Well, Shakespeare had knowledge of seven different languages, and had an estimated vocabulary of about 24,000 words; a truly staggering amount. This background allowed for him to invent new words for the English language-- over 1,700 to be exact-- and also to flesh out our language in more ways than one. In many ways, these words are his most underrated works. Below are some of the most popular (I copied and pasted the word list from William Shakespeare: His Influence in the English Language):
Eyeball, moonbeam (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)Which are your favorites?
Puking (As You Like It)
Obscene, new-fangled (Love’s Labour’s Lost)
Cold-blooded, savagery (King John)
Hot blooded, epileptic (King Lear)
Addiction (Othello)
Arch-villain (Timon of Athens)
Assassination, unreal (Macbeth)
Bedazzled, pedant (The Taming of the Shrew)
Belongings (Measure for Measure)
Dishearten, swagger, dawn (Henry V)
Eventful, marketable (As You Like It)
Fashionable (Troilus and Cressida)
Inaudible (All’s Well That Ends Well)
Ladybird, uncomfortable (Romeo and Juliet)
Manager, mimic (A Midsummer Night’s Dream)
Pageantry (Pericles)
Scuffle (Antony and Cleopatra)
Bloodstained (Titus Andronicus)
Negotiate (Much Ado About Nothing)
Outbreak (Hamlet)
Jaded, torture (King Henry VI)
Grovel (Henry IV)
Gnarled (Measure for Measure)
Thanks for getting the ball rolling, Nate. Technically you weren't on tap to post until the end of this week, but, since you are an old hand at blogging for my classes, I think Brian will be happy not to have to go first! (In fact, Brian, you can wait till the end of the week now that Nate has taken the heat off for you. I should have thought of that, since both Nate and Nic have blogged for me before...)
ReplyDeleteEven though this isn't exactly dialectology, I simply cannot resist: my favorites are GNARLED, SWAGGER, and JADED. Can't beat The Man for wordage...
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DeleteNo problem; sorry, I should've read the prompt more closely. I was not sure if this topic was fair game or not, but I will be sure that my next post fits in directly with dialectology.
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ReplyDeleteThis was definitely an interesting read. It made me think of the meme posted in our classroom. I can't remember it exactly, but I remember it had a picture of Shakespeare and the caption was something to the effect of, "Can't think of a word? -- Invents it." Now I fully grasp the joke that was being made here! Clearly, he had a knack for innovation, particularly insofar as language goes.
ReplyDeleteI think an additional note to make is the paramount role that dialect played in Shakespeare's plays. He frequently used dialect (or accents) in characterization or plot development, often for the purpose of making social or political statements. For example, an upper class character may assume a "lower class" dialect in order to forge connections with characters of those circumstances. This shows the fluidity of the language and the way it informs our identities and the successes of our interpersonal relationships.
I'm glad you understand the joke now! And yes--that probably would have been a more appropriate subject to tackle for this class, but I'm glad you mentioned it in passing.
DeleteOne thing I find interesting about Shakespeare is the reason many of these words were invented. Shakespeare didn't simply want to make more words to sound fancier or more sophisticated; they were made to fit into both the rhythm and rhyme scheme of his plays.
ReplyDeleteAnother cool little fact is that many of the words that Shakespeare used were pronounced differently than we'd pronounce them today; but, his lines did rhyme. So going through, say, one of his sonnets, you can use a little detective work to find out how to pronounce some of the words. For example:
A. But ah! thought kills me that I am not thought,
B. To leap large lengths of miles when thou art gone,
A. But that so much of earth and water wrought
B. I must attend time's leisure with my moan,
In this case, either Shakespeare was making a slant rhyme between gone/moan, the speaker of the sonnet would pronounce either gone like "goan" or moan like "mon", OR gone or moan were simply pronounced differently at the time. This isn't very conclusive evidence, of course; but it is food for thought.
This was such a fun start to the blog discussions! I know the dialect discussions can get very technical very fast -- I enjoyed getting to read some fun Shakespeare terms to mix things up.
ReplyDeleteI have always found Shakespeare's impact on language to be so striking. I had wished my high school English teachers would have put more emphasis on his contributions to commonly used vocabulary -- I bet it would have helped my less Shakespeare inclined classmates at least appreciate that contribution from the Bard.
The words he created are now so commonplace but I have fun imagining what it would have been like at the time they were first used. Were audiences pondering the meaning "bedazzled"? Trying to find ways to slip it into conversation to prove they had seen the latest play? I am sure I am romanticizing the scene but it still amuses me.
When new words are created today, I feel like they are met with much derision -- especially when looking at terms that grew out of slang terminology. Was it due to Shakespeare position as a playwright that his words were accepted into the lexicon? Or were his contributions also initially dismissed due to not being so-called "proper English"?
You made some really good points and were spot on how people perceive Shakespeare. It’s crazy think about how his literature, theatre, and writing has changed the English language to this day. I took HON 220 last year and I can admit it was not my cup of tea. But I definitely grew an appreciation for Shakespeare and this work that has stood around for centuries. He should be recognized if you like the guy or not for his plethora of invented words. My favorite is the comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”.
ReplyDeleteI found your entry extraordinarily interesting. Im studying English as a Foreign Language, and one of the subjects I enjoyed the most here in myuniversity was Literature III, which was focused only in Shakespeare. First, it cought my attention that an entire subject was made just to study his work, and at the end of the course I even had the feeling that it wasn't enough. One of the many things we discussed in that class, was Shakespeare's ability to modify an entire language. I remember that when i found out that the word " bedroom" was created by him I was impressed. What other name for the place where you sleep if not that? When you first start learning english as a foreing language, that is one of the first words you incorporate to your vocabulary repertoir. The same with the word " uncomfortable", that was also created by him.
ReplyDeleteIm not a big fan of his work, but we cannot deny his ability to go one step forward, and that is maybe the reason why we keep talking about him after 500 years!