Modern English → Middle English
| Modern English | Middle English |
|---|---|
| Thank you very much. | Graunt mercy. |
| He was a true, perfect, noble knight. | He was a verray, parfit gentil knyght. (Chaucer) |
| When April with its sweet showers… | Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote… (Chaucer) |
| Yes, certainly. | Ye, certes. |
| I know it well. | I woot it wel. |
What Middle English is
Middle English is the English spoken from after the Norman Conquest of 1066 until about 1500. Thousands of French words entered the language, the old case endings wore away, and spelling varied from town to town.
Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in the London English of the late 1300s. His lines are the best-known Middle English today, and they are surprisingly readable once you know a few tricks.
Tips for reading it
Say every letter. The final -e was often pronounced, and “gh” in knyght sounded like the ch in Scottish “loch”. The letters y and i were interchangeable. A handful of common words do most of the work: eek means also, swich means such, hir can mean her or their, and ful means very.
Middle English words to know
- eek
- also
- certes · ywis
- certainly
- graunt mercy
- thank you (from French grand merci)
- woot
- know
- swich
- such
- hir
- her, their
- ful
- very
- whan
- when
- gentil
- noble, well-born
- wight
- person, creature