For the Love of English

My daughter came home from school the other day complaining about her English class.  Of course I gave her the "parent" speech about all learning has merit, which it does, but at her age I didn't believe it, either. I remember when I was in high school, we read Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" in Middle English, and there was much weeping and gnashing of teeth.

I was thinking about this, and decided to take a brief look at the changes in English over time.  All countries, including France, Germany, and Russia to name a few, seem to have undergone a similar linguistic evolution.  This evolution seems to follow a pattern of multiple dialects of a basic language, regionally-based, which then undergo various phases of standardization, usually in response to ecclesiastical or commercial needs.

I wanted to choose something simple, but which had longevity so the same piece could be looked at over time.  I ran across various incarnations of the "The Lord's Prayer" which I thought I would share you.

Old English, which is essentially Anglo-Saxon and was initially more of a spoken than written language, was spoken in England from roughly 500-1000 A.D.

Fæder ure

ðu ðe eart on heofenumsi ðin nama gehalgod
to-becume ðin rice
geweorþe ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofenum.
Urne ge dæghwamlican hlaf syle us to-deag
and forgyf us ure gyltas
swa swa we forgifaþ urum gyltendum
ane ne gelæde ðu us on costnunge
ac alys us of yfle.

This version of Middle English is from John of Wycliffe circa 1380-1389.  The letter "z" here represents a character no longer used, but which represented a guttural sound somewhere between a "g" and a "y".

Oure fadire that are in heuenes
halwid be thi name
Thi kingdom cumme to
Be thi wille don
As in heuen and in erthe;
Ziv to vs this day oure breed oure other substance
And forzeue to vs. oure dettis
As we forzeue to oure dettours;
And leed vs nat into temptacioun
But delyuere vs fro yeuel. Amen

This later Middle English version is from Tyndale's Testament dated 1526:

O oure father which art in heven,
halowed be thy name.
Let thy kingdom come.
Thy wyll be fulfilled, as well in eth
as hit ys in heven.
Geve vs this daye our dayly breade,
And forgeve vs oure treaspases
euen as we forgeve them which treaspas vs.
Leede vs not into temptation,
but delyvre vs from yvell. Amen.

Spelling was not a constant, from region to region or even writer to writer, but words and syntax also changed.  For example, the "and forgyf us ure gyltas" in the Old English, "gyltas" being "guilt."  In the early Middle English guilt has become "dettis" or "debts".  By the mid-sixteenth century this has become "trespass."