Middle English
stage of the English language from about the 12th through 15th centuries
AI overview
Middle English is the form of English spoken and written between roughly the 1200s and 1500s, falling between Old English and the Modern English we use today. It matters because it represents a crucial transitional period in how the English language developed, shaped by the Norman Conquest and other historical changes that transformed English vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.
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Article
Middle English (abbreviated to ME) is the forms of the English language that were spoken in England after the Norman Conquest of 1066, until the late 15th century, roughly coinciding with the High and Late Middle Ages. The Middle English dialects displaced the Old English dialects under the influence of Anglo-Norman French and Old Norse, and were in turn replaced in England by Early Modern English.
Middle English had significant regional variety and churn in its vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and orthography. The main dialects were Northern, East Midland, West Midland, and Southern in England, as well as Early Scots and the Irish Fingallian and Yola.