Old English: Lexis

Question 1

Old English Vocabulary

Answer 1

Function words and core vocabulary are (West-) Germanic
- many words still exist today
- words have died out
- words have changed their meaning

Question 2

Foreign influences on Old English

Answer 2

1. Celtic
2. Latin
3. Scandinavian

dominant influence on OE: Germanic

Question 3

Loan Word

Answer 3

• a word borrowed from another language which has been integrated into the language

Question 4

Celtic loan words

Answer 4

• Place names: Avon, Dover, Kent (…)
• Other words: binn (basket), luh (loch-lake)

Question 5

Latin loan words
- 3 phases

Answer 5

1. Zero Period/ Continental Borrowing
2. First period/ Celtic Transmission
3. Second Period/Christianizing

Question 6

Zero Period/Continental Borrowing

Answer 6

• Before 449 AD
• contact between Romans and Germanic tribes on the continent before Germanic invasion of Britain
• e.g.: cheap, cheese, kitchen, mile (…)

Question 7

First Period/ Celtic Transmission

Answer 7

• from 449 AD
• Latin words adopted by the Celts BEFORE Germanic invasion and then influenced OE via the contact of Celts and English people in Britain
• no direct contact between Roman and Germanic
• e.g.: lat. castra: Dorchester, Lancaster; port, munt, torr (…)

Question 8

Second Period/ Christianizing

Answer 8

• from about 600 Ad
• missionaries brought their religiious words
• e.g.: abbot, alter, candle, fennel, pope, accent (…)

Question 9

Scandinavian loan words

Answer 9

• Places names (in the Danelaw): -by (farm/town): Whitby, Derby; -thorpe (village): Althorpe; -toft (piece of land): Lowestoft; thwaite (clearing, meadow): Satterthwaite
• Family names ending in -son: Davidson
• Words starting with sk-: skin, sky, skull
• Words in daily life: anger, bag, birth (…)
• Function words: they, them , their

Question 10

How can we access Old English/ Older Stages of English?

Answer 10

1. Manuscripts
   - Handwritten, Material object, Autograph copy
2. Facsimiles
   - Exactly the same layout (e.g. picture)
3. Editions
   - Legible and accessible versions, compromises put together by philologists/ linguists

Question 11

Runes
- Runic alphabet: Futhorc

Answer 11

• Old English was first written in runes
• Oldest traces of English writing: durable material like stone
  -straight lines, no circles: used with wood/ stone/ chisel etc.
• usually just a couple of words, no texts
• only limited use

Question 12

Insular hand

Answer 12

• after Christianizing
• specific version of the Latin alphabet
• used a lot
• only a few written accounts before 700

Question 13

Dialect areas

Answer 13

• 4 main dialect areas
• dialect areas largely correspond with the settlement of the Germanic tribes
  1. Nothhumbrian
  2. Mercian
  3. Kentish
  4. West Saxon