 |
Dialectal classification of Old English written records
|
|
|
|
The dialects in Old English
As we have already said, the onset of invasion by the members of the four principal Germanic tribes: Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Frisians — began about the middle of the fourth century and their conquest of England was completed within the next century and a half. By about AD 600 they established their separate kingdoms, the principal among them being:
- those formed by the Angles: Northumbria (north of the
river Humber), Mercia (in the centre of England) and East Anglia
— central eastern part of the country;
: - those formed by the Saxons — mainly to the south of the river Thames: Wessex, Sussex and Essex;
- the one formed by the Jutes — Kent.
- Only the Frisians did not form a separate kingdom, but intermarried with the population belonging to different tribes.
The prevailing importance of these seven kingdoms gave to the next two centuries the title of Heptarchy. Gradually three of the seven — Wessex, Mercia and Northumbria — began to establish some sort of domination over their smaller neighbours. It was an important step towards the achieving the eventual unity of England. Another vital factor contributing to the unity was the appearance of Christianity in England in AD 597, and afterwards the spread of Christianity and changes of the supremacy of this or that kingdom follow almost the same course.
The Old English dialects are generally named after the names of the kingdoms on the territory of which the given dialect was spoken — the Northumbrian dialect, the Mercian dialect, the Wessex dialect, etc.
Though the differences between the three types were later to assume considerable importance, they were at first slight, and records of the 8th and 9th centuries reveal that Englisc, as it was collectively called, had by that time emerged as an independent language. The virtually complete geographical separation of England from the Continent was a factor favouring the further development of those characteristic features that already distinguished English from its parent Germanic language.
Among the principal Old English dialects the most important for us is the Wessex dialect, as the majority of Old English written records that we have can be traced back to that dialect. But the prominence of the Wessex dialect is also based on other extralinguistic criteria.
As is known, efforts to unite England failed for a very long period of time, because as soon as one kingdom became great it was in the interests of the rest to pull it down. Some historians say that the reason for that was the lack of the strongest possible motive towards any union, namely, the presence of a foreign foe.
The most famous of all English kings, Alfred of Wessex, which would later come to be called Alfred the Great, came to the throne in 871 and is reputed to have been one of the best kings ever to rule mankind. He successfully fought with the Danes who by that time had conquered most of Eastern England and were moving southwards towards Wessex. Alfred managed to stop the Danes, although temporarily, and in 878 signed a treaty with the Danish king dividing England between them.
|
|
|
But Alfred's true greatness lay not in his military, but peacetime activity. He set aside a half of the revenue to be spent on educational needs, established schools where the sons of the nobility could be taught to read and write, brought in foreign scholars and craftsmen, restored monasteries and convents, published a collection of laws and enforced them. He also mastered Latin and translated many books into Anglo-Saxon and ordered the compilation of the first history book, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which was continued for more than two centuries after his death. All this allows to say that even had Alfred never fought a battle, he would still deserve a place among the greatest rulers of history.
King Alfred formulated his aims as follows: "Desire for and possession of earthly power never pleased me overmuch, and I did not unduly desire this earthly rule... f desired to live worthily as long as I lived, and to leave after my life, to the men who should come after me, the memory of me in good works. "
Northumbria (north of the river Humber),
Mercia (in the centre of England) and
East Anglia — central eastern part of the country
Wessex,
Sussex and
∫Essex;
Illiterate
engrave
Heptarchy
eventual unity
virtually
emerge
foe
repute
Alfred the Great.
Revenue
convent
unduly
/,/. Principal written records of the Old English period
7.2.2. Old English written records
Old English written records which are rather numerous arе generally classified either in accordance with the alphabet used or in accordance with the dialect of the scribe who wrote the record.
If we speak about the first criterion — the alphabet (runic or insular), the records were written with the help of the so-called "Runic Alphabet". This was an alphabet of some 26 letters, the shape of which is quite peculiar. As we have already said that it is assumed the Runic alphabet which was composed by Germanic scribes in the II—III centuries AD and their angular shape is due to the material those inscriptions were made on — wood, stone, bone — and the technique of"writing" — the letters were not written but carved on those hard materials. The word "rune" meant "mystery", and those letters were originally considered lo be magic signs known to very few people, mainly monks, and not understood by the vast majority of the illiterate population. After adoption of Romanic culture the runic alphabet was replaced by the Latin one. But there were no enough letters to express all Old English sounds. Anglo-Saxon scribes partially borrow some Old German runes, partially one Latin letter was used for different English sounds.
