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Student  _________________________

Date  ___________________________

 

Chapter 7        The Making of Middle English

  1. The Middle English period extends from the time of the French take-over in England in the year ________________ to the time of the __________________________  around 1500.
  2. Of the 80 sounds used in all the world's languages, English uses only ________.
  3. In Middle English the word knight rhymed with ____________.
  4. Why was the gutteral "gh" sound dropped?   (circle one)  
    a. It was too hard to say      
    b. It was Germanic and uncool. 
  5. Many spelling changes occurred during this time, of which two were mentioned as this point in your text. Keeping in mind these two changes, see if you can guess what modern word each of the following Old English words represent. See how close you can get and then read the hints below if you need to.
    hwæl → ______________            
    hwil → _____________           
    hwistlian → ____________________           
    cwen →  ______________ 
                                                         [Hints: an animal; add a silent "e"; ignore the end; double the "e"]
  6. A hog in the barnyard became _____________ when it reached the nobleman's table because the nobleman spoke _____________ .
  7. Now the English language had three primary sources for its growing vocabulary. Name them:
    1. ____________________ 2._______________________  3._____________________
  8. Though French did not have what is considered an in-depth influence upon English, fully ______-______% of our words come from French.
  9. What war became the turning point for bringing the English language back in style in England?
    ________________________________
  10. The father of English literature is ____________________________. He was the first great English author to compose his works in English, and his most famous work of literature is _____________________________________.
  11. Who produced the very first Bible in the English language? _____________________
  12. At this time, the Church felt that common people should not have access to the Bible, but rather the Bible should be carefully interpreted by _______________and ________________.
  13. During which period  has English changed the most?
    a. old English
    b. Middle English
    c. modern English
  14. Draw the letter "thorn" that was used in Middle English to represent the sound of "th" -- _______
  15. English is making its transition from an inflected language to one that is ___________________________.
  16. In the quote at the end of the chapter, the speaker who is quoted there is horrified that the laity (regular people who are neither priests nor clergy) and, what is worse, even _____________________ might gain access to the Bible because of Wycliffe.

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