Introducing Old English P . S. Langeslag April 2020
The Rise of Insular Germanic Figure 1: Northwestern Europe c. 400 (map surface: CIA Factbook / WMC)
Key Events 449 Supposed arrival of Germanic-speaking invaders 597 Arrival in Kent of the Gregorian mission 793 First notable Viking raid (Lindisfarne) 865 Arrival of the Great (“Heathen”) Army 927 First English king over all England (Æthelstan) 1013 First Danish king over all England (Sweyn) 1066 Norman Conquest (William of Normandy)
Periodization Spoken Old English c. 450–c. 1150 Record of runic inscriptions 5th–9th centuries Old English parchment record c. 600–c. 1150
Scripts Table 3: Anglo-Frisian fuþorc ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚩ ᚱ ᚳ ᚷ ᚹ ᚻ ᚾ ᛁ ᛄ ᛇ ᛈ ᛉ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛖ ᛗ ᛚ ᛝ ᛟ ᛞ ᚪ ᚫ ᚣ ᛡ ᛠ f ū þ o r c g w h n ī g ē p e s t b e m l i ē d ā æ ȳ ī ē e r o s ā ē y y æ ȳ s e o e o i ī e h a a n þ æ c s r o a o r d n f n g d r h o l g r o n g g e g c r r h n u n l r h e r n u l þ l c Table 4: The Anglo-Roman alphabet A Æ B C D E F G H I L M N O P R S T Þ Ð U Ƿ Y a æ b c d e f g h i l m n o p r s t þ ð u ƿ y ⁊ = “and” (Tironian note)
O n angynne gescēop God heofonan ⁊ eorðan. Se eorðe sōðlice wæs īdel ⁊ ǣmti, ⁊ þēostra wǣron ofer ðǣre nywelnysse brādnysse; ⁊ Godes gāst wæs geferod ofer wæteru. God cwæð ðā: “Gewurðe lēoht,” ⁊ lēoht wæarð geworht. A Taste of Old English: Genesis Figure 2: London, British Library, MS Cotton Claudius B. iv, fol. 1v (detail; public domain)
A Taste of Old English: Genesis Figure 2: London, British Library, MS Cotton Claudius B. iv, fol. 1v (detail; public domain) O n angynne gescēop God heofonan ⁊ eorðan. Se eorðe sōðlice wæs īdel ⁊ ǣmti, ⁊ þēostra wǣron ofer ðǣre nywelnysse brādnysse; ⁊ Godes gāst wæs geferod ofer wæteru. God cwæð ðā: “Gewurðe lēoht,” ⁊ lēoht wæarð geworht.
A Fusional Language Fusional languages (Latin, German, Old English) may overlay multiple grammatical data points onto the same morpheme. ▶ der Kluge ▶ Masculine ▶ Singular ▶ Nominative All three characteristics are expressed in the endings of an article ( -er ) and a substantivized adjective ( -e ).
A Fusional Language Table 5: The declension of Latin rēx “king” masc. singular plural Nom. rēx rēgēs Acc. rēgem rēgēs Gen. rēgis rēgum Dat. rēgī rēgibus Abl. rēge rēgibus
A Fusional Language Table 6: The declension of OE stān “stone” masc. singular plural Nom. stān stānas Acc. stān stānas Gen. stānes stāna Dat. stāne stānum
A Fusional Language Table 7: The declension of Latin bonus “good” fem. singular plural masc. singular plural neut. singular plural Nom. bona bonae bonus bonī bonum bona Acc. bonam bonās bonum bonōs bonum bona Gen. bonae bonārum bonī bonōrum bonī bonōrum Dat. bonae bonīs bonō bonīs bonō bonīs Abl. bonā bonīs bonō bonīs bonō bonīs Voc. bona bonae bone bonī bonum bona
A Fusional Language Table 8: The strong declension of OE gōd “good” fem. singular plural masc. singular plural neut. singular plural Nom. gōd gōda gōd gōde gōd gōd Acc. gōde gōda gōdne gōde gōd gōd Gen. gōdre gōdra gōdes gōdra gōdes gōdra Dat. gōdre gōdum gōdum gōdum gōdum gōdum Inst. gōde gōde
Flexible Word Order Table 9: Modern English word order The servant seeks the king The king seeks the servant Table 10: Modern German word order Der Diener sucht den König Den König sucht der Diener Heute sucht der Diener den König Heute sucht den König der Diener Weil der Diener den König sucht ? Weil den König der Diener sucht Der König sucht den Diener
Flexible Word Order Table 11: Modern English word order The servant seeks the king The king seeks the servant Table 12: Old English word order Se þēow sēceð þone cyning Þone cyning sēceð se þēow Sēceð se þēow þone cyning Sēceð þone cyning se þēow Þone cyning se þēow sēceð Se þēow þone cyning sēceð Se cyning sēceð þone þēaw
Strong vs Weak: Verbs Any given verb is reliably either strong or weak; it doesn’t routinely switch between these categories. Strong Weak Table 14: A verb of class 2 weak Table 13: A verb of class VII strong Present Preterite Present Preterite MnE I spare I spared MnE I see I saw OE ic sparige ic sparode OE ic sēo ic seah German ich spare ich sparte German ich sehe ich sah
