old english language history 6 Flashcards
What is known as the germanic group of languages?
german, dutch, norwegian, swedish, danish
Name some features of proto-germanic which mark it out as a distinctive language in regards to verbs.
Called weak verbs
Verbs had only two different forms to make distinctions of tense, normally referred to as present and past tense forms.
(preterite=past)
Other tense forms are formed with the use of auxiliary verbs
Name some features of proto-germanic which mark it out as a distinctive language in regards to verbs.
Called strong verbs
strong verbs are formed by changing the main vowel from that found in the present tense form: sing-sang
Name some features of proto-germanic which mark it out as a distinctive language in regards to adjectives
If an adjective is made definite as most frequently by the attachement to it also of a word such as this or my to specify a particular instance of whatever it is the noun signifies, the adjective will appear in one of the forms. In other situations, the other form of the adjective will be used.
What is the known as the consonant shift?
Grimms law
What feature regarding stress is common for the germanic languages?
Stress is placed on the first syllable in most words, the prominence of the syllables at the ends of words was reduced. This seems to have played a part in the gradual loss of inflectional endings which came to be characteristic of the various germanic languages
What is north germanic languages?
danish, swedish, norwegian
what is east germanic languages?
gothic (togheter with other extinct languages)
what is west germanic languages?
German, Dutch, Frisian and English
How did old english develop?
old english is the language that developed in britain out of the dialects brought from the continent by teh anglo-saxons during the period of invasions and settlements principally the fifth and the sixth centuries
