An examination of Shakespeare's use of colloquial language. Although we cannot be sure of how Shakespeare used himself used the language of his time we can look at his contemporaries
Gillian Tansey
An examination of Shakespeare's use of colloquial language.
Although we cannot be sure of how Shakespeare used himself used the language of his time we can look at his contemporaries to get ideas and draw some conclusions about how Shakespeare spoke and how he used language during his lifetime and in the plays he wrote. The language in Shakespeare's plays varies dramatically as ha has so many different styles of writing; his tragedies obviously differ from his comedy plays and history plays differ from his poems and sonnets. The use of colloquial language and swearing appear throughout the plays. Because language has changed so much over time, as modern day readers of the plays we do not recognise the colloquial language used as we speak using colloquial language on a day-to-day basis so it is seen as normal in modern day English. With this in mind we often overlook Shakespeare's use of jokes and slang and moments in plays that would have been considered amusing or rude to an audience of Shakespeare's time. For example HC Wyld, in A History of Modern Colloquial English ( 1953) quotes be Salmon, says:
We should not know how to greet or take leave of those we met, how to express our thanks in a subtle manner, how to ask for a favour, pay a compliment, or send a polite message to a gentleman's wife..We should hesitate every minute how to address the person we are talking to.
(Salmon & Burgess. 1987. P38)
Another use of colloquial language is how people greet each other and addressed each other. It has changed dramatically from how we greet and address each other in modern day English. One of the biggest differences of the language is how Shakespeare communicates to his audience and how we do it now. In this essay I will examine how colloquial language is used in Shakespeare's works and how we use it now.
The plays that have colloquial language in them are the typically low life scenes, as in the comedy play Merry Wives of Windsor, and the histories Henry IV parts one and two, and Henry V "They show Elizabethans carousing in taverns in London and Windsor, entertaining in a Gloucestershire garden, gossiping in houses,...In all of these scenes, Elizabethan society comes to life as it never does in the contemporary grammars and phrase books..."(Salmon & Burness. 1987.p38). However, as there are many low life scenes in Shakespeare's other plays it can occur quite frequently if it is appropriate. For example in the tragedy Titus Andronicus, Aaron is perhaps one of the first Shakespearean characters to use deliberate colloquialisms. Aaron is fond of racy epithets, as when he describes Tamora's two sons who ravishes Lavinia:
That codding spirit had they from their mother,
As sure a card as ever won the set.
That bloody mind, I think, they learned of me,
As true a dog as ever fought at head.
(TA V.I.98-101)
(Hussey, 1982. P49)
There are a number of colloquialisms that are used in Shakespeare's plays such as 'twere, by the way, by no means, etc.., or so and in particular the parentheses (as 'therein anger, for a turn ot two, for that's most genteel, of your mother's making) However, probably the most common colloquialisms that are used are the kinds of ritual forms that people use to greet and say goodbye to each other, and forms of address. Examples include, How now, Well met, Welcome. These are all used for greeting and have different forms of response 'How now' can be returned, answered by another form of not returned at all for example in the play Merry Wives of Windsor, act 2: Scene 1:line 174-175.
Page: How now, mine host!
Host: How now, bully rook!
'Well met' is the same as 'How now'. An example of this can be found in Henry V Act 2: scene 1: line 1-2.
BARDOLPH: Well met, Corporal Nym.
NYM: Good Morrow, Lieutenant Bardolph.
'Welcome' is also used the same as 'How now' and 'Well met' an example of this greeting is in Henry IV part 2, act 3:scene 2:line83-85:
SHALLOW: Welcome, good Sir John.
FALSTAFF: I am glad to see you well.
Friends and equals use the latter two ...
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Page: How now, mine host!
Host: How now, bully rook!
'Well met' is the same as 'How now'. An example of this can be found in Henry V Act 2: scene 1: line 1-2.
BARDOLPH: Well met, Corporal Nym.
NYM: Good Morrow, Lieutenant Bardolph.
'Welcome' is also used the same as 'How now' and 'Well met' an example of this greeting is in Henry IV part 2, act 3:scene 2:line83-85:
SHALLOW: Welcome, good Sir John.
FALSTAFF: I am glad to see you well.
