Early New English Syntax and Vocabulary
The structure of the sentence in Early New English is conditioned by the previous development of its morphology. With the practical loss of endings by the nouns and adjectives, their position in the sentence becomes quite relevant to the meaning they render - so, the direct word order prevails, the subject precedes the predicate in non-emotional sentences, and the object is shifted to the position after the predicate.
Agreement as a means of grammatical connection of the words in the sentence is limited to the demonstrative pronouns that preserve their plural form. The predicate agrees with the subject when it is expressed by the verb to be or the passive form of the verb with this same auxiliary, and in the third person singular of the present tense.
Government is also restricted to some structures with personal pronoun! and interrogative or relative who/whom, the role of prepositions grows. Some scholars say that even the term prepositional government might be introduced to emphasize their growing role in connecting words.
Joining becomes the main way of connecting the words in the sentence - headword does not change anything in the subordinate in such combinations as young knight/young knights; I say, you say, we say. tht say etc.
A noun in pre-position to other noun generally plays the part of an attribute.
A true innovation is observed in the structure of the sentence as auxiliary do is introduced. It appears in all types of sentences: declarative, negative mil interrogative containing the Present or Past tenses of the Indicative Mood and the Imperative Mood. These forms are known as "do-periphrasis", and practically all of them are devoid of any emphatic meaning, of any stylistic connotation. Occasionally we may find that the structure containing do may be really emphatic, but that is conditioned rather by the lexical meaning of the words. Originally the forms I do know - I/ know, Dost thou know? - Knowest thou? I don't know - I know not are equal in stylistic value, and only much later, when the auxiliary in the affirmative sentences was discarded, such sentences became stylistically marked as the use of do violates the rule.
In present-day English negative structures without do are also more emphatic Emphasis and expressivity result from violation of any rule. Metaphor, hyperbole, oxymoron are expressive, because the rules of semantic combinability are broken.
As far as the general organization of the sentence is concerned, a new phenomenon arises - the structure of the sentence becomes nominative, that is a subject in the nominative case becomes a necessary part of it. The majority of sentences had it in Old and in Middle English. But at the same time impersonal sentences, where the doer of the action was indefinite had special structure without the subject, having the predicate and the object in the dative case, sometimes the object merged with the very verb
The tendency to the nominative structure finds its expression that such meaning either is expressed in sentences with personal pronouns (I think, I like etc.) or the formal subject it is introduced and becomes quite common in New English
Though double negation is considered ungrammatical and is gradually driven out of the language, Shakespeare's works still show that it still existed in early 17th century.
Whereas we mentioned various sources of enriching the English vocabulary - they were Latin and Celtic in Old English, Scandinavian and French in Middle English, the Modern English state of things is characterized more by English influence on the other languages than by the reverse.
Whereas words of foreign origin enriched the English vocabulary to a great extent, the inner factors - that is, various ways of word building were used very actively. New words appeared in the language built by all traditional building processes - derivation, compounding, semantic word building and a new, specifically English way of making new words arose – conversion. It set a new pattern of making new words (verbs from nouns and adjectives with a certain number of verbs derived from other parts of speech and nouns from verbs).
Borrowings in the Early New English were numerous. They enriched vocabulary greatly. Among them were. Latin nouns (amplitude 1540-50, applause 1590-1600, class 1590-1600, consultation 1540-50, demolition 1540-50, formula 1575-85, gymnasium 1590-1600, horizon 1540-50 etc.), verbs (accommodate 1515-25, accumulate 1520-30, agitate 1580-90, appreciate 1645-55, calculate 1560-70, congratulate 1540-50, co-ordinate 1635-45, devastate 1625-35, discriminate 1620-30).
French borrowings in Early New English are somewhat different from those taken in Middle English. They are no longer superimposed by a winning nation but are taken freely, and semantic grouping is more fuzzy - here we may find words from the military sphere, words connected with leisure, pastime and games, culinary terms and so on: apricot 1545-55, attack 1590-1600, avenue 1590-1600, ballet 1660-70, ballot 1540-50, bandage 1590-1600, battalion 1580-90, bayonet 1605-15, billiard 1630-40, bourgeois 1555-65, cabinet 1540-50, cadet 1600-10, campaign 1620-30, citadel 1580-90, colleague 1515-25, contrast 1480-90, corsage 1475—85, cortege 1670-80, coup d'etat 1640-50, cricket 1590-1600, disgust 1590-1600, fatigue 1685-95, favourite 1575-85,grotesque 1555-65, group 1665-75, lampoon 1635-4-5, machine 1540-50, massacre 1575-85, moustache 1575-85, omelet 1605-15, parrot 1515-25, picturesque 1695-1705, pioneer 1515-25, piquant 1515-25, platform 1540-50, platoon 1630-40, police 1520-30, portmanteau 1575-85.
