Old English: Lexis Flashcards
Old English Vocabulary
Function words and core vocabulary are (West-) Germanic
- many words still exist today
- words have died out
- words have changed their meaning
Foreign influences on Old English
- Celtic
- Latin
- Scandinavian
dominant influence on OE: Germanic
Loan Word
- a word borrowed from another language which has been integrated into the language
Celtic loan words
- Place names: Avon, Dover, Kent (…)
- Other words: binn (basket), luh (loch-lake)
Latin loan words
- 3 phases
- Zero Period/ Continental Borrowing
- First period/ Celtic Transmission
- Second Period/Christianizing
Zero Period/Continental Borrowing
- Before 449 AD
- contact between Romans and Germanic tribes on the continent before Germanic invasion of Britain
- e.g.: cheap, cheese, kitchen, mile (…)
First Period/ Celtic Transmission
- 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 (…)
Second Period/ Christianizing
- from about 600 Ad
- missionaries brought their religious words
- e.g.: abbot, alter, candle, fennel, pope, accent (…)
Scandinavian loan words
- 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
How can we access Old English/ Older Stages of English?
- Manuscripts
- Handwritten, Material object, Autograph copy - Facsimiles
- Exactly the same layout (e.g. picture) - Editions
- Legible and accessible versions, compromises put together by philologists/ linguists
Runes
- Runic alphabet: Futhorc
- 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
Insular hand
- after Christianizing
- specific version of the Latin alphabet
- used a lot
- only a few written accounts before 700
Dialect areas
- 4 main dialect areas
- dialect areas largely correspond with the settlement of the Germanic tribes
1. Nothhumbrian
2. Mercian
3. Kentish
4. West Saxon
- From which date onwards do we have written documentation of the English languages?
731 Bede Venerabilis: Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum
(from 700 on)
- Who lived on the British Isles before the Romans settled there?
Celts are the first settlers with Indo-European language
- Celtic Settlement
- When did the Romans conquer England? When did they leave?
- 55 BC: Ceasar’s Expedition
> Romans failed to conquer Britain - 42 AD: Claudius’ Expedition
> Romans conquer Britain, Britain becomes a roman province - 410: Romans leave the British Isles
> they leave a vacuum of power
- Why did the Germanic tribes come to England?
the Celts asked the Germanic settlement for help against the Picts & Scots
- Where did the Germanic come from (on the continent)?
- Angles, Saxons and Jutes
- they came from different parts of Germany and Denmark
- When did the Christianization take place?
Mid 6th century: Beginning of Christianization in Britain by the roman-catholic church
- 563 missionaries from Ireland
- 597 missionaries from Rome
- Name three written symbols of OE Writing system that are not used today?
After Christianization: Insular Hand
Differences to today’s alphabet
- <þ> thorn from its runic name, stands for [ð] and [θ]
- <Ƿ> wynn from its runic name, stands for <w>
- <Ʒ> yogh, stands for/g/,/j/or/ɣ/</Ʒ></w></Ƿ></þ>
- Give the three phases of Latin influence on OE. Which words entered the English language during each phase and why?
- Continental Borrowing/ Zero Period
- cheap, cheese, mile, street, wine
- contact between Romans and Germanic tribes on the continent before Germanic invasion of Britain - Celtic Transmission/ First Period
- ceaster (Lancaster), port, munt, torr, wic
- Latin words adopted by the Celts before Germanic invasion and then influenced OE via the contact of the Celts &English people in Britain (no direct contact between Roman & Germanic tribes) - Christianization/ Second Period
- alter, candle, fennel, pope, priest
- missionaries brought their religious words
- What is the basis of the OE core vocabulary? What about function words?
Germanic
- West-Germanic
- North-Germanic: Scandinavian (they, them, their)
- Give typical features of Scandinavian loan words.
- Function words: they, them, their
- Words beginning with /sk/
- Place-names in the Danelaw
- Family names ending in -son
