2. The linguistic value of different text types
The knowledge of stages of English is handed down to us in the form of
texts. These come in various guises AND the linguist is to determines to
what extent the genre affects the manner in which the author used the
language variety spoken at his/her time.
Different text types entail the use of different styles.
It is common in poetry, most probably in epic poetry (such as Old
English Beowulf) that archaic language is used to create a distinctive
atmosphere within the text.
Other text types are restricted in their stylistic range, for instance
ecclesiastical texts, are usually quite confined in the varieties of language
which they evince such as the use of colloquial language.
3. The linguistic value of different text types
Various parameters influence the type of language in which a text
is written .
It may be extrapolated that the language used by an author may
have been spoken in the society of the time.
Following are questions to ask for commentary on linguistic style :
(1) Is a text fictional or non-fictional?
(2) Is a text verse or prose?
(3) What genre does a text represent?
(4) Is the author male or female?
(5) What is the age of an author?
(6) What was the social rank of an author ?
(7) Is there a recognisable target audience?
(8) Could one state what the relationship of a text to spoken language
was?
4. Old English period
This period contains both original texts and translations.
It starts with runes and inscriptions, both of which are formulaic in
character.
Early texts include glossaries, providing English translations of Latin
words and expressions.
Larger translations also exist, for instance of the four gospels and
there are prefaces by King Alfred (848-899) to translations which he
either did himself or commissioned.
There is much poetic material, such as the elegies and smaller
poems. The monk Caedmon (7th century) was the first to compose a
hymn.
Later poetry was both of a religious and a secular nature.
And of course there is the main English epic, Beowulf.
5. Old English period
A specific genre of historical writing is available in the Old English
period, the chronicle, which consists of brief entries for various
years and which recount important military events, especially
during the Scandinavian period.
6. Middle English period
There is greater variety among the texts of the Middle English
period. It begins with some remnants of the Old English
chronicle, e.g. in the Peterborough Chronicle from around the
mid 12th century, followed by poetic works like The Owl and the
Nightingale (late 12th century).
7. Middle English period
The 13th and 14th centuries saw a great flourishing in text
types and culminated in the works of Geoffrey Chaucer in the
late 14th century.
The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer illustrates many of the literary
genres popular at this time.
The Middle English period also contains much religious
writing, some of it hagiographical (about the lives of saints) for
example South English Legendary- Ancrene Wisse ‘The guide
for anchoresses (head nuns)’.
8. Some literary forms of the Middle English period
Morality plays :
allegorical plays in which the figures
represent human qualities which
engaged in disputes.
The most famous is Everyman, a short
play of 921 lines from the beginning of
the 16th century.
9. Some literary forms of the Middle English period
The morality plays are the precursor of later naturalistic
plays which then, in the later 16th century, led to
Elizabethan drama.
Mystery Plays which deal with biblical themes and are
associated with feasts of the church calendar such as
Corpus Christi.
Mystery plays were popular between the 13th and
16th centuries.
(the term refers to the trade of the performers and
not to an unsolved mystery)
10. Some literary forms of the Middle English period
Fabliau :
a short tale recounted in verse and dealing in comic form with
some incident from everyday life .
For example Chaucer’s The Miller’s Tale.
Romance :
courtly stories in verse which involve chivalric figures and
generally interweave magical and supranatural elements to make
a moral point.
There are many Arthurian legends from the later
Middle English period, the most important of
which is the cycle known as Le Morte D'Arthur
(completed c. 1470) by Sir Thomas Malory (died
1471).
11. Some literary forms of the Middle English period
Breton Lays :
short stories in rhyme in the style of Marie de France (French
poet from about 1160-90 who wrote 12 lays) and exemplified in
English by Chaucer’s The Franklin’s Tale.
Travel literature :
for example The Travels of Sir John Mandeville, a 14th century
Anglo-Norman text (surviving in many English manuscripts)
which initiated a long fascination with the orient.
At this time the question of whether the travels actually took
place was irrelevant, the popularity derived from the description
of foreign places and customs.
12.
13. Early Modern period
Drama :
So great is the figure of Shakespeare that drama of the early
modern period is associated primarily with his name.
Elizabethan drama types :
(i) comedy,
(ii) tragedy and
(iii) historical drama
all of which are amply represented in the works of Shakespeare.
