The changes that distinguish.
Early Modern English from Middle English are substantial. The rules for spelling.
were set down for the first time. The key is the new consistency used by.
teachers, printers and eventually by the general populace. The sign of maturity.
for English was the agreement on one set of rules replacing the spelling free-.
for-all that had existed.
Out of the variety of?local dialects there emerged toward the end of the.
fourteenth century a written language that in course of the fifteenth century.
won general recognition and has since become the recognized standard in speech.
and writing. The part of England that contributed most to the formation of this.
standard was the East Midland type of English that became itst basis,.
particularly the dialect of the metropolis, London. East Midland district was.
the largest and most populous of the major dialect areas. There were also two.
universities, Oxford and Cambridge. In the fourteenth century the monasteries.
were playing a less important role in the spread of learning than they had once.
played, while the two universities had developed into important intellectual.
centers. So far as Cmbridge is concerned any ist influence was exerted in.
support of the East Midland dialect. That of Oxford is less certain because.
Oxfordshire was on the border between Midland and Southern and its dialect.
shows certain characteristic Southern features.
Written London English of the close of the fourteenth century as used by a.
number of Middle English authors, such as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer, had.
not achived the status of a regional standard but was soon to become the basis.
for a new national literary standard of English. It was the language of the.
capital. Geographically, it occupied a position midway between the extreme North.
and the extreme South. Already by 1430, this new standard had assumed a.
relatively mature form. It was spread throughout England by professional clerks.