An Outline of Middle English Grammar

Middle English is not a uniform language. Texts from the 11th and 12th centuries still have many forms proper to the IOE standard language, mixed with spellings reflecting changes with had occurred in the meantime. Later, individual scribes tried to represent their own dialects, using as a basis the sound-values of the letters in French or Latin orthography; but fairly well established local spelling systems did not develop until the second half of the 14th century, and these too largely disappeared after 1450 in favour of London forms, although even in the London standard language a number of alternative forms were still being used at the close of the 15th century.