Early Modern English

E19402
historical stage of a language stage of the English language

Early Modern English is the stage of the English language used roughly between the late 15th and early 17th centuries, exemplified by the works of Shakespeare and the language of the King James Bible.

Jump to: Surface forms Statements Referenced by

Observed surface forms (3)

Surface form Occurrences
Early Modern English period 1
Early Modern English pronunciation 1
Modern English 1

Statements (52)

Predicate Object
instanceOf historical stage of a language ⓘ
stage of the English language ⓘ
developedDuring English Renaissance ⓘ
surface form: Elizabethan era

Stuart period ⓘ
surface form: Jacobean era

English Renaissance ⓘ
surface form: Renaissance in England

Tudor dynasty ⓘ
surface form: Tudor period
endTime early 17th century ⓘ
exemplifiedBy King James Version ⓘ
surface form: King James Bible

works of Ben Jonson ⓘ
works of Christopher Marlowe ⓘ
works of William Shakespeare ⓘ
followedBy Standard English ⓘ
surface form: Modern English
follows Middle English ⓘ
hasAncestor Middle English ⓘ
hasDescendant Standard English ⓘ
surface form: Modern English
hasFeature Great Vowel Shift (early phase) ⓘ
surface form: Great Vowel Shift in progress

distinct verb endings for second-person singular ⓘ
emergence of do-support in questions and negation ⓘ
frequent use of double negatives ⓘ
greater use of inflectional endings than in Modern English ⓘ
heavy borrowing from Greek ⓘ
heavy borrowing from Latin ⓘ
lack of standardized orthography ⓘ
loanwords from Dutch ⓘ
loanwords from French ⓘ
loanwords from Italian ⓘ
loanwords from Spanish ⓘ
relatively free word order compared to Modern English ⓘ
transition from synthetic to more analytic grammar ⓘ
use of -eth and -est verb endings ⓘ
use of thou and thee as second-person singular pronouns ⓘ
use of ye and you as second-person plural pronouns ⓘ
variable spelling conventions ⓘ
hasWritingSystem Latin alphabet ⓘ
languageFamily Anglic languages ⓘ
Germanic languages ⓘ
Indo-European language family ⓘ
surface form: Indo-European languages

West Germanic languages ⓘ
partOf history of the English language ⓘ
standardizationInfluencedBy Chancery Standard ⓘ
Estuary English ⓘ
surface form: London dialect

printing press in England ⓘ
startTime late 15th century ⓘ
usedFor drama ⓘ
government records ⓘ
legal documents ⓘ
poetry ⓘ
prose literature ⓘ
religious texts ⓘ
usedIn British Isles ⓘ
England ⓘ
English colonies ⓘ

Referenced by (21)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Yola language → derivedFrom → Early Modern English ⓘ
North American English → developedFrom → Early Modern English ⓘ
Old English → developedInto → Early Modern English ⓘ
this entity surface form: Modern English
Apocrypha (in early editions) → hasLanguage → Early Modern English ⓘ
Hamlet (stage performances) → hasLanguage → Early Modern English ⓘ
English Renaissance → language → Early Modern English ⓘ
English Renaissance drama → language → Early Modern English ⓘ
Henry IV, Part 2 → language → Early Modern English ⓘ
King James Version → language → Early Modern English ⓘ
Scots Confession → language → Early Modern English ⓘ
Shakespearean tragedies → language → Early Modern English ⓘ
The Example → language → Early Modern English ⓘ
Tyndale Bible → language → Early Modern English ⓘ
Desdemona (character) → languageOfWork → Early Modern English ⓘ
subject surface form: Desdemona
Peto → languageOfWork → Early Modern English ⓘ
Romeo Montague → languageOfWork → Early Modern English ⓘ
Parliament of England → languageOfWorkOrName → Early Modern English ⓘ
Great Vowel Shift (early phase) → relatedConcept → Early Modern English ⓘ
this entity surface form: Early Modern English pronunciation
Great Vowel Shift (late phase) → timePeriod → Early Modern English ⓘ
this entity surface form: Early Modern English period