A Shakespearian Grammar: An Attempt to Illustrate Some of the Differences between Elizabethan & Modern English

by Edwin A. Abbott

""A Shakespearian Grammar"" is a book written by Edwin A. Abbott that attempts to explain the differences between Elizabethan English and modern English. The book focuses mainly on the language used in the works of William Shakespeare, one of the greatest playwrights in history. The author provides a detailed analysis of the grammar, vocabulary, and syntax used in Shakespeare's plays and sonnets, and compares them to the conventions of modern English. The book is intended for scholars of English literature and language, as well as anyone interested in understanding the nuances of Shakespeare's writing. It is a valuable resource for those who wish to gain a deeper understanding of the language and culture of Elizabethan England, and how it has influenced the English language as we know it today.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.

Genres: Shakespeare, Reference, Linguistics, History

540 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1901

About the author

People best know British theologian and writer Edwin Abbott Abbott for his imaginative satirical novella Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (1884).

This English schoolmaster authored of the mathematical satire.

He was educated at the city of London school and at college of Saint John, Cambridge, where he as fellow took the highest honors in classics, mathematics, and theology. In 1862, he took orders. After holding masterships at school of king Edward, Birmingham, and at Clifton college, he succeeded G.F. Mortimer as headmaster of the City of London School in 1865 at the early age of 26 years. He was Hulsean lecturer in 1876.

He retired in 1889, and devoted himself to literary and theological pursuits. Liberal inclinations of Abbott in theology were prominent both in his educational views and in his books. His Shakespearian Grammar (1870) is a permanent contribution to English philology. In 1885 he published a life of Francis Bacon. His theological writings include three anonymously published religious romances - Philochristus (1878), Onesimus (1882), and Sitanus (1906).

More weighty contributions are the anonymous theological discussion The Kernel and the Husk (1886), Philomythus (1891), his book The Anglican Career of Cardinal Newman (1892), and his article "The Gospels" in the ninth edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica, embodying a critical view which caused considerable stir in the English theological world. He also wrote St Thomas of Canterbury, his Death and Miracles (1898), Johannine Vocabulary (1905), Johannine Grammar (1906). Flatland was published in 1884.

Sources that say he is the brother of Evelyn Abbott (1843 - 1901), who was a well-known tutor of Balliol College, Oxford, and author of a scholarly history of Greece, are in error.

Reviews

[Lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by the man who wrote Flatland, this book not only helped me understand Shakespeare better, but now reading the King James Bible is a cakewalk.

[Kim Zinkowski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not an easy book. It is technical. I feel that having read this volume I have a better understanding of the works of Shakespeare that I have already read, and a firmer foundation to continue my quest to read all of Shakespeare's works.

[James F · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone trying to read Shakespeare or watch the plays should read the Introduction to this book, which explains the general reasons for the differences between Elizabethan and modern (i.e. Victorian) English. The body of the book is very detailed, and would interest someone with an interest in language rather than the general reader. Since Elizabethan English is transitional between Middle English (Abbott uses the term Early English, and Anglo-Saxon for Old English) and the modern language, the book often shows the evolution from one to the other through Shakespeare's English, rather than just dealing with the English of Shakespeare's time.

I found some of the explanations fascinating, such as the origins of the prepositions, conjunctions and common adverbs (for example, "also" from all+so, an emphatic form of "so", which explains why it can mean "too" in English and "thus" in German; "much", "more" and "most" from mo+ch, mo+er and mo+est, great, greater, and greatest in quantity; "than" and "then" as different case forms of "that", originally used just the opposite of the way they are now). The book is arranged alphabetically by parts of speech, from adverbs to verbs; then ends with a discussion of Shakespeare's prosody. Each section is illustrated by quotations, mostly from Shakespeare but also from other Elizabethan writers such as Ben Jonson and Beaumont and Fletcher.

The book is in the tradition of classical philology, written before modern linguistics, so some things I am sure would be explained a little differently today. It was intended for High School students (!) and assumes that they will have a better knowledge of Greek and Latin grammar than of English grammar -- in fact, he begins with a defense of taking time out from the study of those languages for mere English (essentially, he claims knowing English grammar will help students to understand Latin better.) Some of the Elizabethan forms he discusses seem quite normal to me -- probably because American English has retained some Shakepearian constructions which have changed in British English.