Linguistic Variation in Middle English Texts:
The Importance of Regional Dialects
The term “Middle English” refers to the “middle” period in the history of the
English language, c. 1100- 1500, between the Old English and Early Modern English
periods (Jordan 1). For most of the ME period, there was no standard or universal version
of the language, due to the fact that there were many different regional dialects spoken by
people in different areas of the country at this time. Since writers nearly always write as
they speak, this accounted for the vast diversity of spelling, sentence structure, etc in
texts from that period (Burrow 5). The spellings in particular were very diverse,
consisting of a mix of OE grammar and spelling systems, and the new French influences
that were permeating England, depending on which region one lived in, and therefore
which dialect one spoke (Mosse 8). The vastly different features that each individual
regional dialect possessed, influenced greatly by the various effects by the French
language that each dialect experienced, caused these regional dialects to be the most
significant factor in the textual variations found in Middle English literature, a point
which is extremely important for any scholar of Middle English, or the English language
in general, to be aware of.
Before beginning this analysis of the diversity found in the Middle English
language, it would be pertinent to first briefly examine why this linguistic diversity is so
worthy of note- in other words, why the lack of a standard language during this period
caused enough commotion and problems to merit so much study today. Geoffrey
Chaucer, as quoted by scholar John Burrow, once complained of the “gret diversite/ In
, Englissh and in writing of oure tonge” (Burrow 5). This diversity of language in speaking
and writing during that period made it difficult for people of different regions to
understand one another as well as they could if they all spoke the same dialect. The
Northern and Southern dialects were especially very different linguistically. The
Northern dialect incorporated many French aspects into its speech, but Southern
remained very conservative and Germanic; therefore, it would have been fairly difficult
for someone from the south to completely understand a northern text, vice versa (Crystal
207).
These vast differences in dialect and the communication problems that ensued
often resulted in speakers of one dialect berating another dialect and its speakers. David
Crystal mentions this issue in his book, The Stories of English, and quotes a passage
written by Ranulph Higden, who wrote during the ME period. Higden basically says that
the speech of the Northerners, especially near York, was so “scharp, slyttyng, and
frotyng, and vnschape, þat we Southþeron men may þat longage vnneþe vnderstonde”
(Crystal 216). Higden calls the Northern language sharp, unshaped, and basically so
unpleasing to the ear that those from the south of England cannot understand it; he rather
berates York and its neighboring regions all because of the dialect spoken by its
residents. Crystal well sums up this problem by saying that there was great tension
“between the regionally and socially inspired linguistic diversity apparent in manuscripts
and the growing sense of cultural division whereby one part of the country was felt to be
socially superior to others” (217). He goes on to say that The East Midlands dialect, of
London, was beginning to become “a region of special influence” (217), and thus gave
the dialects spoken by those of other regions the status of being socially inferior. Crystal
The Importance of Regional Dialects
The term “Middle English” refers to the “middle” period in the history of the
English language, c. 1100- 1500, between the Old English and Early Modern English
periods (Jordan 1). For most of the ME period, there was no standard or universal version
of the language, due to the fact that there were many different regional dialects spoken by
people in different areas of the country at this time. Since writers nearly always write as
they speak, this accounted for the vast diversity of spelling, sentence structure, etc in
texts from that period (Burrow 5). The spellings in particular were very diverse,
consisting of a mix of OE grammar and spelling systems, and the new French influences
that were permeating England, depending on which region one lived in, and therefore
which dialect one spoke (Mosse 8). The vastly different features that each individual
regional dialect possessed, influenced greatly by the various effects by the French
language that each dialect experienced, caused these regional dialects to be the most
significant factor in the textual variations found in Middle English literature, a point
which is extremely important for any scholar of Middle English, or the English language
in general, to be aware of.
Before beginning this analysis of the diversity found in the Middle English
language, it would be pertinent to first briefly examine why this linguistic diversity is so
worthy of note- in other words, why the lack of a standard language during this period
caused enough commotion and problems to merit so much study today. Geoffrey
Chaucer, as quoted by scholar John Burrow, once complained of the “gret diversite/ In
, Englissh and in writing of oure tonge” (Burrow 5). This diversity of language in speaking
and writing during that period made it difficult for people of different regions to
understand one another as well as they could if they all spoke the same dialect. The
Northern and Southern dialects were especially very different linguistically. The
Northern dialect incorporated many French aspects into its speech, but Southern
remained very conservative and Germanic; therefore, it would have been fairly difficult
for someone from the south to completely understand a northern text, vice versa (Crystal
207).
These vast differences in dialect and the communication problems that ensued
often resulted in speakers of one dialect berating another dialect and its speakers. David
Crystal mentions this issue in his book, The Stories of English, and quotes a passage
written by Ranulph Higden, who wrote during the ME period. Higden basically says that
the speech of the Northerners, especially near York, was so “scharp, slyttyng, and
frotyng, and vnschape, þat we Southþeron men may þat longage vnneþe vnderstonde”
(Crystal 216). Higden calls the Northern language sharp, unshaped, and basically so
unpleasing to the ear that those from the south of England cannot understand it; he rather
berates York and its neighboring regions all because of the dialect spoken by its
residents. Crystal well sums up this problem by saying that there was great tension
“between the regionally and socially inspired linguistic diversity apparent in manuscripts
and the growing sense of cultural division whereby one part of the country was felt to be
socially superior to others” (217). He goes on to say that The East Midlands dialect, of
London, was beginning to become “a region of special influence” (217), and thus gave
the dialects spoken by those of other regions the status of being socially inferior. Crystal
