LVOT features of the different English eras

• Old English time period


  450-1100
• Middle English time period


  1100-1500
• Early Modern English time period

  1500-1700
• Late Modern English time period


  1700-1800
• Present-Day English time period

  1900s onwards
• Old English lexis and orthography (2)


  -words tended to be short, direct, and forceful-no single agreed system of spelling
• Old English grammar (2)


  -inflections were used much more than in Modern English-meaning was less dependent on word order (the construction of Old English sentences was more flexible)
• Old English phonology (3)


  -contained several different dialects-stressed the first syllable of each word-(Old Norse) lots of hard, gritty, consonants (e.g. the hard g in drag)
• Lexis and orthography in Middle English (3)

  -French words introduced into the English language (often carrying more prestige)-many Latin words (found in French) replaced Old English terms-no agreed system of spelling
• Middle English grammar (2)


  -loss of a large number of inflections-grammar became simpler (reflecting the way that two languages had to co-exist)
• Middle English phonology (2)


  -speech rhymes became more varied (whereas Old English stressed the first syllable of each word) as French stressed all syllables equally-French influence brought softer sounds to the language
• lexis and semantics in the 1500s/1600s (3)

  -Renaissance introduced many loan words (estimated that the Renaissance introduced 30,000 words)-World exploration brought words from Africa, Asia, and New World languages)-Shakespeare coined around 1,700 new words
• grammar in the 1500s/1600s (3)

  -sentences tended to be loose and linear (lack of sub-ordination) with repeated 'and' or 'then' as co-ordination-sentences could run to 20 lines or more-auxiliary 'do' was considered highly formal in Shakespeare's time and wasn't obligatory (though usage dramatically increased between the 1500s and 1700s)-pointing was common
• pronouns in the 1500s/1600s (2)

  -'ye' declined and 'you' became the norm-'thou' was restricted to archaic, religious, or literacy contexts (but, in Shakespearean texts, 'thou' expressed affections/intimacy with 'you' being more distant)
• phonology in the 1500s/1600s (2)


  -changes in pronunciation are thought to be a result of the high degree of loan words-Great Vowel Shift occurred (long vowels pronounced the same way as Latin-derived languages)
• orthography and graphology in the 1500s/1600s (6)


  -during the Renaissance, letters were added to spellings to explicitly show their Latin/Greek origins -As pronunciations changed, some spellings changed with it (but many didn't - explains the oddities of English language spellings)-'/' is called a virgule and was commonly used in the 15th century (disappeared by 17th century though recently revived for technological use)-the long s was commonly used during the 1600s and distinguished between a hard and a soft sound-capitalisation was more frequently used in the 1600s (used to emphasis certain words) and main nouns were capitalised until the late 1700s-non-standard spellings feature frequently as it pre-dates the prescriptivist movements
• lexis and semantics in the 1700s (2)


  -neologisms were being coined due to the increase in industrial machinery -ongoing semantic variations taking place (part of language evolution) (e.g. 'nice' took on the meaning 'agreeable' in 1769)
• grammar in the 1700s (4)


  -prescriptivist movement brought many grammar standardisation rules-inverse syntax used (not the standard subject-verb order)-texts were still grammatically complex and had multi-clause sentences (and increasing levels of sub-ordination)-speech marks were used at the beginning of each new line (rather than for a new person speaking)
• phonology in the 1700s (1)


  -Great Vowel Shift had finished by this period
• orthography and phonology in the 1700s (5)

  -due to standardisation, the spellings from the Great Vowel Shift were now fixed (despite the period ending and vowels no longer being pronounced that way)-long s still in use-non-standard capitalisation was still widespread (Swift & Dryden didn't publish their ideas until the 1770s)-speech marks did differentiate between speech/writing but used differently to today-words may be altered to include a ' in the medial position (e.g. 'press'd) for rhythm and rhyme