Semantic Change In The Early Modern English Period Latin Influences On The English Language

Throughout the history, English was changing steadily. Not only was the English grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary being altered over the centuries but also the semantics of lexemes. A major factor that has a considerable impact on the semantics of words is the influence of foreign languages. This study deals with semantic changes due to the Latin influence on the English language in the Early Modern English period. The aim of the analysis is – with the help of the Oxford English Dictionary Online – to determine potential patterns of meaning alterations of English lexemes that were caused by the influx of Latin-derived equivalents, especially on the field of human anatomy, and between the 15th and the 18th century. Moreover, the Early Modern English period is portrayed as well as the roles of Latin and English during that time, also considering the integration of Latin loanwords into English. In order to discuss meaning changes due to Latin influences, a closer look will be taken at language modifications in general, at lexical change and at the various types of semantic change by which English words might have been affected.

Examination Thesis from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,0, http://www.uni-jena.de/ (Institut für Anglistik/Amerikanistik), language: English, abstract: Throughout the history of English the language was changing steadily. Not only was the English grammar, pronunciation or vocabulary being altered over the centuries but also the semantics of the lexemes. The changes in the field of semantics might have had several reasons. According to Antoine Meillet , a French linguist, there are basically three major causes of semantic change: changes of the socio-cultural circumstances, the linguistic context in which a word is used, or changes of the respective concept itself or of the point of view from which the concept is seen. The third and most significant factor that has a considerable impact on the semantics of words is the influence of foreign languages and, to be more precise, the influence of borrowings. This paper deals with semantic changes due to Latin influences on the English language in the Early Modern English period. The aim of the following analysis is to determine potential patterns of meaning alterations of English lexemes that were caused by the influx of Latin-derived equivalents between the fifteenth and the eighteenth centuries. In the subsequent sections the Early Modern English period is portrayed including its historical and social-cultural backgrounds. Afterwards, the roles of Latin and English in that time will be illustrated, also considering the integration of Latin loanwords into English. In order to discuss meaning changes due to Latin influences, we will then take a closer look at language modifications in general, lexical change and the various types of semantic change by which English words might have been affected. The sections following these illustrations are going to contain the semantic analysis of exemplary synonymous pairs, each consisting of an English element and its Latin-derived equivalent, with the help of the Oxford English Dictionary Online. Pairs belonging to the subject of human anatomy are to be considered primarily, but also words of other lexical fields, such as medicine, botany and architecture, in order to determine common patterns of semantic change.

An introduction to Early Modern English, this book helps students of English and linguistics to place the language of the period 1500-1700 in its historical context as a language with a common core but also as one which varies across time, regionally and socially, and according to register. The volume focuses on the structure of what contemporaries called the General Dialect - its spelling, vocabulary, grammar and pronunciation - and on its dialectal origins. The book also discusses the language situation and linguistic anxieties in England at a time when Latin exerted a strong influence on the rising standard language. The volume includes:*The major changes in English from the 15th to the 18th century*Emphasis on long-term linguistic developments*Sources for the study of Early Modern English*Illustrations ranging from drama and personal letters to trials and early science*Exercises encouraging further exploration of the changing English language.

This volume provides the first printed critical edition of The Praise of Musicke (1586), keeping the original text intact and accompanied by an analytical commentary. Against the Puritan attacks on liturgical music, The Praise of Musicke, the first apologetic treatise on music in English, epitomizes the Renaissance defence of music in civil and religious life. While existing studies of The Praise of Musicke are limited to the question of authorship, the present volume scrutinizes its musical discourse, which recapitulates major issues in the ancient philosophy and theology of music, considering the contemporary practice of sacred and secular music. Through an interdisciplinary analysis of The Praise of Musicke, combining historical musicology with philosophical theology, this study situates the treatise and its author within the wider historical, intellectual and religious context of musical polemics and apologetics of the English Reformation, thereby appraising its significance in the history of musical theory and literature. The book throws fresh light on this substantial but neglected treatise that presents, with critical insights, the most learned discussion of music from classical antiquity to the Renaissance and Reformation era. In doing so it offers a new interpretation of the treatise, which marks a milestone in the history of musical apologetics.

A new history of the Great Western Schism, focusing on social drama and the performance of legitimacy and papacy.

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, University of Córdoba, 4 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: Latin has always had a major influence on the English lexicon, from the Germanic period - even during the continental era, before the Germanics reached the British Isles - until today. It has also been the first and most consistent of the many languages English has borrowed from, during its gradual development into what we nowadays know as 'English'. More than 300 words have even "survived" into Modern English in their original Latin form, words such as actor, labor, elevator and vertigo. The accent of this paper, which will explore the respective loans English made in its various historical periods, will be on Old English, as it can most interestingly be divided into three periods of borrowing from Latin, the third of which, according to Albert C. Baugh and Thomas Cable, "marks the real beginning of the English habit to freely incorporate foreign elements into its vocabulary."

Seminar paper from the year 2006 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,7, University of Potsdam (Institut für Anglistik / Amerikanistik), course: Seminar im Hauptstudium, 10 entries in the bibliography, language: English, abstract: This Hausarbeit treats the influence of Latin words on the English language in the Renaissance and, therefore, - following Baugh/Cable (1994) – from around 1500 until 1650. These time borders, however, are rather loose and only provide an orientation. When necessary for a complete understanding there will also be references to earlier or later points in time. In this work, more precisely in the 4th chapter there will be a concrete overview about Latin words enriching the language during the Renaissance. The main interest of this work, however, is to illuminate the influence of Latin on English from a socio-cultural perspective. In order to achieve this, firstly the focus will be on processes and occurrences which generally affected the English society, but which also had consequences on the language. Subsequently, the attitudes of people – and especially scholars – concerning status and use of both, English and Latin, shall be reflected and brought into relation with social processes outlined before. Since this Hausarbeit deals with Latin words (lexicology), there will be no discussions on Latin grammar or rhetoric.

The papers collected in this volume were first presented at the 14th International Conference on English Historical Linguistics (Bergamo, 2006). Alongside studies of syntax, morphology, and dialectology, published in two sister volumes, many innovative contributions focused on semantics, pragmatics and register variation. A rich variety of state-of-the-art studies and plenary lectures by acknowledged world experts in the field bears witness to the quality of the scholarly interest in this field of research. In all the contributions, well-established methods combine with new theoretical approaches, in an attempt to shed more light on phenomena that have hitherto remained unexplored, or have only just begun to be investigated. The accurate peer-reviewed selection ensures the methodological homogeneity of the papers.