A study of the vocabulary of some of the English works of Sir Thomas More, including Richard III and the Life of John Picus

Abstract

This thesis is concerned with the manner in which Sir Thomas More coped with the English vocabulary at a time when the ideas of the Renaissance, newly introduced into England, required concretization in the English language. Chapter one investigates the use of and attitude towards English in the early sixteenth century, concentrating on the extension of English as a written medium into some of those fields traditionally dominated by Latin. Chapters two, three, and four examine the elements of vocabulary first attested in written use in More's three earliest prose works so that some idea may be gained of the way in which a leading advocate for the use of English dealt with the shortcomings of the English vocabulary. Chapter two concerns itself with the vocabulary of John Picus: chapter three does likewise with Richard III, while the Four Last Things is the prose work discussed in chapter four. All three chanters deal with the new elements of vocabulary according to the following general pattern:(a) the division into extensions in meaning, new words, and new formations from words already in existence by 'functional shift', 'affixation' or 'back formation';(b) the study of how the new meanings developed from the meanings already attested;(c) the relation of the new lexical elements to a source in Latin, where one exists. Chapter five summarizes the conclusions reached in the earlier chapters, discusses to what extent More himself may be responsible for the introduction of the new elements of vocabulary into English, and illustrates how the new elements of vocabulary fit into the overall style and structure of the three prose works.