Contractions are and have been for many years a feature of the
English language. Where syllables are not pronounced, they are
replaced when writing the word with an apostrophe. There are many
examples in modern usage: can not is shortened to can't where the
apostrophe represents the silent "no". "I will go" becomes "I'll
go" where the apostrophe represents the missing "wi". Sometimes but
infrequently there is an actual change in the sounds so "I will
not" becomes "I won't" and in some dialects "I am not" becomes "I
ain't".
Some contractions have been around for so long that people no
longer recognize them as contractions. In Middle English (about 300
years before Shakespeare) ownership was shown by the addition of
"es" at the end of the word. They would say "The girles doll"
(pronounced "The girl-less doll") or "the shippes mast" (pronounced
"the ship-pess mast") or "the kinges house" (pronounced "the
king-ess house") By Shakespeare's day, everybody was leaving off
the last syllable and saying "the girlz doll" instead of "the
girl-less doll". To show that there was something missing, they
spelled it with an apostrophe for the missing sound: "the girl's
doll". For example, "I am Fortune's Fool" from Romeo and
Juliet.
Since Shakespeare's time many people have forgotten that this is
a contraction and have trouble understanding why there is an
apostrophe in "the girl's doll" and not in "The girls went to the
beach." (The latter is not a contraction--it was always pronounced
"girlz")
Shakespeare also notes other contractions we might have trouble
recognizing. Verb forms ending in "ed" were said in full: buried
was ba-ri-edd, stamped was stam-ped, curtailed was cur-tail-edd.
Sometimes, however, Shakespeare wants us to pronounce these words
the way we would pronounce them today. These three words are found
in Richard's speech at the beginning of Richard III, and we find
that stamped is spelled stamp'd and curtailed is curtail'd (the
apostrophe shows us that the "e" is not to be pronounced, so the
words sound as we would normally say them), but buried is still
buried. Interestingly we also find that "lowered" is spelled so we
know that it is not to be in three syllables, or even two, as we
would usually say it, but one, sounding something like "lord": it
is spelled "lowr'd" "Now is the winter of our discontent made
glorious summer by this sun of York, and all the clouds that lowr'd
upon our house in the deep bosom of the ocean buried."
Other contractions:
" A' parted even just between twelve and one, even at the
turning o' the tide." Henry V Act II Scene iii. A' means "he" for
some reason; it is used fourteen times in this scene alone. O' is
"of" which you hear often when people are trying to talk like
pirates.
"Will't please your lordship cool your hands." " 'T is very
true" Taming of the Shrew, Induction 1. 'T is "it"; the apostrophe
represents the missing "i". Polonius uses this five times in one
sentence in Hamlet II ii ("That he is mad 't is true; 't is true 't
is pity, and pity 't is 't is true") This is far and away the most
common contraction used by Shakespeare.
"O! That I had her here, to tear her limb-meal. I will go there
and do't i' the court, before her father." Cymbeline II iv. "Do't"
is another example of the abbreviation of "it", and " i' the court"
is "in the court". The apostrophe is the missing "n". The
expression "i'faith" meaning "in faith" is used three times in 1
Henry IV II iv.
"If he took you a box o' th' ear, you might have your action of
slander too." Measure for Measure II 2. This time o' means "on",
and th' is obviously "the", so he means "box on the ear", but
intends that Escalus should pronounce it "box otheer"
"Go fetch me something: I'll break ope the gate" Comedy of
Errors III i Ope is not really a contraction but is a short form of
"open" used where a one-syllable word is needed. It is used
interchangeably with "open"; in fact the same character from
earlier in the scene says "Ho! Open the door!"
"Oft expectation fails and most oft there where most it
promises, and oft it hits where hope is coldest and despair most
fits." All's Well That Ends Well II i. Oft is a short form of
"often" in the same way as "ope" is short for "open". Shakespeare
uses the long form too but perhaps less oft.
"These vows are Hermia's; will you give her o'er?" Midsummer
Night's Dream III, ii O'er is "over" where the apostrophe replaces
the "v". This is a common contraction in Shakespeare's
plays--Helena uses it again in her next line after the one
quoted
"Horatio thou art e'en as just a man as e'er my conversation
cop'd withal." Hamlet III ii. There are two more words here where
the apostrophe replaces a "v", "e'en" for "even" and "e'er" for
"ever". We recognize e'en from the word "Hallowe'en" where "e'en"
is short for "even(ing)", although Shakespeare does not use it in
this sense. E'er is very common as is its negative form, "ne'er"
which is a contraction of "never"
"God-den to you all, god-den to you all" Coriolanus IV vi. If
you know that our word "Good-bye" is actually a shortened form of
"God be with you", it will not surprise you to find that "god-den"
which Shakespeare uses from time to time, is a shortened form of
"Good evening". As we saw, evening becomes even, which becomes
e'en, which in this case becomes "en". Thus "God gi'god-den" in
Romeo and Juliet I ii is actually "God give you a good evening"