Me dialect. London dialect

The dialect division which evolved in Early ME was on the whole preserved in later periods

In the 14th and 15th c. we find the same grouping of local dialects:

Kentish was originally spoken over the whole southeastern part of England, including London and Essex, but during the Middle English period its area was steadily diminished by the encroachment of the East Midland dialect

The Southern dialect of Middle English was spoken in the area west of Sussex and south and southwest of the Thames.

By contrast with these southern most dialects, Northern Middle English evolved rapidly: the inflectional systems of its nouns and verbs were already sharply reduced by 1300, and its syntax is also innovative (and thus more like that of Modern English).

The most important event in the changing linguistic situation was the rise of the London dialect as the prevalent written form of language.