The Second Edition of the 20volume Oxford English
Dictionary contains entries for
about 750,000 words.
Shakespeare used 31,534
words in his works.
(Most adults have the
vocabulary of 20,000-35,000
words though only about
5,000-8,000 words are
actively used).
Old English
 Faeder ure thu eart on heofonum,
 si thin nama gehalgod. Tobecume
thin rice. Gewurthe thin willa on
eorthan swa swa on heofonum.

Do you think you know what it means?
Middle English
 Oure fadir that art in heuenes, halwid
be thi name; thi kyngdom cumme to;
be thi wille don as in heuen and in
erthe; gif to us this day ouer breed
oure substaunce; and forgeue uo us
oure dettis as we forgeue to oure
dettours.
 Does this one make a little more sense?
Early Modern English (1611)
Our father, which art in Heaven,
hallowed be thy name. Thy
kingdom come; thy will be done
on earth as it is in Heaven. Give
us this day, our daily bread; and
forgive us our debts as we forgive
our debtors, and lead us not into
temptation …
Modern English
 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be
your name. Your Kingdom come,
 your will be done, on earth as in
heaven. Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those
who sin against us. Lead us not into
temptation,
 but deliver us from evil. For the
kingdom, the power and the glory are
yours. Now and forever. Amen.
The Book of
Common Prayer
1549
King James Bible
1611
Spelling
- No standardized spelling;
Shakespeare
Shake-speare
Shakspeare Shakespere
Shakespear Shak-speare
Shakspear Shakspere
Shaksper Shakespheare
Spelling
- The Elizabethan alphabet
contained 24 letters, as opposed
to the present day alphabet of 26
letters;
- In the Elizabethan alphabet the
letters "u" and "v" were the same
letter as were "i" and "j";
Spelling
- The "j" was usually used as the
capital form of the letter "i" in the
Elizabethan alphabet;
- The letter "u" was used only in
the middle of a word, and the
"v" was used at the beginning.
Spelling
 - Another letter which
resembled a "y" (a thorn) was
used to represent the "th"
sound. The word "the" was
therefore written as "ye“;
- Numbers were frequently written in
lower case Roman numerals, with the
last "i" in a number written as a "j".
For example - viij March;
Spelling
- Letter “e” was often omitted and
replaced with an apostrophe
(despis’d – dispised),
- A lot of words were contracted:
'tis ~ it is, th’ ~ the, o'er ~ over, ne'er
~ never, i' ~ in, e'er ~ ever, oft ~
often, e'en ~ even
Grammar (Pronouns)
How it is used
Singular
Plural
Subject
Thou
Ye
Object
Thee
You
Possessive
Adjetive
Thy
Your
Possessive
Noun
Thine
Yours
“If thou art privy to the country’s
fate…”
“...the throne of Denmark to thy
father”
“By heaven I charge thee, speak”
“As thou art to thyself”
Grammar (Verb Forms)
Verb Form
Modern
English
Shakespeare’s
English
2nd person
singular
No ending
You give
- st
Thou givest
3d person
singular
-s
He gives
- th
He giveth
- If thou lovest me
- sayst thou so
-thou rememb’rest
- thou told’st me
-Shouldst thou be
- if thou didst
- Whither wilt thou lead me
-Present Tense
Now
You -
Then Thou -
are
have
will
art
hast
wilt
can
shall
canst shalt
do
dost
-Past Tense
Now
Then
You -
were
had
would
could
should
did
Thou - wast hadst wouldst couldst shouldst didst
Grammar (Sentences)
- Shakespeare often changed the
word order in sentences:
“These babes for Clarence weep”
“So frowned he once”
Vocabulary
- Words that no longer exist in the
English language;
- Words that now have a different
meaning;
Vocabulary
 still = always, soft = slowly,
an = if, perforce = you must,
 ay = yes, fain = gladly,
anon = at once,
wherefore= why
Vocabulary
- Shakespeare coined a lot of new
words and phrases:
Words:
"advertising", "assassination",
"bedazzled", "eventful", "eyesore",
"fortune-teller“, "outbreak",
"quarrelsome", "radiance", "reclusive",
"unreal", "well-read", "watchdog" …
Vocabulary
Phrases:
- All that glitters is not gold (The
Merchant of Venice)
- Bated breath (The Merchant of
Venice)
- Dead as a doornail (2Henry VI)
- Too much of a good thing (As You
Like It)
Vocabulary
Phrases:
- For goodness' sake (Henry VIII)
- Good riddance (Troilus and Cressida)
- Laughing stock (The Merry Wives of
Windsor)
- Break the ice (The Taming Of The
Shrew)
Vocabulary
Phrases:
- Love is blind (Merchant of
Venice)
- Naked truth (Love's Labours Lost)
- Own flesh and blood (Hamlet)
- Wild-goose chase (Romeo and
Juliet)
1. Blank verse
 unrhymed lines with an
arrangement of unstressed and
stressed syllables known as
iambic pentameter
“ In sooth I know not why I am so
sad”
(from The Merchant of Venice)
2. Variations on metre
 to make his verse less monotonous, Shakespeare:

