Transcript 說得容易，做得輕鬆：簡報的藝術與技術

Shakespeare's Language
“You speak a language that I understand not”
Three myths

The quantity myth (largest vocabulary)

The invention myth (invented 1/3 of English)

The translation myth (must be paraphrased)
Answers to the myths

Quantity

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Invention


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Translation

More than X4 as
many English words
today.
His vocab. WAS great
He invented app.
1700 words
About 50% stayed
(gloomy, lonely etc.)
5-10% difference in
grammar and vocab.
Editions of Shakespeare

Folios and quartos

Quarto editions prior to 1623

First folio 1623

Who dictated the texts to the printers?

Who typeset and printed them?

Good / bad editions – and problems of error

Why is it called a “role”?
A renaissance in Language?

First monolingual English dictionary: 1604

Many rules of language not yet formulated:

Spelling haphazard

Capitalization idiosyncratic

Abbreviations and contractions idiosyncratic

Punctuation random

Many new words (eg. from Greek & Latin)
introduced during the Renaissance
Major differences - spelling

Presence or absence of final -e (againe)

Apostrophe to replace letter (arm'd)

-ie instead of -y (busie)

Double/single consonant (royall)

ie or ee for sounds [ee] (neere)

No difference i/j u/v

70% of spelling is the same!
Major differences - Vocabulary


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App. 1,000 completely unfamiliar (finical,
incony)
App. 200 “false friends” (“demand” means
“ask”)
Shakespeare likes to pun (words with several
meanings; cf. “Sonnet 135”)
Other important differences

Thou goest (you go)

She goeth, she hath (she goes/has)

-th already archaic at the time (-s)

Pronouns - singular

Thou, thee, thy, thine, thy selfe (intimate)

You, ye, your, yours, your selfe (polite singular)
Verse or prose?

Most plays are a mixture of verse and prose

Often associated with class distinction
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High style → poetry (eg. about love)
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Low style → prose (eg. teasing)

The characters can often accommodate
Shakespeare's verse

Iambic pentameter: (5 X u-)
“Oh, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?”


Usually blank verse (rhyme spared for “special
occasions”)
Spelling often emphasizes rhythm:
“Profaners of this neighbour-stainéd steel”
“With Cupid's arrow, she hath Dian's wit”