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Reading chapter 12 in Crystal, I was intrigued by his discussion on how extracts from the King James’ version of the Bible have now become common expressions in Modern English. Specifically, it was really interesting to see how specific phrases became integrated into everyday language while others only have a place in biblical texts.
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We ran a bit short of time on 28 February, so I wanted to make a couple of quick points about comparing late ME/Early EMod (or EEMod?).

1. I hope no one thinks I’m trying to promote Wycliffite/Lollard religious ideas. We’re just interested in the language.
B. Please hang on to the translations you produced in class, [...]

Here’s an article from Slate (from 1996, so some of the cultural references are a bit dated) about the language of air travel, its specific vocabulary and cadence. http://www.slate.com/id/3165/ 

This does not directly relate to what we’re talking about now, but it concerns British dialects and their portrayal in literature. This is a quote from Bram Stoker’s Dracula (written 1897), in which the educated protagonist Mina Murray is listening to a crotchety old man from the country:
          “‘My gog, but it’ll be a quare [...]

An SH should include most or all of the following elements:

a brief explanation of how you came across your word, and what interests you about it.
the context where your word is usually found (i.e. what sociolinguistic domain, if it is particularly prevalent in a particular context)
A summary of the evidence you are using to discuss [...]

“With no standard language to act as a control, Middle English illustrates an age when all dialects were equal… There was no hint of a prescriptive attitude. People wrote differently and spoke differently… but they did not write or speak wrongly.”
- Crystal, 215
“For a glorious 300 years, people could write as they wanted to, and [...]

Here are a couple of articles I’ve recently stumbled across. These might be of interest to the budding grammarians (snoots?) in our class: First, a piece from the Chicago Tribune about the difference between lay v. lie. By a Pomona alum!
 Lying Down in Crusade for Correctness 
 Second, a piece from Monday’s New York Times about the [...]

Here is a link to the reading for 2/21 by Linda Ehrsam Voigts
Voigts “Bilingualism”

In Chapter 8, while discussing the affect an increasing literacy has on language, Crystal references George Orwell and his rules of ‘good prose style.’ Although its not necessarily relevant to Middle English specifically, I found Orwell’s theory really interesting. He criticizes written English, saying that the language is declining because writers prefer abstract [...]

I’m sure we’ve been over this… but I can’t remember why case-marking was essentially lost in English and replaced with strict word order.   Why?