altered the pattern of unstressed
and stressed syllables
“that this too sullied flesh would
melt”
(from ‘Hamlet’)
2. Variations on metre
 to make his verse less monotonous, Shakespeare:

altered the expected number of
syllables
“There’s nothing ill can dwell in such
a temple”
(from ‘The Tempest’)
2. Variations on metre
 to make his verse less monotonous, Shakespeare:

divided a single line between two or
more speakers
Emilia: Why, would not you?
Desdemona: No, by this heavenly light!
(from Othello)
3. Use of verse and prose
 Verse
Prose
generally used:
generally used:
by aristocratic
characters

in serious or
dramatic scenes



by lower-class
characters
in comic scenes
in informal
conversations

4. Metaphors and similes
“There’s daggers in men’s smiles”
(from ‘Macbeth’)
4. Metaphors and similes
“The quality of mercy is not strained.
It droppeth as the gentle rain from
heaven
Upon the place beneath ”
(from ‘The Merchant of Venice’)
5. Antithesis
The contrast of direct opposites.
“Why then, O brawling love,
O loving hate,
O anything, of nothing first created:
O heavy lightness, serious vanity”
(from ‘Romeo and Juliet’)
6. Repetition
Repeated words or phrases add to the
emotional intensity of a scene:
“Oh horrible, oh horrible, most horrible!”
(The Ghost in ‘Hamlet’)
6. Repetition
Repeated words or phrases add to the
comic effect:
“O night, O night, alack, alack, alack,
I fear my Thisbe’s promise is forgot!
And thou, O wall, O sweet, O lovely wall.”
(from ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’)
7. Hyperbole
Extravagant and obvious exaggeration :
“Blow me about in winds! Roast me in
sulphur!
Wash me in steep-down gulfs of liquid
fire!”
(from ‘Othello’)
7. Personification
“Come, civil Night;
Thou sober-suited matron all in black.”
(from ‘Romeo and Juliet’)
8. Irony


Verbal
irony
The audience
Dramatic
knows
irony
something that a
character
on stage does not
It is structural: one line
Saying one thing
or scene contrasts
but meaning another
sharply with another
In Julius Caesar, Mark
Antony calls Brutus “an
honourable man” but
means the opposite
In Macbeth Duncan’s line
“He was a gentleman on
whom I built an absolute
trust” is followed by the
stage direction “Enter
Macbeth”
9. Pronouns: you and thee
Send clear social signals
 You
Thee



Implies either closeness,
friendship or contempt
Used to address someone
of higher social rank
Can be aggressive or
insulting



More formal and
distant form
Suggests respect for a
superior
Courtesy to a social
equal