Analyse the following Shakespearean sentences, and observe the differences between Early Modern English and Modern English – that is, how you would say these sentences today. What can we say in precise, grammatical terms about the syntactic changes that have occurred?
Thou marvell’st at my words Macbeth, Macbeth, III.ii
Macbeth doth come. Third Witch, Macbeth, I.iii
Wilt thou use thy wit? Claudio, Much Ado About Nothing, V.i
Do you fear it? Cassius, Julius Caesar, I.ii
Knows he not thy voice? First Lord, All’s Well That Ends Well, IV.i
Didst thou not say he comes? Baptista, Taming of the Shrew, III.ii
Can’st not rule her? Leontes, Winter’s Tale, II.iii
What sayst thou? Olivia, Twelfth Night, III.iv
What dost thou say? Othello, Othello, III.iii
Whom overcame he? Boyet, Love’s Labour’s Lost, IV.i