Among the first Old English scarce runic inscriptions we generally mention two: the inscription on the so-called " Franks' casket " — a small box made of whalebone in the 8-th century containing a poem about it found near Clermont-Ferrand in France, now in the British museum and the inscription on the " Ruthwell cross " — a religious poem engraved on a stone cross found in the south-east of Scotland.
The other group has many written records. But generally the records are classified in accordance with their dialect: Northumbrian (Franks' casket, Ruthwell cross. Caedmon's hymns, translation of the Gospels), Mercian (translation of the Psalter 9th cent), Kentish (psalms L – LXX and old manuscripts), West Saxon (The Anglo-Saxon chronicle, the translation of a philosophical treatise Cura Pastonilis. King Alfred's translation of Orosius — a book on world history — Historiae adversum Paganos, of Boethius De consolatione philosophiae, Ӕlfric’s Grammar).
|
|
|
| Rune | Anglo-Saxon Name | Meaning | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| I coh ur porn 5s rad cen gicl'u wyn haegl nied is gear peor | cattle, wealth bison (aurochs) thorn god/mouth journey/riding torch gift joy hail necessity/trouble ice year (unknown] [unknown] sun Tiw (name of a god) birch horse man water/sea Ing (name of a hero) land/estate day oak ash bow |
There were also many translations from other dialects, an example of which is Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731 AD). Bede, a learned monk at Jarrow, is said to have assimilated all the learning of his time. He wrote on language, science and chronology and composed numerous commentaries on the Old and New Testament.
With the rise of Wessex to the dominant position among the Old English kingdoms in the 9th and 10lh centuries, and thanks to (he powerful influence of their learned King Alfred, the West Saxon dialect became the chief vehicle of literature. All the works of literary importance thai have survived, both prose and poetry, are written in West Saxon, with only occasional traces of oilier dialects, and in this sense it may be regarded as typical of the Old English period.
Poetical records are also numerous, the most famous poems of them is Beowulf, the author being unknown, then Cynewulf’s poems Elena, Iuliana, Andreas, and Iuditðe of the unknown author, then some shorter poems like Seaman or Cantor. The language of the records is difficult to correspond to any OE dialect. The organizing principle of OE poems is alliteration common for all Old German poetry. The verse is tonic with four stressed syllables, three of them beginning with one and the same sound, i.e. alliterate. The style is unique: one thought could be repeated in different forms for several times. Poetical works are rich with synonyms (for some words like ship or warrior up to 20), methaphors, epithets, eve some archaisms not found in any prose could occur.
scribe – писец
peculiar – особенный, специфичный
assume – предполагать, принимать
angular – заостренный, угловатый
carve – вырезать, гравировать
illiterate – неграмотный
adoption – восприятие, приобщение
partially – частично
scarce – редко встречающийся
Franks' casket – шкатулка Фрэнкса
whalebone – китовый ус
Clermont-Ferrand – Клермон-Ферран
Ruthwell cross – крест из Рутвелла
Caedmon's hymns – гимн Кэдмона
psalter – псалтырь
psalm – псалм
treatise – трактат
The Anglo-Saxon chronicle – Англо-саксонскиая хроника
Cura Pastonilis – Обязанности пастыря
Orosius - Оросий
Historiae adversum Paganos – Семь книг истории против язычников
|
|
|
Boethius – Боэций
De consolatione philosophiae – Утешение философией
Ӕlfric’s Grammar – Грамматика Эльфрика
Bede's Ecclesiastical History of the English People - «Церковная история англов» Беды Достопочтимого
Jarrow - Джерроу
vehicle – двигатель
occasional – случайный
Beowulf - Беовульф
Cynewulf – Кюневульф
Elena – Елена
Iuliana – Юлиана
Andreas - Андрей
Iuditðe – Юдифь
Cantor – певец
warrior – воин
| LECTURE 2 The History of the OLD English Language Part 2 Inner history |
Monophthong - монофтонг
Diphthong – дифтонг
Correspond – соответствовать
Counterpart – соответствие, пара, партнер
1. Phonetics
Table 1 Short and Long Vowels
| a ā | talu (tale) bān (bone) | æ ǣ | sæt (sat) slæpan (sleep) | e ē | bedd (bed) fēt (feet) | i ī | is (is) rīsan (rise) |
