Questions tagged [early-modern-english]
Early Modern English was used from the late 15th century to the mid to late 17th century.
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1answer
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What was the pronunciation of the a in “trap” in early to mid Modern English in the UK?
I have often read that in Old and Middle English the "a" sound in words like "trap" was pronouned /a/. When it comes to modern English, Wikipedia suggests that this was raised to /æ/ in early Modern ...
4
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1answer
42 views
How is “ought” used in this King James Bible verse?
There's a use of the word "ought" from the Bible I don't understand.
I've highlighted the relevant word:
Acts 4:32
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: ...
3
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1answer
77 views
Devil take the hindmost!
I came across the following old proverb in which I noticed that a bare infinitive verb is used after a singular subject.
Devil take ...
5
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2answers
512 views
What is the possessive case and the objective case of “ye?”
I know very well that archaically, "thou" is the nominative case for the modern day "you" while "thee" is the accusative case and that there is no distinction between the nominative and accusative ...
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1answer
53 views
Looking for a list of hapax legomena that have lost their meanings over time [closed]
These are words that have lost their meanings over time and can't be reconstructed from context, as it only appeared in that context once and not in others. I've searched with Google but came up empty....
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2answers
327 views
Origin of “rank hath its privileges”
It's often seen with "has," but the frequent appearance of "hath" suggests the saying may be much, much older. Early Modern English always suggests Shakespeare to me, but my Google-fu hath failed me ...
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2answers
242 views
Shakespeare's Macbeth “Conduct me to (mine) host” Mine host vs My Host
The first time I heard "mine host" in Shakespeare's Macbeth, I went to Wiktionary to see if it once was used instead of "my," however, I ended up with that it should not be followed by a noun but ...
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0answers
63 views
a conditional sentence with “had + past participle” in both the apodosis and the protasis
In older texts one finds this construction, which one may be tempted to call the past conditional second form (after the example of le conditionnel passé deuxième forme):
If you had lied to me, I ...
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3answers
185 views
Early Modern English: Shakespearean Insult [duplicate]
I think many are familiar with the famous line from Shakespeare:
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more
temperate.
What I seek to do is keep the analogy but change ...
3
votes
1answer
158 views
Conjugation of 'shall' in Early Modern English
In Shakespeare's Macbeth, the Third Witch says to Banquo: "Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none" (1.3.65); if I want to quote that line and write it in the third person singular, how should I ...
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2answers
107 views
What is the meaning of 'plain' dangerous?
I watched a movie and found a line saying:
It's just plain dangerous. They carry different diseases than we do.
I am wondering what the meaning of 'plain' dangerous is?
I checked Cambridge ...
90
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4answers
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Is that an “r” in “worship” in a text from 1591?
I was trying to see how the Spanish word merced was translated into English in the 16th century, when I found this entry in a dictionary from 1591 by Richard Percyvall:
I understand that the second ...
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1answer
83 views
Is there any evidence for “altercate” ever having been pronounced with stress on the second syllable?
In modern English, polysyllabic verbs ending in -ate are regularly stressed on the third-to-last syllable. (There are some (possible) exceptions, such as incarnate, impregnate, and elongate.)
But it ...
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vote
2answers
136 views
What's the meaning of 'mean for sport' in a line from the movie, “The Help”?
I watched a great movie, The Help, released in 2011 and starring Emma Stone, Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain, and Octavia Spencer.
In the movie, there is a scene in which there is a conversation about ...
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2answers
336 views
How old is the practice of hyphenating compound adjectives?
In Shakespeare’s Henry IV Part One at 1.3.230 Hotspur refers to Hal contemptuously as
that same sword-and-buckler Prince of Wales
At Internet Shakespeare Editions the “Modern” ...
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3answers
94 views
The meaning of the dance title “All In a Garden Green”
There is a 17th century English dance/tune named "All in a Garden Green" (first published in John Playford's The English Dancing Master in 1651).
What is the most probable exact meaning of the title? ...
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1answer
140 views
Renaissance pronunciation of “thither”: θiðr or ðiðr?
I've seen the thread on voiced/unvoiced "thither," but it doesn't quite answer the question.
It seems like maybe the word began falling out of regular speech right around the time initial "th" was ...