Friends and equals use the latter two greetings. Compared to modern day usage greetings we use now are different. Today we would not use 'How now' we would use 'Hello' or 'Hi'. Occasionally we would still use 'Welcome' if someone were coming into our home, although we would not necessarily use this greeting with friends of equals. We would use 'Hiya' of 'Hi' to people we know well but 'Hello' would b used as a formal greeting or used to people we did not know of were of an important status. The responses to greetings are also very different now to what they were:
'How doth'... (not usually answered.) An example of this is in Henry IV part 2: Act 3 scene 2:line 3.
SHALLOW: And how doth my good cousin Silence?
SILENCE: Good morrow, good cousin Shallow.
SHALLOW: And how doth my cousin, your bedfellow?
An enquiry for news; for example in Henry IV part 2, act 2, scene 4:line 341.
PRINCE: Peto, how now! What news?
I am glad to see you, for example in Merry Wives of Windsor, act 1: scene 1:line 72
SHALLOW: Master Page, I am glad to see you.
However, our responses have not changed dramatically, we still want to find out the same information we ask it in a different way now to when Shakespeare was writing. In Henry IV part 2, Act 2:scene 4 line 357. Falstaff asks for news in a different way,
FALSTAFF: How now! What's the matter?
In this, he is asking for information or 'gossip' we still ask this today but slightly differently. Today we would use 'What's up' or 'How are you doing'.
The questions we ask, although they seem to be asking for a long response about the person in question, we would only expect short response such as 'Yeh fine, you?' If we do happen to get a longer response to our question we tend to feel slightly uncomfortable as we were only being polite and did not actually want a long response or a full conversation.
The types of words and phrases that were used for blessings and times of the day were similar to those used today.
Bless You - answered by repetition or not at all. This is a formal greeting.
God save you - answered by repetition or not at all. This is a formal greeting.
Good Day
Good time of day- an example of this appears in Henry IV part 2, act 1: scene 2: line 88. Falstaff - ...God give your lordship good time of day"
Good morrow- (before noon, neutral as to relationship)
Good even
The phrases we would use today are similar to those used in the Shakespeare times. We have changed them slightly in modern day English, for example instead of 'good morrow' we would use 'good morning' and instead of 'good even' we would say 'good evening'. It is likely that we would only use 'God bless you' or God save you' in the religious context. In modern day English greetings it is very common to comment on the weather, for example;
'Good morning, nice day isn't it'.
Commenting on the weather in Shakespearean time did not occur. A main reason for commenting on the weather is that it makes it easier to begin a conversation, particularly with strangers. Commenting on the weather in greetings makes it easier for everybody to speak to one another. As the weather is so changeable it is something we all have knowledge about and if it were a nice day the other person would not disagree with them.
As well as greeting changing from today's usage, the partings that were most frequently used have also changed. Dismissals had varying degrees of politeness whilst dismissing a servant or an intimate.
Invitations to leave for example appear in: Merry Wives of Windsor, act 2: scene1: line 139.
Mrs Ford: Will you go, Mistress Page?
Mrs Page: Have with you.
Shall we wag? This was also a popular parting, this was used as friendly invitations to leave, to equals.
Shall we shag?
Farewell/Adieu - This was a neuteral greeting used interchangeably and could be used together.
God be with you - this was a rare greeting and not recorded until late 1500's.
Peace be with you- This was used to superiors.
Good night/ Good morrow
Dismissal: For example in Henry IV 'Out, ye rogue' and in Macbeth 'aroint thee'.
The first four partings are obsolete today, they are archaic to Shakespeare's language. We no longer ask the other person if we should part, we say,
I really must go
I best be off
See you again soon
I'll give you a ring later
See you later
Goodbye
Our partings sound a lot more personal and we think of ourselves rather than how the other person is wishing to part with us. We are a lot more impatient and busy nowadays and to not have enough time to stop and talk. I f we need to leave we cut the other person short and say that we have to go rather than been polite. The parting 'God be with you' became 'Goodbye' which we use today as well as 'Good night' but nor 'Good morrow' . We have changed that to a greeting in the form of 'Good morning'.
In addition to partings, summoning someone was also different to how it is today. As well as the words differing there are also other aspects to take into considerations such as whether the person is an equal or a servant or superior. Words and phrases that were used in Shakespeare's time are;
What Ho! - To equals, for example in Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 4: Scene 2:Line 8.
Mrs Page: What hoa, gossip Ford, what hoa!
What! - To servants
Ho!
Why? - Impatient, to servants. An example of this usage can be found in Henry IV part 2, Act 5:Scene 1:Line 2
Shallow: Why Davy!