The peculiarity of the French borrowings of the period is that they in by cases preserve French phonetic shape (borrowings of the 16th and 19th century alike) - they have the stress on the final syllable, often have mute consonants at the end and have French sounds (Ʒ in bourgeois, genre etc.)
Borrowing Italian words at this period is explained by great influence of Italy in certain spheres of life. Italian architecture, music, banking and
military affairs excelled in those times. The borrowings of this period are: arsenal 1500-10, artichoke 1525-35, bankrupt 1525-35, baritone 1600-10, canto 1580-90, capriccio 1595-1605, carnival 1540-50, casino 1780-90, colonel 1540-50, contrabass 1590-1600, contralto 1720-30, corridor 1585-95, duet 1730-40, fresco 1590-1600, gondola 1540-50 , infantry 1570-80.
Spanish borrowings of this period are rather numerous and can be subdivided into two groups - borrowings of the native Spanish words such as
renegade 1575-85 guitar 1615-25
mosquito 1575-85 cigar 1625-35
and those that were taken into Spanish from various American Indian languages (occasionally from other languages). Sometimes it is thought that they might be called the borrowings from Indian languages, but there was no direct contact of the English with those tribes at the period so the words came from Spanish. Another group of Spanish borrowings is connected with the military sphere and seafaring:
galleon 1520-30 filibuster 1580-90
contraband 1520-30 embargo 1595-1605
armada 1525-35 cargo 1640-50
bravado 1575-85 guerrilla 1800-10
bomb 1580-90
Some words borrowed from Spanish seem very much connected with American life, yet they are Spanish words coined in the New world:
canyon 1835-45 mulatto 1585-95
cockroach 1615-25 ranch 1800-10
tornado 1550-60 alligator 1560-70
junta 1615-25
Portuguese borrowings of the period are not so numerous and rod to a number of words denoting some material things like animals and fruit (often these names were borrowed into Portuguese from the language of its colonies): marmalade 1515-25 zebra 1590-1600 flamingo 1555-65 jaguar 1595-1605 copra 1575-85 fetish 1605-15.
The Dutch element comes into the English language in a considerable number of words, reflecting the specificity of their commercial ties. The Netherlands of the period was well-known for its school of painting, its crafts and a well-developed fleet. Hence the Dutch borrowings of the Early New English period are: wagon 1505-15 frolic 1530-10 dabble 1550-60 yacht 1550-60 freebooter 1560-70 monsoon 1575-85 landscape 1590-1600 harpoon 1590-1600 - 1590-1600.
German, Hungarian, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian words are not so numerous in many cases only name the things absent in the English life - names of musical instruments, some institutions and social titles, wines etc. So Hungarian in origin are: hussar 1525-35 and coach 1550-60. Words like cossack 1590-1600 and horde 1545-55 are listed among Polish borrowings of Ukrainian origin; borshch 1880-85 came into the English through Yiddish marked as Russian or Ukrainian soup, hospodar 1620-30 came through Romanian.
Russian borrowings of the Early New English period are not so numerous muzhik 1560-70, telega 1550-60, boyar 1585-95, beluga 1585- 1600 (from Turkic) and, like the above mentioned borrowings oi llkrainian are restricted to naming specifically Russian.
Borrowings from Arabic were of mixed nature - some became part and parcel of the English vocabulary and bear no local colouring: algebra 1535-45, alcohol 1535-45, carat 1545-55, henna 1590-1600, sofa 1615-25; the others are not so assimilated semantically and bear the local colouring, that is are used in relation to the realia of the Middle East: sheik 1570-80, hashish 1590-1600, fakir 1600-10, islam 1605-15 etc.
The majority of the borrowing from Hebrew came in the earlier periods through Latin (Satan bef. 900, amen bef. 1000, cherub bef. 900, manna bel 900, rabbi 1250-1300), one of the Early New English is hallelujah 1525 -35. The English colonial expansion brought into the language words of the languages of the English colonies in Asia, Africa and Australia.
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