Given the generally elevated tone of tragedy and historical
drama, the language is assumed to be of a higher register and
hence not as indicative of colloquial speech .
14. Early Modern period
Poetry:
Poetry Poetic literature continued through the early modern
period in an unbroken fashion.
A form which was particularly popular was the sonnet (first
popularised in European literature by the Italian poet
Francesco Petrarca, 1304-1374) which had a strict form of 14
lines, the last two forming a rhyming couplet.
15. Early Modern period
Novel :
This a term which derives from Italian novella, originally referring to
a tale in the Decamerone by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375).
The label is used for a large piece of narrative fiction usually
covering a considerable span of time and involving a series of
characters and told by a narrator (of which there are different
types).
The novel arose in 18th century England as a major literary genre
with authors like Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), Samuel Richardson
(1689-1761), Henry Fielding (1707-1754), Tobias Smollett (1721-
1771) and Laurence Sterne (1713-1768).
Many of the first novels were in epistolary form, that is they consisted
of letters supposedly written by the characters of the novel to one
another.
16.
17. Non-fictional literature
Personal correspondence :
private letters are a source of
information on language use and
language change.
From the Middle English period
onwards there are collections of letters
which have been preserved which give
insights into English of the time.
One of the most famous families is the
Paston family from Norfolk the
members of which wrote a large
number of letters to each other
between about 1420 and 1504.
18. Non-fictional literature
Other sets of letters are the Stonor
letters and the Lisle letters.
The McMahon letters from 18th
century Ireland offer insights into the
nature of Irish English at the time.
The letters in all these cases typically
involve relationships within the family,
business dealings and petitions from
people outside the family to prominent
members within (as with the Lisle and
the McMahon letters).
19. Non-fictional literature
Technical literature
The great expansion in the natural sciences, one of the main
legacies of the Renaissance, led to literature dealing with
scientific topics.
With regard to language, one can note the appearance in the
16th century and later of a large body of literature concerned
with the structure of English, its orthography, pronunciation,
grammar and vocabulary.
One of the first and most important authors in this field is John
Hart (died 1574), the author of An orthographie of English
(1569), one of the first works which suggested a spelling
reform for English.
20. Non-fictional literature
Technical literature
In the 18th century a tradition arose which came to be called
the prescriptive tradition.
Introducing grammars which lay down rules for the supposedly
correct use of English.
Of the many authors who have become known in this field, the
most significant (in terms of influence) in Bishop Lowth, the
author of a prescriptive grammar.
Elocutionist tradition, concerned with acceptable or standard,
pronunciation of English, which flourished in the late 18th
century with figures like Sheridan and Walker .
21. Journalistic literature
Pamphlets
is a piece of polemical writing, a booklet,
aimed at a large audience.
Pamphlets arose during the Reformation
period as a means of spreading radical
religious and political views and continued
until well into the 18th century, for
instance with the author Jonathan Swift
(1667-1745).
Periodicals
Weekly periodicals largely replaced
pamphlets (though there was a slight
revival in the 19th century).
These were often aimed at an audience
interested in literature and contributed
greatly to the dissemination of creative
literature, for instance in their serialisation
of major novels such as many by Dickens.
At the beginning of the 18th century major
literary figures, such as Addison and Steele,
used the periodical to make their ideas
known, e.g. with The Tatler (1709-11) and
later The Spectator (1711-12).
Later others arose, such as The
Gentleman’s Magazine and The Analytical
Review. The longest surviving of these was
Blackwood’s Magazine which ran from
1817 to 1980.
22. Journalistic literature
Newspapers
Newspapers have their origin in the early 17th century and stem from short, single-sheet
publications with news from abroad, a subject of natural interest to colonial powers -
something which explains why they were popular in Holland (present-day Netherlands).
They quickly began to proliferate in England so that by the mid-17th century there were
several produced in London.
During the interregnum of the monarchy (from 1649 to 1660) they were largely suppressed
but during the Restoration period began to flourish again.
The major newspapers, which have survived into our times, were first published in the 18th
century.
In England national newspapers are published in London with the exception being The
Guardian (founded in 1821 as a weekly, after 1855 published as a daily) produced in
Manchester.
The term broadsheets is generally used nowadays for serious newspapers, usually in a large
format, which are regarded as distinct from tabloids.
Source https://www.uni-due.de/SHE/SHE_Text_Types.htm
