Re: Plausibility Check


Franz Gnaedinger wrote:

The term Middle Ages was
not really wrong, but not precise enough, as it can be used
in different ways:

Aa) from around 500 to around 1350
Ab) from around 500 to around 1450

Ba) from around 1100 to around 1350
Bb) from around 1100 to around 1450

In my remote schooldays we used definition Bb,
implicitely if not explicitely. It goes along with the era
of Middle English from 1066 to 1475.

Ba is called the "High Middle Ages," obviously not the entire Middle
Ages.

Ab and Bb take the Middle Ages up to the Age of Exploration -- you've
eliminated the Renaissance!

Perhaps an allusion to Miller's "5 plus or minus 2."

Don't know about that.

Short-term memory is able to handle "5 plus or minus 2" items at a
time.

Your own estimate of the Middle English vocabulary, by counting entries
in the MED, was half the number you misremember from the radio program.
Or do you forget reporting your calculation?

The era of Middle English lasted from 1066 to 1475.
Did Shakespeare live in that era? No, he lived later on.
As I explained in a previous message, the end of the
era of Middle English and of the Middle Ages went along
with the Renaissance in Italy, the Renaissance opened
the door for many a new science, the new scientific
disciplines led to plenty new applications, and these
gave rise to a lot of new words. Roughly 100,000
English words in the era of Middle English and 200,000
English words in the time of Shakespeare go along
fine with me. I see no reason why I should doubt that
sentence from that radio program. And remember:
invectives are no arguments. All that counts in the
sciences are the better arguments.

No. This is not a matter of argument, this is a matter of fact.

You, through your university, have access to the electronic OED. Just
do the damn search.

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Plausibility Check
    ... was the era of Middle English. ... of Middle English from 1066 to 1475. ... A quote is a quote is a quote, ... era of Middle English and of the Middle Ages went along ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: The Future of Young Adult Fiction?
    ... Anglo-Saxon of the Middle Ages ... 'Middle Ages' covers a lot of ground, ... the language of England was Middle English, ... the Middle Ages stretch back to the migration period? ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: The Future of Young Adult Fiction?
    ... to most people it tends to suggest the high Middle ... Ages, when the language of England was Middle English, ... not Old English (sometimes called Anglo-Saxon). ... Ages mean that the Middle Ages stretch back to the ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)
  • Re: The Future of Young Adult Fiction?
    ... Anglo-Saxon of the Middle Ages ... 'Middle Ages' covers a lot of ground, ... the language of England was Middle English, ... Author of _Harald_, a fantasy without magic. ...
    (rec.arts.sf.composition)