Shakespeare's impact as a "maker of English" is akin to that of Bible translations, although its influence, despite undeniable colloquial usage and numerous literary echoes and poetic assimilations, has not been as profound or widespread. Here, we focus solely on Shakespeare's contributions to the general literary and spoken language.
Similar to Chaucer, Milton, Wordsworth, and other poets, Shakespeare displayed a keen interest in the English language. He frequently critiqued or satirised linguistic and stylistic trends among his contemporaries, all while experimenting with various innovations, dialectal adaptations, and archaisms. Throughout his works, one can find critiques of linguistic affectations, as exemplified in As You Like It, Love's Labour's Lost, and Hamlet. Shakespeare's language-conscious approach is evident through puns, equivocations, and a keen awareness of pronunciation, as seen in Hamlet's pun on "trap" and "tropically."
Shakespeare's role as an experimenter with dramatic dialects is noteworthy, contributing permanently to the English language. Early attempts, such as Christopher Sly's use of provincialisms in The Taming of the Shrew, set the stage for more deliberate incorporation of dialects in later plays. Notably, the rustical dialect of Edgar in King Lear, a modified South-Western style, became a convention in stage representations.
While Shakespeare occasionally used archaisms for poetic effect, he didn't heavily rely on archaism, and it wasn't a crucial part of his style. Some words attributed to Shakespeare's coinage, like "hump," "castigate," "gloomy," "auspicious," and "critic," were likely lifted from spoken language or accidental recordings rather than being his creations.
However, in the renowned excerpt from Macbeth (II, 2, 61-3), the term "incarnadine" appears so distinctive in its context that, being its initial usage, it hints at being a creation of Shakespeare:
"Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red."
Yet, it is more in the formation of novel compounds and, notably, in the invention or adaptation of apt and beautiful phrases from spoken idioms that Shakespeare can be rightly regarded as an individual contributor to the evolution of Modern English. Utilizing the French prefixes "en" or "em," he introduced several neologisms like "enact," "embattle" (which seems to gain prominence from his use), "embay'd" (trapped in a bay), "empoison," "enchafed" (stimulated), "enchas'd" (adorned), "endeared" (increased in value), "enfree," "engaol," "engild" (brighten with golden light), "engirt," "enkindle" (metaphorically), "enlink," "enmesh" (perhaps popular as "emmesh" due to Shakespeare), "enrooted," "enseamed" (loaded with grease), "ensky," and "entame."
Through the combination of adjectives, he crafted new effective poetic compounds such as "daring-hardy" and "happy-valiant." Shakespeare also transformed adjectives into verbs, as seen in "happy" (to make happy) in Sonnet VI, 6, and "safe" (to make safe) in Antony and Cleopatra, I, 3, 55. From nouns, he derived verbs like "spaniel'd" (followed like a spaniel) in Antony and Cleopatra, IV, 10, 34 (if Hanmer's widely accepted emendation holds), and "childed" and "father'd" in the same passage in King Lear, III, 6, 119.
Employing the prefix "un-," he created compounds like "unavoided" (inevitable), "unvalued" (precious beyond valuation), "unbless," "unbody," "uncharge" (acquit), "uncoiled," "unexpressive" (inexpressible), "unfathered," "unfellow'd" (without an equal), "ungo" (unborn), "unhair," "unkiss," "unroosted" (ousted from one's place), and many more.
Yet, it is in numerous phrases, above all else, and in their imitations or misunderstandings, that Shakespeare's language may be said to persist in the full sense of the term. This is where his primary contribution to the language lies. Similar to other playwrights of his era, Shakespeare incorporated abundant material from colloquial and "low" language. However, what sets him apart is the uniqueness of the effects he achieved with this material. It is conceivable that some of his transfers of words and phrases from spoken to written language have preserved usages that might otherwise have faded away like fleeting language fashions.
For instance, the widely recognized "what the dickens" was first recorded in The Merry Wives of Windsor (III, 2, 20), spoken by Mrs. Page in the phrase "I cannot tell what the dickens his name is." The probable connection of "dickens" to "Dickon," a term for a mischievous boy recorded a little earlier in the play Gammer Gurton's Needle, implies that the phrase might belong to the category of expressions meaning "what the devil," wherein the name of the evil one is avoided through euphemism, even though the exact form has been lost. It is a plausible speculation that we may owe the survival of "what the dickens" to Shakespeare, much like the word "dwindle." Placing these alongside the numerous impactful phrases of a more dignified nature that his genius has created or made enduring, it becomes evident that his influence is profound.
Very few, outside professional scholars, are aware that the expression "past praying for" is first heard from Falstaff in Henry IV Part I (II, 4, 215). Similarly, the phrase "patience on a monument" is introduced in Twelfth Night (II, 4, 116) by Viola, describing a girl pining away through undisclosed love: "She sat like patience on a monument, Smiling at grief." The manner horn, along with a plethora of other phrases that have become integral to literature and journalism, is from Hamlet (I, 4, 15), as is "hoist with his own petard" (III, 4, 207), meaning 'blown up by his own bomb.' Phrases like "caviare to the general" (where general means 'the common multitude') and "to be or not to be" are also examples of different types of well-used phrases provided first in Hamlet. Indeed, a condensed film adaptation of Hamlet was recently perceived by some critics as akin to a recitation of clichés, underscoring the abundance of phrases from the play that have now become integral to literature and journalism.
In this text, it is highlighted that certain phrases coined by Shakespeare continue to be in common use, often with altered meanings. One notable example is "aforegone conclusion," initially meaning 'an experience previously undergone' in Othello (III, 3, 429). The phrase "more honour'd in the breach than the observance," also from Hamlet (I, 4, 15), is frequently misapplied, as it originally refers to the Danish custom of heavy drinking.
The linguistic characteristics of Elizabethan and Jacobean English are discussed, emphasizing a heightened flexibility in grammatical structures. The text notes the perception that this era, including Shakespearean English, exhibited a seeming lack of grammar due to the interchangeability of nouns, adjectives, and verbs. While this is acknowledged as an exaggeration, it suggests that Shakespeare's writing, occurring after the loss of English inflections, may have influenced the remarkable flexibility seen in modern English grammar.
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