Strong vs Weak: Nouns Any given noun is reliably either strong or weak; it doesn’t routinely switch between these categories. Strong Weak Table 16: A masculine n -stem noun Table 15: A masculine a -stem noun Singular Plural Singular Plural Nom. nama naman Nom. stān stānas Acc. naman naman Acc. stān stānas Gen. naman namena Gen. stānes stāna Dat. naman namum Dat. stāne stānum (Cf. German Name ) (Cf. German Stein )
Strong vs Weak: Adjectives Nearly all Old English adjectives have both weak and strong declensions. Positive adjectives decline strong where they are the first element in the noun phrase, but otherwise decline weak. Strong Weak (3) se mycla dæg (1) mycel dæg (4) der große Tag (2) großer Tag
Nominals: Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Numerals Old English nominals inflect for: ▶ case : nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, (instrumental); ▶ se , þone , þæs , þām , þȳ ▶ number : singular, (dual,) plural; ▶ ic , wit , wē ▶ gender : feminine, masculine, neuter; ▶ hēo , hē , hit ▶ personal pronouns also answer to person : first, second, third. ▶ wē , gē , hīe
Case: Basic Uses Case Functions Nominative subject, subject complement, address Accusative direct object, object complement Genitive possession, description, adverbial uses (note the partitive genitive construction) Dative interest, instrumental, possession, adverbial uses (e.g. time), comparison, (absolute) (Instrumental) means/manner, comparison, (accompaniment), time
Case: Examples Nominative Se cyning is gōd The king is good Accusative Ic gesēo mīnne cyning I see my king Genitive Æðelflǣd wæs þæs cyninges dohtor Æthelflæd was the king’s daughter
Case: Examples Dative Hē geaf his dohtor Burgrēde cyninge He gave his daughter to King Burgred Þā wearð God þām werode wrāð Then God became angry with that host Hīe wǣron englum gelice They were like angels Him wæs þearf micel To him there was great need (i.e. he had great need) Instrumental Se palm þe drihten sylf sette his The palm tree which the Lord function āgenum handum planted with his own hands Þā wæs gāst ofer holm boren miclum Then the spirit was carried across spēdum the sea at great speed
Verbs Old English verbs inflect for: ▶ person : first (I, we), second (you), third (they, she, he, it) ▶ ic hȳre , þū hȳrst , hēo hȳrþ ▶ number : singular, plural; ▶ ic hȳre , wē hȳraþ ▶ tense : present, preterite (= past) ▶ gē hȳraþ , gē hȳrdon ▶ mood : indicative, subjunctive, imperative ▶ hē hȳrþ , hē hȳre , hȳr! They also answer to the categories of aspect and voice , but these are not inflectional categories in Old English.
Variable Orthography (i.e. Spelling) behygdiglīce (adv.), “carefully, attentively,” 9 DOEC occ. across multple MSS, in 21 forms: behygdiglice bighydiglice bihigdelice bihygdiglice behydilice bighigdelice bighygdiglice bihydilice behidiglice bihygdelice bighydilice bighidiglice bighygdelice behydelice bighidilice behydiglice bighyldiglice behygdlice bihydiglice behigdilice bihygdlice
Language Learning Strategy Learn to Parse! 1. Identifz verbs: You thought I had already eaten. 2. Divide a sentence up into clauses. It helps to identifz conjunctions: She says | she can’t I run | because I must 3. Identifz subject, direct object, indirect object: [Mary] gave (John) <a punch in the face> 4. Identifz prepositional and adverbial phrases: It was Colonel Mustard (in the library) (with the lead pipe) The world ended (yesterday) 5. Identifz inflections to analyze syntax and phrases: Dem Mann gab die Frau ein Geschenk Gottes Hīe wǣron englum gelīce
Language Learning Strategy Memorize 1. Pronouns (6 “inclusive” paradigms) 2. 3 noun classes (4 to 6 paradigms) 3. Weak verbs (2 paradigms) 4. Basics of strong verb conjugation 5. Principles of adjectival declension (2 “inclusive” paradigms) 6. Core vocabulary Tools ▶ Textbook ▶ Paradigms ▶ Magic Sheet of Old English Inflections ▶ Strong verb cheatsheet ▶ Flashcards, e.g. ▶ yorku.ca/inpar; ▶ flash.langeslag.org ▶ DIY
Practice Sentences ▶ Se casere wæs ofslagen. ▶ Se yrðling lufað þone æcer. ▶ Þa gesawon þæt his þegnas. ▶ Ða com Willelm eorl fsam geondan sæ. ▶ Gyt ne com min tid. ▶ Eower tid is symble gearu. ▶ Samuhel ða ferde be Godes hæse to Bethleem.
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