Language history 4 Flashcards
what are the most remaining txts in OE?
religious, legal, medical, literary
What kind of txts are OE and what kind of txts are examples of later OE
Northhumbrian caedmons hymn is an ex of Old OE and a southern prose text such as alfred’s Orosius is an exmple of a later txt or the works of ælfric.
What were the works written on ?
vellum, which is expensive thin leather.
Who owned books?
Monasteries , a church or a rich person.
What did most old english txts use in terms of alphabeth?
a modified roman alphabet introduced by irish missionaries
What is special about the w letter in english?
the letter w was written as two uu symbols (hence the double u) or using a a runic p called wynn or wen
What does 7 and & stand for ?
the conjunction and, to save space
What is special with the letter ȝ stands as in the word daȝum originates from an irish letter called yogh
The letter ȝ stands in daȝum originates from an irish letter called yogh and normally represents a j, but before back vowels it represents a voiced velar fricative ȳ -a sound that modern english lacks.
when does the sound change breaking occur in old english?
It occurs when the front vowels æ, e. and i become diphtongs.
give examples of breaking with io, eo ea
io/eo before l or r and a c, as in seolf, self
eo or before h as in seah “he saw”
æld and hælf becomes eald and healf, werc becoming weorc and pikts becoming peohtas.
The rule applies when the vowel is followed by an l or r and another consonant or when the vowel is followed by a h.
where does breaking occur?
in west saxon around the year 7 th
What is the fronting rule? (i-umlaut)
It describes what happens when a back or low vowel such as o,or u or a precedes an i.
The form for singular mouse is mus and plural mice is musi. The front of u to y occurs in the plural, before the plural i- resulting in mysi. where y represents a rounded i.
Give exmples of the fronting i-mlaut rule
mouse-mice, louse-lice, goose-geese, foot-feet, tooth-teeth, fall-fell, sit-set
What is alliteraration?
Involving word initial consonants that are similar. ex. a line such as metudæs maecti end his modgidanc.
The first half can have two alliterarting consonansts, but the second half line typically only has its first stressed syllable alliterating with the consonants int first the /M/ is the alliterating sound.
What becomes the modern plural -s ending in OE?
The plural -as ending on some masculine nouns, nominative and accusative