3
votes
1answer
241 views
Third person present and past in King James Bible
I am currently reading the Gospel According to John in a King James Version of the Bible, and I cannot understand the use of the third person singular in some of the verses:
1:38 Then Jesus turned, ...
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0answers
124 views
Early Modern English: Equivalent of 'How have things been with you recently'
This question is pretty straight forward: Is there a close equivalent to "How have things been with you recently" in Early Modern English?
Would it be as simple as: "How have things been with thee ...
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0answers
42 views
Capitalization in 18th Century English [duplicate]
I have often wondered about the (seemingly) arbitrary capitalization of words in 17th & 18th century English, and again today, came across this quote by Edmund Burke in Sylvia Nasar's Grand ...
2
votes
1answer
312 views
Meaning of “care” in “ my care is like a shadow in the sun”
In the poem “On Monsieur’s Departure” attributed to Queen Elizabeth I of England, we find this passage:
My care is like my shadow in the sun
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it,
Stands ...
0
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2answers
585 views
Why is it “Who be ye?” and not “Who are ye?” in archaic forms of English?
When I was looking for “ye” in a dictionary, I stumbled upon the phrase “Who be ye?”. But why is it “Who be ye?” and not “Who are ye?”? The modern equivalent of “ye” would be “you”, wouldn’t it? “Who ...
5
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3answers
982 views
What is the grammar behind 'if either thee dislike'?
This sentence appears in Shakespeare's 'Romeo and Juliet':
Juliet:
My ears have yet drunk a hundred words,
Of thy tone's uttering, and yet I know the sound.
Art thou not Romeo, and a Montague?
Romeo:
...
0
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2answers
286 views
'Anytime' and 'ever'
Actually I am a non native English speaker, of course I may come across many confusion but I don't care of those much,but curious some times to know about the things.
I know the meaning of 'Ever' ...
0
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1answer
141 views
Problem with “mine” while translating this phrase into early modern english
I'm translating a certain phrase from Japanese, and its roughly equivalent would be:
"It seems like it is my victory in this game as well"
Except for the fact the pronoun used to attribute "mine" ...
0
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0answers
94 views
Hollywood Humor in Early Modern/Shakespearean English
I want to adapt a modern hollywood/blue collar joke to Early Modern English. Specifically:
"He who smelt it dealt it."
My initial attempt was:
"He who hath smelteth it would have then veritably ...
6
votes
1answer
219 views
Did 'lawyer' have a broader meaning in Shakespeare's time?
In Act 4, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2, Dick the butcher, one of Jack Cade's rebels, shouts:
The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.
The rebels bring in the clerk of ...
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vote
3answers
1k views
Appearances and usage of “believe on” instead of “believe in.”
I am curious as to how much "believe on" has been preferred in over "believe in," and how much it has appeared in writing and manuscripts. I know the King James Bible uses it in only two books of its ...
2
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1answer
115 views
What is the meaning of “yea, marie”?
The preface to John Calvin's Sermons on Deuteronomy says this:
For sufficient proofe whereof, and to the end it should not be thought that we do wrongfully & without cause giue inkling of the ...
22
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1answer
1k views
What is the meaning of “Apcie”?
On John Calvin's Sermons on Deuteronomy, he says:
"Not that god bringeth in any newe thing here: but for that he blameth the people for their foresaid lewdness, shewing that his doctrine had ben ...
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1answer
215 views
Is “Be ye…” subjunctive or imperative?
In Early Modern English, the second person plural (singular) declensions were:
Nominative: - Ye (Thou)
Oblique: - You (Thee)
--and--
Genitive: Your (Thy & Thine) & Yours' (...
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0answers
206 views
Does Early Modern English Have Ablative Case? [closed]
I was thinking the other day, and a phrase popped into my mind that sounds as if I have heard it before, and I quickly realized it is not grammatically correct {on the surface.} It is:
"Get thee mee ...
3
votes
2answers
448 views
In Early Modern English, is “beest” subjunctive or dialectal?
I am looking for better ways to translate between German and English, and I prefer Early Modern Engliſh, as a mode of speech, but mainly in written form, and I found out the other day that the ...
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4answers
1k views
Does “goodly” in this sentence in Hamlet mean “considerable” or "pleasing?
