Let's continue: verbs and pronouns!

We are going to continue with the grammar of Early Modern English! In this new post we will deal with the characteristics of verbs and pronouns.

Let’s start with pronouns:

Although nowadays, we only hear the words “thou”, “thee”, “thy”, “thine” and “ye” in counted occasions with a elevated level of formalism, in Early Modern English this pronouns are used in bot formal and informal level. “Thou”,”thee”,”thy”,”thine” and “ye” refer to the second singular person (nowadays, “you”). You could ask: And why there are so many? The answer is simple: each one relates to a different case: “thou” is used in nominative (you), thee in objective, thy or thine are possessive pronouns.

In the next table, there’s the classification of all this pronouns with their plurals forms: “ye”, “you”, ”your”.

Here you can see these pronouns in Shakespeare’s plays:

Romeo and Juliet: “Oh Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”

All's Well That Ends Well: “I will think of thee at court.”

Antony and Cleopatra: “When he shines by. I say again, thy spirit”

Cymbeline: “Than thine own worth prefer thee: go with me”

Antony and Cleopatra: “Pray ye, sir?”

In the third person possessive case, appears de form “its” of the pronoun “it”.

King Lear: “That nature which contemns its origin.”

Regarding verbs, there are a few numbers of important characteristics in the forms "to be" and "to do ".

-“Be” forms alongside the pronouns forms:

I be, thou bee,  

A Midnight Summer’s Dream: Be it ounce or cat or Bear

Also, the perfect of intransitive verbs of motion continued to be formed with the verb to be.

On the other hand, the only important characteristic of the verb “to do” is the disappearance of the periphrastic construction in affirmative declarative sentences:

Benedick: “I do love nothing in the world”

Let's start: nouns and adjectives!

The Early Modern English involves a series of grammatical changes in four large groups: nouns, adjectives, pronouns and verbs. This entry will deal with the two first categories.

Regarding nouns, two changes happen: the use of the particle –s in order to form plurals and the appearance of the <<his genitive>>. The objective of his genitive is the union of two nouns based on the contraction of the pronoun “his”. We can find an example in the play King Lear of Shakespeare:

William Shakespeare.

“Why, to put's head in; not to give it away to his daughters, and leave his horns without a case” (to put his head in -> to put’s head in).

Nowadays we still retain the particle –‘s in order to mark the possessive “his”.

In relation to the adjectives, there are set different particles that give the adjective a comparative or superlative degree. Currently monosyllables take -er and -est (inflected forms) while adjectives with two syllables or more take more and most (periphrastic forms). In the following excerpts from works of Shakespeare we can see these changes:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream: “Marry, our play is The most lamentable comedy and most cruel death of Pyramus and Thisbe.”

Also, it is frequently used the double comparative or the superlative, in which case an inflected form and a periphrastic form appear together to emphasize the meaning of the adjective.

Hamlet: “Your wisdom should show itself more richer to signify this to the doctor.”

Cymbeline: “From this most bravest vessel of the world”

Hamlet representation.

"Doubt thou

the stars are fire;

Doubt that

the sun doth move;

Doubt truth

to be a liar;

But never doubt I love"

   -William Shakespeare

Curious curiosities...

What happened in the 17th century?

The figure of Shakespeare belongs to the seventeenth century, when Elizabeth’s I reign and, afterwards, James develops. 

Portrait of Elizabeth I

Economically, in the beginning of this century, with Elizabeth's I reign, England goes from being a weak state to a world power, with a social and cultural prosperity.

In the social sphere, the government of Isabel I opted for the capitalist economy model and the formation of a new aristocratic class, composed of the landed gentry and the wealthy bourgeoisie. Also, in this century the bourgeois ideology, whose main fundaments were the idea of authority, order and security, is imposed. Additionally, Elizabeth I established Protestantism (one of the major branches of Christianity), fact that caused a great opposition.

Afterwards, James continued supporting Protestantism. This fact obliged him to exercise an absolutism government, meaning that the Parliament remained excluded. 

Wardrobe of 17th century.

As for the cultural framework, the English Renaissance is developed. This ideological movement replaced faith by reason, and placed the man in the centre of the universe (anthropocentrism).  

Theatre acquired a great development. It was renamed as “Elizabethan theatre “. The most important features of this type of theatre is the break of the classical precepts, the transgression of the units of time, place and action, alternation of prose and verse and mixing genres and social classes. William Shakespeare, worldwide known author, stood out in this field with plays like Hamlet, Macbeth or Hamlet. 

Elizabethan theatre. 

Welcome to the Shakespeare's corner!

Do you think you know everything about Shakespeare?

Enter to our new blog and discover a new dimension inside the plays of Shakespeare analysing the characteristics of the language that he used in all his plays: the Early Modern English. Travel into the Shakesperian world as you have never done, from your own computer, mobile phones and anywhere in the world.

Are you ready?

Portrait of Shakespeare.

"Love me or hate me,

both are in my favor...

If you love me, 

I'll always be in your heart...

If you hate me,

I'll always be in your mind."

          -William Shakespeare