I say- This can be used alone or in combination, it is the only phrase to survive in Standard English. Henry IV part 2, Act 5:Scene 1:Line 2.
Shallow: What, Davy, I say!
To use these phrases today would be considered very rude. Instead we usually just call out the person's name we want to speak to.
Our mannerisms have changed considerably from those in Shakespeare's time, the way we interact has also changed as seen in the afore mentioned greetings, blessings, parting and summoning. Along with these different phrases there was also different ways of saying what time it is and asking what time it is. When speaking about time at the time Shakespeare was writing people used to use these phrases:
Since the first clock (midnight) - for the actual time.
What's o'clock? - Asking what time it was.
The last phrase is very similar to what we use today:
What time is it?
It's..o'Clock - for the actual time.
Handing someone an object in Shakespeare's language has changed for example when handing over an object they would say:
Hold there is X for you - This was only used to inferiors.
This formula does not exist in English now because in Shakespeare's time people lived in a class system and therefore needed to know where they stood. We still supposedly live in a class system but if we were to speak to someone in this manner it would be considered improper and we would be accused of discrimination.
During phatic communion, there are certain forms of addresses that people use I different relationships. Forms of address may consist of personal names, terms of family relationship, generic names, names of occupations, titles of courtesy, endearments and terms of abuse, and the personal pronouns. Salmon comments in her reader (1987) that,
Elizabethan English is extremely rich in terms of address, particularly since, like some modern Europeans, Englishmen of c.1600 liked to assign a man his place in the social hierarchy when addressing him in a fairly formal manner. If no title of occupation is available, some other designation was desired, even if as meaningless as neighbour. Modern and Elizabethan forms of address also differ dramatically because of the possibility in Elizabethan usage of colligating adjective and personal name...egg. John Dear.
Personal names are used as they are today, with the exception of Christian and surnames were often used as direct address, an example of this appears in Merry Wives of Windsor, Act 1:scene 1: line 212:
SHALLOW: Cousin Abraham Slender, can you love her?
Terms of relationship were more commonly used than now, for example Good husband, Father page (to an in-law), Cousin Silence and Coz which appears in Merry Wives of Windsor; Coz was a shortened version of cousin if used alone, this is still sometimes used today as people still refer to their cousins as 'coz'. Generic terms of addresses were also used differently than today:
Man - was in singular and plural
Woman - occurred the singular form only
Gentleman - was used in both singular and plural and could also be abbreviated
Boy - was a term used for a page and metaphorically to adults
Lad - occurred only with reference to adults
Maid - was used for an unmarried girl and Wench to a woman of any age. An example of this usage appears in Henry IV part 2 Falstaff says: 'You see, my good wenches....'
As we can see the use of colloquial language that Shakespeare used at his time of writing was very different to how we use it today, and shows how the English language has evolved. To us as readers no the language seems a lot more 'proper' and they spoke to each other in a very different way to how we do now. In Shakespearean time the people seemed to be more aware of the status of other people, unlike now we do not frequently use the words 'madam' or 'your Lordship' as they people of his time would of. When we address people as often as people as often as the 1600's did, and it is rare that we need to know some people very closely in order for us to be able to use each others nicknames. It is commonly known that the use of nicknames can be used with anybody and probably even more likely with people that we do not know aswell as others as that is what everybody call this person and we do not want to feel like outsiders, whereas if we lived in the 1600s we would feel like outsiders if we used this form of address. There are many noticeable differences between speakers of this age and speakers of the 17th Century. As stated at the beginning of this essay in Wylds quote, it would be very difficult for us to work out how to speak to servants, knights or Sirs and also ordinary men and women. We have changed the way we address each other so dramatically and it is difficult to understand every aspect of the unique aspects of Shakespearean language. As time progresses and our language evolves the way we speak and use language will keep changing as it has from Shakespeare's time of writing and performing to that of out modern day English.
Bibliography
Shakespeare, W. (1994) Complete works of William Shakespeare. Glasgow: HarperCollins.
Salmon, V. (1987) 'Elizabethan colloquial English in the Falstaff plays'. In Salmon, V & Burness, E (eds) Reader in the language of Shakespearean drama. 37-70 Amsterdam/Philadelphia: Johns Benjamins publishing company.
Hussey, S.S. (1992) The literary language of Shakespeare. 2nd Edition. Essex: Addison Wesley Longman limited.