ABSTRACT
The dialectal divisions of Middle English are naturally based on those of Old English, but their boundaries were modified in some cases, and in consequence of the general tendency of language to break up into diverging groups, it is necessary to divide up some of the larger areas. English, like all Germanic tongues, has at all times been governed by what is known as the Germanic accent law that is by the system of stem accentuation. Moreover some time must be allowed to elapse before a modification of a familiar sound realized sufficiently to be represented in writing; hence, since our main source of information for Middle English is in the MSS. In short, English from having been a synthetic language became one which was analytic. Edward the Confessor filled his court with Frenchmen, French monks entered English monasteries, and a certain number of words must have in this way come into the vocabulary of the upper classes.
