Learn English – Pronunciation of Middle English

middle-englishpronunciation

In Britten's "Deo Gracias" (from A Ceremony of Carols) there are a few sentences and words which I don't really know how to pronounce:

clerkes finden
the appil take ben
that appil take was

Best Answer

In the versions I've seen there is an accent on the second 'e' of 'clerkes' and also on the 'e' of 'take', indicating that the letter should be pronounced (i.e. not silent as in modern English). 'Clerk' is of course pronounced 'clark' in British English.

As far as I know 'finden' is simply 'find' with an extra syllable added.

I'm sure there must be recordings on YouTube you could listen to.

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