W ILLIAM S HAKESPEARE A ND H IS E FFECT ON THE E NGLISH L ANGUAGE

H OW S HAKESPEARE CHANGED ENGLISH — Shakespeare is most famous for the effect he had on the English language. — He invented a lot of the words and phrases we use in our every day speech. — He was able to contribute to the English language because “English was changing as people modernised their normal workaday speech.

" There was a huge inflow of other European vocabulary into the English language as a result of Renaissance cross- pollination. That created new variations for English words. It allowed endless possibilities for Shakespeare." In one of his works of literature. "He is able to exploit multiple meanings of one word". He created words like 'intelect' 'wisdom' 'eyesight' and daylight'.

English was changing in the fact that the inflectial endings of words were dissapearing. English was becoming very flexible, which gave Shakespeare the capability to do whatever he wanted. Shakespeare was the leading person in the "Renaissance explosion" we see in the poetry from that time period. Shakespeare took English wherever he wanted in his poetry and other works of literature.

In old English, the word thao was used when you were talking to on person, ye when talking to several. When Early Modern English came around, the distinction between you and ye was basically gone. The words ye and thao had become old fashioned.

In Early Modern English around Shakespeares time, in the singular form, you was an alternative to thou and thee. "You was used by people of lower statuses to those above them." Thao and thee were used to by people in the higher social rank to people with lower social status'. thao and thee were used "in adressing God, and in talking to witches, ghosts, and other supernatural beings. A husband would adress to his wife as thao, and she would adress him as you.

The way words were pronounced in early modern English is the same of modern English. In Shakespeare's time people used words like "thees" and "thous". People complain because it is confusing, but in reality they mean the same thing as "you". Shakespeare really isn't all that confusing!

When shakespear used the word "thou" he used it in an emotional way. He used to express special intimacy or affection. "Thou might also be used by an inferior to a superior, to express such feelings as anger or contempt or to be insulting and this is one of the areas where shakespear is able to get extra levels of meaning by showing disrespect by ones character for anothers status." If somone were to use thou to another person of equal social class. It might be taken as an insult.

"Shakespeare was acutely aware of the way the Early Modern English language that he grew up with was changin and it is yet another way that he was able to create the levels of meaning that made him such an enduring writer. When students take the trouble to understand the use of the thees and thous they a are able to appreciate the additional meaning rather than seeing them as a difficulty."

W ORK C ITED -Shakespeare's Development Of Middle English To Early Modern English