| o ō | hlot (lot) lōcian (look) | u ū | full (full) hūs (house) | y ̅y | wyllen (woolen) fyr (fire) | å | mann, monn (person, man |
Table 2 Short and Long Diphthongs
| ea | eald (old) | eo | eorl (earl) | ie | ieldra (elder) |
| ēā | strēām (stream) | ēō | dēōp (deep) | īē | hīēst (hight) |
Table 3 Change of Old English Vowel Phonemes
| Monophthongs | Common Germanic | Old English | Diphthongs | Common Germanic | Old English |
| [a] | [æ] | [ai] | [ā] | ||
| a → æ | dags → | dæg (days) | ai → a | rais→ | rās (wrote) |
| [i] | [i] | [uo] | [ō] | ||
| i → i | bindan → | bindan (bind) | uo → ō | bruodar → | brōþar (brother) |
| [u] | [o] | ||||
| u → o | cusan → | coren (chosen) |
Table 4 Change of Old English Diphthongs
| Common Germanic / Old English | Common Germanic / Old English | ||
| iu → ēō | kiusan → cēōsan (choose) | a → ea | ald → eald (old) |
| au → ēā | kaus → cēās (chose) | e → eo | herte → heorte (heart) |
Nasal - носовой
Ingevon - ингевонский
Loss - выпадение
Previous - предшествующий
Derive - происходить
Table 5 Nasal Loss
| Old English | Modern English | Modern German |
| gōs | goose | Gans |
| muþ | mouth | Mund |
| fif | five | Fünf |
Table 6 Correspondence of OE Vowels with Old Germanic system
| S h o r t | ||
| OE | Gothic | Old High German |
| [i] fisk (fish) | [i] fisks | [i] fisc |
| [e] stelan (steal) | [i] stilan | [e] stelan |
| [æ]dæg (day) | [a] dags | [a] tac |
| [a] dagas (days) | [a] dagos | [a] taga |
| [o] stolen (stolen) | [u] stulans | [o] gistolen |
| [u] full (full) | [u] fulls | [u] fol |
| L o n g | ||
| [i:] liþon (wander) | [e] leiþan | [i:] līdan (suffer) |
| [e:] (angl.) slēpan (sleep) [æ:](wess.) slǣpan | [e:] slēpan | [a:] slāfan |
| [a:] stān (stone) | [ai] stains | [ei] stein |
| [o:] brōþor (brother) | [o:] brōþar | [uo] bruodar |
| [u:] tūn (town) | [u:] tūn (settlement) | [u:] zūn |
|
|
|
Table 7 Breaking
| æ > ea before | r + consonant | ærm >earm (arm) |
| l + consonant | æld >eald (old) | |
| h + consonant | æhta >eahta (eight) | |
| h final | sæh >seah (saw) | |
| e > ea before | r + consonant | herte >heorte (heart) |
| lc + consonant | melcan >meolcan (to milk) | |
| lh + consonant | selh >seolh (seal) | |
| h final | feh > feoh (cattle) |
Table 8 Vowel Mutation
| Monophtongs | ||
| a > e | strāngiþu >strengþu (strenth) | |
| æ > e | tælian >tellan (to tell) | |
| ā > ǣ | hālian >hǣlan (to heal) | |
| o > e | ofstian >efstan (to hurry) | |
| ō > ē | dōmian >dēman (to deem) | |
| u > y | fullian >fyllan (to fill) | |
| ū > ̅y | cyþian >cyþan (to announce) | |
| Diphthongs | ||
| ea > ie | ealdira > ieldra (elder) | |
| ēa > e | ʒelēafian > ʒeliefan (to believe) | |
| eo > ie | afeorrian >afierran (to remove) | |
| ēo > e | ʒetreowi > ʒetrīewe (true) |
CONSONANTS
| Labial: p [p], b [b]. f [f] m [m] |
| Front: t [t], d [d], n [n], s [s], r [r], l [l], þ(ð) [ө], [ð] |
| Back: c [k], Ʒ [g], [γ],[j] |
Relatively- относительно
Intervocal– интервокальный, между согласными
Palatal– палатальный, небный
Velar– велярный, задний
Plosive– взрывной
Allophone– алофон, вариант фонемы
Table 1 Consonant Opposition
Sonorant – сонант, сонорный
Assibillation - ассибиляция
Sibilant – сибилянт
Geminied – удвоенный
vice versa - наоборот
The phonetics of the Old English period was characterised by a system of dynamic stress. The fixed stress fell on the first root syllable:
ǣåōūʒ̅agane (gone); 3eseon (sec); 3aderian (gather)
The vowels had the following characteristic features:
a) The quantity and the quality of the vowel depended upon its
position in the word. Under stress any vowel could be found,
but in unstressed position there were no diphthongs or long
monophthongs, but only short vowels [a], [e], [i], [o], [u].
b) The length of the stressed vowels (monophthongs and
diphthongs) was phonemic, which means that there could be
two words differing only in the length of the vowel:
metail (to mete, to measure) — metail (to meet) pin (pin) — pin (pain) god (god) — god (good) fill (full) — fill (foul)
c) there was an exact parallelism of long and short vowels:
Short: a o e u i <s, y ea eo Long: a o e u I a; y ea eo
The consonants were few. Some of the modern sounds were non-existent ([J], [3], [f], [<%]).