In Hamlet there is the following conversation:
GUILDENSTERN: Prison, my lord!
HAMLET: Denmark's a prison.
ROSENCRANTZ: Then is the world one.
HAMLET: A goodly one; in which there are ...
4
votes
2answers
398 views
What's up with the -es/-eth inconsistency in “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus”?
This hymn was written more than a century ago, back when more people were aware of how Early Modern English arranged its conjugations. But in the second verse, there appears to be an inconsistency ...
3
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1answer
674 views
Meaning of “He is a fool that lovers prove”
I struggle to understand the meaning of the song "Though Philomela lost her love" by Thomas Morley. The song was published in 1602.
The lyric is:
Though Philomela lost her love,
fresh note she ...
7
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2answers
995 views
What does the word “wind” mean in this John Donne poem?
“Go and Catch a Falling Star”, by John Donne
Go and catch a falling star,
Get with child a mandrake root,
Tell me where all past years are,
Or who cleft the devil's foot,
Teach me to ...
10
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6answers
2k views
“Fool” meaning “baby”
The word is "fool."
The OED has been no help on this, but my copy of Hamlet makes reference to its having the meaning "baby" so when Polonius says "You'll tender me a fool" he is cautioning Ophelia ...
4
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1answer
136 views
“I no whitt reck”: Understanding this archaic line from Edmund Spenser's Faerie Queene
In this stanza from Edmund Spenser's 'Faerie Queene', I'm not sure what 'I no whitt reck' means, would appreciate any clarification.
‘O! but I feare the fickle freakes,’ quoth shee,
‘Of Fortune ...
4
votes
1answer
622 views
What is the meaning of 'wottest'?
I am interested in early versions of English, and while reading I've often encountered the word wottest being used. For example:
Then he said, "Galahad, son, wottest thou what I hold between my ...
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1answer
315 views
What does the translator mean in English in this translation of a verse by the Urdu poet Ghalib? [closed]
Here is the translation of a verse by Ghalib [1797–1869], originally written1 in the Urdu language:
Neither Asad besought cruelty,
nor was thy tyranny fond of the insanity;
to whatever extent ...
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2answers
1k views
If “thy” is an informal pronoun, then why does The Lord's Prayer use it to refer to God? [duplicate]
The commonly used version of this Christian prayer comes from the King James Bible
9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
10 Thy kingdom come,...
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4answers
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Word for a person who is always lying? [duplicate]
What is the most suitable word for a person who doesn't feel shame in telling a lie? Or is always lying?
Is 'Proud Liar' a good word?
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2answers
2k views
Is Shakespeare's Double Negative Grammatically Wrong?
In Act I Scene I of The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare's character Salarino uses a double negative in the phrase Not in love neither?, is this grammatically wrong or was this acceptable at the time?
[...
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2answers
9k views
On THE other hand or on another hand?
I'm editing a manuscript which takes place in 1854 Britain. I've run across two uses of "on another hand" used in place of "on the other hand."
Is this proper vernacular for the era or should I edit ...
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vote
1answer
109 views
Does the word “spicy” predate the Columbian exchange, and if so, in which ways was it used?
Europe did not have any kind of capsicum or chili pepper before the Columbian exchange of the 15th and 16th centuries.
These days many people feel that the word "spicy" only describes the kind of "...
10
votes
1answer
389 views
What were Red Admiral and White Admiral butterflies called before 1627?
The Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) and White Admiral (Limenitis camilla) butterfly species cannot have had those common names before 1627, when the English Navy (the predecessor of the Royal Navy) was ...
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0answers
89 views
Is “to say” in Hamlet's “and by a sleep to say we end” an infinitive or an adverb?
I was trying to identify the word classes of Hamlet's famous monologue "To be or not to be", and I'm really having trouble deciding what word class "to say" in "and by sleep to say we end the ...
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1answer
829 views
Do vs Dost, the difference [closed]
"Thou coward knight, why wilt thou not do battle with me?" -The Age of Chivalry, Chapter 16
In this sentence, why is do not dost? Very commonly do I see the word dost be used in older text in place ...
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1answer
2k views
What was “static electricity” known as before the discovery of electricity?
People must have dealt with static electrical discharge for thousands of years; well before they began to understand the principles of electricity.
What would a static discharge be called in early ...
