Questions tagged [early-modern-english]
Early Modern English was used from the late 15th century to the mid to late 17th century.
7
questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
2
votes
0answers
73 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 ...
2
votes
0answers
223 views
1610 Meaning of 'occasion'
Source: Journals of the House of Lords (1610)
That whereas the House of Commons have already, among their Grievances, preferred a Petition to His Majesty, as of Right and Justice, That the Four ...
1
vote
0answers
49 views
Why “him” in “For neuer resting time leads Summer on / To hidious winter and confounds him there, …” instead of it or her?
There is a passage in William's V sonnet that confounds me :
For neuer resting time leads Summer on,
To hidious winter and confounds him there,
Sap checkt with frost and lustie leau's quite gon.
...
0
votes
0answers
42 views
Merger of Early Modern English 'ir' with 'ur' and 'er'+'ear'
Before /r/, /ɪ/ merged with either /ʊ/ or /ɛ/, depending on context. After labials (plus clusters of labials and /l/) and alveolar stops (like in bird and dirt), the result was /ʊ/ (shown, among other ...
0
votes
0answers
20 views
“the which” in early literature
I'd like to know what "the which" in the following passages refers to. While the "the which" in the second instance clearly refers to the large parlour, that in the first is quite ...
0
votes
0answers
49 views
Can I say that sentence makes you special?
When someone comes from other country and they pronounce "good morning" in my local language (when that pronunciation is unique)... Then can I say:
"that sentence makes you special" Or "that ...
0
votes
0answers
96 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 ...
