CLASSES 7 - 8 EARLY MODERN ENGLISH
Outer/ External history:
1 What historical events do you associate with the period between 1500 and 1800?
2 Can you think how the events/ trends/ developments mentioned below led to some changes in the English language?
the introduction of printing press
the Renaissance
the Protestant Reformation
the industrial revolution
exploration and colonization
the American Revolution
3 Why is Early Modern English called the age of linguistic anxiety? (grammarians, dictionary makers, spelling reformers, an English Academy)
4 What was the approach to grammar?
5 What is the role of Samuel Johnson in the development of dictionary making?
Language:
6 What were the 16th , 17th and 18th century borrowings?
7 What other changes can be observed in the EME lexicon? (inhorn terms, false etymology - words respelled)
8 What were the grammatical changes in that period? (rules reformulated, negation, group possessive, “his” genitive, pronouns, comparative and superlative forms, the use of apostrophe, others ….)
9 What were the most important sound changes? (differences between northern and southern speech, silent sounds, intrusive sounds, spelling pronunciation)
Literature:
10 Who were the most important writers influencing the development English? In what way? What were the most influential pieces of EME literature?