Common Shakespearean Language

Born: April 1564, died 23 April 1616

Occupation: playwright, poet

Place of birth and death: Stratford-upon-Avon, England

Nickname: Bart (poet) of Avon

Works: 38 plays (histories, comedies and tragedies), 154 sonnets and 2 epic poems.

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Sonnet: a poem with 14 lines and a particular pattern of rhyme

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William Shakespeare

Roll'ng down a grassy hill, Yes, that's what summer means

To moi, 't's true

There's so much more to do

The days art longer, the nights art shorter

The sun 'twas shining, 'twas noticeably warmer

Summer, every single moment 'twas worth its weight in gold

Summer 'twas like the world's best story

And 'twas waiting to be told

'twas ice cream cones and cherry soda dripp'ng down thou chin

'twas summer, man, where do we beg'n?

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,

To the last syllable of recorded time;

And all our yesterdays have lighted fools

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!

Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,

That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,

And then is heard no more. It is a tale

Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,

Signifying nothing.

Language Changes!

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We don't necessarily use the same words now that people used in Shakespeare's time, but our knowledge of language and word origins can often help us understand unfamiliar language.

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Language Changes

Shakespeare is said to have added over 2000 words and phrases to the English language. Some are still in use today like fashionable, cold-blooded, new-fangled, scuffle and swagger. However, some words common in Shakespeare's day are no longer in common use; for example, thou is an old-fashioned form of you and art is an older form of are - How art thou today?

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Language Changes

Homophones are words that sound the same as other words but are spelled differently and have different meanings.

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Words that spelled the same but have different meanings are called Homographs!

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Homophones

Collective nouns name groups of things like people, object or animals. Although the group is made up of more than one thing, the collective noun usually takes a singular verb.

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Shakespeare's troupe of actors was one of the most famous in the world

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Collective Nouns