;
14
5
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
6
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
7
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
16
8
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours yronne,
17
9
15
That slepen al the nyght with open eyeSo priketh hem Nature in hir coragesThanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially, from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunturbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for the seke
And smale foweles maken melodye,
18
That hem hath holpen, whan that they were
seeke.
Old English
Beowulf 1000
Thou, Thee, Thy , and Thine
• There is no mystery when you see these
words in Shakespeare or in the Bible.
• Nowadays, we use “you” to mean the
second person singular and plural.
Sometimes, we use “you guys” or “y’all”
for the plural.
• “Thou” used to be singular, and “you” was
plural.
Singular and Plural
Modern English
Elizabethan
Singular and
English
Plural
Singular
• Thou
•You
•You
• Thee
•Your
• Thy
•Yours
• Thine
Elizabethan
English
Plural
• Ye (subject)
• You (object)
• Your
• yours
1 sing
st ular
plur
al
2 sing
n
ular
d
plur
al
3 sing
rd ular
plur
al
SUBJECT
OBJECT
POSS
I
Me
My (or mine)
We
Us
Our (or ours)
Thou
Thee
Thy (or thine)
Ye
You
Your (or yours)
He/She/It
Him/Her/It
His/Hers/Its
They
Them
Their (or theirs)
NOM=nominative = case
of the subject
OBJ=objective = case of the object of the verb, indirect object of the
verb or object of a preposition
POSS=possessive = case of
possessing or sourcing.
Hint for using Elizabethan English
•
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•
•
•
•
Use “Thou” where you would use “I”
Use “Thee” where you would use “me”
Use “Thy” where you would use “my”
Use “Thine” where you would use “mine”
Use “Ye” where your would use “we”
Use “You” where you would use “us”
The Verbs
• If the subject is “Thou”, you will often add -est, -'st, or st
to the verb.
• If you have a verb phrase (helping verbs before the main
verb), change the ending of the first helping verb. You
would never change two verbs that are next to each other.
Present
Modern
Present
old
Past
old
you
are
have
will
can
shall
do
thou
art
hast
wilt
canst
shalt
dost
thou
wast
hadst
shoulds
wouldst couldst
t
didst
The Verbs
• Third Person Singular (he, she, it, Hermia,
Theseus) often substitutes -th for -s.
Again, this is only for present tense verbs. If
you have a verb phrase (helping verbs
before the main verb), change the ending of
the first helping verb.
Common Shakespearean Words
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Maid – young woman
Knave – bad guy
Ere – before
An – if
Fair – beautiful
Hark! – Listen
Visage – face (noun)
Hither - here
Thither - there
Whither – where
Forsooth – Truthfully
• Common Contractions
'tis ~ it is
ope ~ open
o'er ~ over
gi' ~ give
ne'er ~ never
i' ~ in
e'er ~ ever
oft ~ often
a' ~ he
e'en ~ even
Examples
• You are a student.
• Thou art a student.
• She brings you a donut every day.
• She bringeth thee a donut every day.
• He has your book.
• He hath thy book.
• You already had yours.
• Thou already hadst thine.
More Examples
• Your brother will give you a ride there.
• How are you today?
• Where do you live?
• Before you eat, you should wash your hands.
More Examples
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•
•
•
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Your brother will give you a ride there.
Thy brother wilt give thee a ride thither.
How are you today?
How art thou today?
Where do you live?
Wither does thou live?
Before you eat, you should wash your hands.
Ere thou eatest, thou shouldst wash thy hands.