RENAISSANCE

Meaning “REBIRTH” of learning and culture, began in Italy near the end of the 15th century; Looked back to ancient Greek and Roman civilization:Ignited revolutions in science, technology, religion, medicine, politics, exploration and arts; People with greatest impact: Queen Isabella, Leonardo, Galileo, Shakespeare, Columbus and Luther; Many astounding pieces of art;

Economical and Social Changes:

BLACK DEATH: (1350 – 1450) Devastated one half of the whole population of Europe, spread rapidly in cities causing an economic depression;

ECONOMIC DEPRESSION: products were accumulated, merchants and traders suffered a loss in income. The plague decreased in the late 15th C.; population swelled, a new demand for good and services and a new middle class emerged;

NEW MIDDLE CLASS: spent time on education and entertainment, a more educated middle class who could now afford books, fortunes of merchants, bankers and traders improved, that is, the economy continued to improve;

BEGINNING OF TRADE: very important as the economy continued to improve, there were ever-increasing demands for goods and new places to export local products;

CITIES AS CENTRES OF TRADE: became centres of trade and commerce, and for the wealth and education that ensued, Florence is and example of these cities. Tools developed in the Middle Ages and continued to improve in the Renaissance.

IMPROVEMENT IN EXISTING TOOLS: one example is the telescope which forever changed the way we perceive our world; the astrolabe, a portable device used by sailor to find their way; the magnetic compass, which had been invented in the 12th C.; maps became more reliable; shipbuilding also improved during this period.

NEW INVENTION : in 1445, Gutenberg invented the printing press, which produces books quickly and with little effort making it less expensive, therefore more people could buy reading material.

EDUCATED MIDDLE CLASS DEMANDED BOOKS: as the new middle class could now afford books, they demanded works in their own languages and a greater variety; the book trade began to flourish as well as the industries related to it (papermaking).

NEW PHILOSOPHY: books also helped to spread awareness of a new philosophy known as Humanism; humanists rediscovered writings on scientific matters, government, art; emphasis on man, his intellect and his life on Earth.

CHANGES IN LANGUAGE:

Vocabulary

From Latin: borrowed on the continent: mint, street, wine. borrowed during OE period: bishop, minster. borrowed into Middle Eng: Gloria, client, recipe.

From French: feint, anatomy.From Classical Greek: cosmos, anathema.From Italian: salvo, argosy, opera.From Spanish: armada, cargo.

Spelling

We owe the “b” in our modern spelling of “debt” and “doubt” to Renaissance etymologizing, cause the early spelling were “dette” and “doute”.

The same happened with the “p” in “receipt” and the “c” in “idict”.

Grammar

The ending –es and –eth in 3rd person singular were used, but by the end of the century the latter was displaced. Personal pronouns: THEY, THEM, THEIR, were used as against Chaucer's THEY, HEM, HIRE. The form YOU is used for both nominative and accusative. Relative pronouns: WHO, WHICH, THAT, were used but not as restricted as it is today. The use of auxiliary DO was optional. It is a dummy auxiliary. 4 functions: ask a question, negate a sentence, have an echo-repetition or achieve sentence-emphasis.

Pronounciation:

Middle English

Chaucer Shakespeare Today

u /u:/= /hu:s/ /u/= /hus/ /αu/= /hαus/

o /o:/= /fo:d/ /u:/= /fu:d/ /u:/= /fu:d/

e /e:/= /gre:n/ /i:/= /gri:n/ /i:/= /gri:n/

ng /ng/= /ring/ /ng/= /ring/ /ng/= /rin/

The biggest changes were in the vowel-system, and the main series of changes is called The Great Vowel Shift.

Strong and Weak Forms: words develop double forms called Strong and Weak forms. Example, “AND” strong /ænd/; weak /nd/, /n/.

WORD FORMATION:

By Affixation: the use of prefixes and suffixes. Example:

The 2 suffixes most frequently used for forming nouns are –ness and –er, as in the words “briskness” and “feeler”. The commonest prefix was –un, used with nouns, adjectives and verbs, for example, “unclasp”, “uncivility”, “unclimbable”.

By Compounding: they can be: Noun + Noun: sheep-brand Adjective + Noun: frenchwoman Verb + object: scrape-penny

By Conversion: there are 3 types:The formation of verbs from nouns: “to bayonet”The formation of nouns from adjectives: “an ancient”The formation of nouns from verbs: “a laugh”