The quality of the consonant very much depended on its position in the word, especially the resonance (voiced and voiceless sounds: hlaf [f] (loaf) — hlaford [v] (lord, "breadkeeper)) and articulation (palatal and velar sounds: climban [k] (to climb) — cild jk'] (child)), etc.
2. OLD ENGLISH. (HfNERAL CHARACTERISTICS
2.2. Spelling
The Old English spelling was mainly phonetic, i.e..each letter as a rule denoted one sound in every environment. Note should be taken thai the letters f, s, [), 3 could denote voiced consonants in intervocal positions or voiceless otherwise; the letter c was used to denote the sound [k] (palatal or velar); the letter y denoted the sound [y] (similar to German [u] in the word "Genriir or Russian [10] in the word "6iopo").
The letter 3 could denote three different sounds: [j] — before or after front vowels [a;], [e], [i]:
3iefan (give), 3ear (year), d<E3 (day) [yl — after back vowels [a], [o], [u] and consonants [1] and
[r]:
da3as (days), fol3ian (fallow) [g] — before consonants and before back vowels [a], [o], [u]:
35d (good), 3leo (glee)
The quality of the consonant very much depended on its position in the word, especially the resonance (voiced and voiceless sounds: hlaf [f] (loaf) — hlaford [v] (lord, "breadkeeper)) and articulation (palatal and velar sounds: climban [k] (to climb) — cild jk'] (child)), etc.
|
|
|
___________________ 2. OLD ENGLISH. (HfNERAL CHARACTERISTICS
2.2. Spelling
The Old English spelling was mainly phonetic, i.e..each letter as a rule denoted one sound in every environment. Note should be taken thai the letters f, s, [), 3 could denote voiced consonants in intervocal positions or voiceless otherwise; the letter c was used to denote the sound [k] (palatal or velar); the letter y denoted the sound [y] (similar to German [u] in the word "Genriir or Russian [10] in the word "6iopo").
The letter 3 could denote three different sounds: [j] — before or after front vowels [a;], [e], [i]:
3iefan (give), 3ear (year), d<E3 (day) [yl — after back vowels [a], [o], [u] and consonants [1] and
[r]:
da3as (days), fol3ian (fallow) [g] — before consonants and before back vowels [a], [o], [u]:
35d (good), 3leo (glee)
2.3. Grammar
Old English was a synthetic language (the lexical and grammatical notions of the word were contained in one unit). It was highly inflected, with many various affixes. The principal grammatical means were suffixation, vowel interchange and supplition.
Suffixation:
Ic ee'pe (I keep) — pu cepst (you keep) — he cepd (he keeps)
Vowc.l interchange:
WlTtan (to write) ----- Ic wrat (I wrote)
Supplition:
3an (to go) ----- code (went)
unable to survive in the competition with English. Cornish became extinct already in the 18th century, Manx — after the second world war. Scottish Gaelic is spoken only in the Highlands by about 75 thousand people, Irish — by half a million, the figures showing a steady declining tendency, and the absolute majority of those speaking these languages are bilingual, English being no less familiar to them than their former native tongue. Although in recent years a certain revival of nationalist sentiments helped to somewhat arrest the decline, many linguists fear the inevitable disappearance of the whole branch of the Indo-European family of languages.
We have very little indirect evidence about the beginning of the Old English period — 5"1—7th centuries. The first written records were dated as far back as the beginning of the 8th century, that is why the 5th—7th centuries are generally referred to as "the pre-written period" of the English language.
THE NOMINAL SYSTEM.
1. General survey of the nominal system
2. The noun
2.1.Gender
2.2.Number
2.3.Case
2.4.Homonymity of forms in Old English and its
influence on the further development of noun
forms
3. The pronoun
3.1.Personal pronouns 3.2.Other pronouns
4. The adjective
4.1.Declension of adjectives 4.2.Degrees of comparison of adjectives
Old English grammar
0. The Old English language was a synthetic language which means that all the principal grammatical notions were expressed by a change of the form of the word in the narrow meaning of the term.
The grammatical means that the English language used were primarily a) suffixation, b) vowel gradation and c) use of suppletive forms.
Old English was a highly inflected language. The abundance of inflections resulted from the fact that the paradigm of declension and the paradigm of conjugation were formed by many grammatical categories and there was more than one declension in the system of declension and more than one conjugation in the system of conjugation due to the splitting of the once uniform paradigm in accordance with the original structure of the word.
|
|
|
