Old English Seminar 1 1. The Origin and Position of English
Old English Seminar 1 1. The Origin and Position of English
Old English Seminar 1 1. The Origin and Position of English
SEMINAR 1
English belongs to the Low West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family. This
means in the first place that it shares certain characteristics common to all the Germanic
languages. For example, it shows:
the shifting of certain consonants under the head of Grimm’s Law.
The evolution of English in the fifteen hundred years of its existence in England
has been an unbroken one. Within this development, however, it is possible to recognize
three main periods. Like all in history, the periods of the English language are matters of
convenience and the dividing lines between them purely arbitrary. There is no break in
the process of continuous transition. But within each of the periods it is possible to
recognize certain broad characteristics and certain special developments that take place.
1. The period from 450 to 1150 is known as Old English. It is sometimes described
as the period of full inflections, since during most of this period the endings of the
noun, the adjective, and the verb are preserved more or less unimpaired.
2. From 1150 to 1500 the language is known as Middle English. (Some of the
developments which distinguish Middle English begin as early as the tenth
century, but a consideration of the matter as a whole justifies the date 1150 as the
general line of demarcation.) During this period the inflections, which had begun
to break down towards the end of the Old English period, become greatly
reduced, and it is consequently known as the period of leveled inflections.
3. The language since 1500 is called Modern English. By the time we reach this
stage in the development a large part of the original inflectional system has
disappeared entirely and we therefore speak of it as the period of lost inflections.
The progressive decay of inflections is only one of the developments which mark
the evolution of English and its various stages.
4. The dialects of Old English.
Old English was not an entirely uniform language. Not only are there differences
between the language of the earliest written records (about A.D. 700) and that of the later
literary texts, but the language differed somewhat from one locality to another. We can
distinguish four dialects: Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon, and Kentish. Of these the
Northumbrian and Mercian are found in the region north of the Thames settled by the
Angles. They possess certain features in common and are sometimes known collectively
as Anglian. But Northumbrian – spoken north of the Humber River – and Mercian spoken
between the Humber and the Thames, each possess certain distinctive features as well.
Unfortunately we know less about them than we should like since they are preserved
mainly in charters, runic inscriptions, a few brief fragments of verse and some interlinear
translations of portions of the Bible.
Kentish is known from still scantier remains, as is the dialect of the Jutes and their
probable associates in the southeast. The only dialect in which there is an extensive
collection of texts is West Saxon, which was the dialect of the West Saxon kingdom in the
southwest. Nearly all of Old English literature is preserved in manuscripts transcribed in
this region. The dialects probably reflect differences already present in the continental
homes of the invaders. There is evidence, however, that some features developed in
England after the settlement. With the ascendancy of the West Saxon kingdom, the West
Saxon dialect attained something of the position of a literary standard, and both for this
reason and because of the abundance of the materials it is made the basis of the study of
Old English. Such a start as it had made toward becoming the standard speech of England
was cut short by the Norman Conquest, which reduced all dialects to a common level of
unimportance. And when in the Middle English period a standard English once more
began to arise, it was on the basis of a different dialect.
1. This is the paradigm of the Old English demonstrative pronoun which also played the part of the
demonstrative pronoun. In what way does it differ from the paradigm of the demonstrative pronoun
and the definite article in Modern English?
Case Masc sing Neuter sing Feminine sing Pl., All Genders
Nom. se, se Þæt Seo þa
Acc. Þone Þæt Þa þa
Gen. Þæs Þæs Þære þæra
Dat. Þæm Þæm Þære þæm
Inst. Þy Þy, þon
Generalization:
2. Compare the following nouns in Modern English to the following nouns in Old English. What is the
main difference between the two regarding the classification of nouns?
Generalization:
3. Here are three types of declension of nouns in Old English. In what way do they differ from their
Modern English counterparts?
Masculine Masculine pl Neuter sg Long stem Neuter pl Long stem
sg Short stem neut neut
N stān stānas scip land scipu land