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Introducing Old English

P . S. Langeslag April 2020

The Rise of Insular Germanic

Figure 1: Northwestern Europe c. 400 (map surface: CIA Factbook / WMC)

Key Events

449 Supposed arrival of Germanic-speaking invaders 597 Arrival in Kent of the Gregorian mission 793 First notable Viking raid (Lindisfarne) 865 Arrival of the Great (“Heathen”) Army 927 First English king over all England (Æthelstan) 1013 First Danish king over all England (Sweyn) 1066 Norman Conquest (William of Normandy)

Periodization

Spoken Old English

• c. 450–c. 1150

Record of runic inscriptions 5th–9th centuries Old English parchment record

• c. 600–c. 1150

Scripts

Table 3: Anglo-Frisian fuþorc

ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚩ ᚱ ᚳ ᚷ ᚹ ᚻ ᚾ ᛁ ᛄ ᛇ ᛈ ᛉ ᛋ ᛏ ᛒ ᛖ ᛗ ᛚ ᛝ ᛟ ᛞ ᚪ ᚫ ᚣ ᛡ ᛠ f ū þ

• r

c g w h n ī g ē p e s t b e m l i ē d ā æ ȳ ī ē e r

• s

ā ē y y æ ȳ s e

• e
• i

ī e h a a n þ æ c s r

• a
• r

d n f n g d r h o l g r

• n

g g e g c r r h n u n l r h e r n u l þ l c

Table 4: The Anglo-Roman alphabet

A Æ B C D E F G H I L M N O P R S T Þ Ð U Ƿ Y a æ b c d e f g h i l m n

• p

r s t þ ð u ƿ y ⁊ = “and” (Tironian note)

A Taste of Old English: Genesis

Figure 2: London, British Library, MS Cotton Claudius B. iv, fol. 1v (detail; public domain)

On angynne gescēop God heofonan ⁊ eorðan. Se eorðe sōðlice

wæs īdel ⁊ ǣmti, ⁊ þēostra wǣron ofer ðǣre nywelnysse brādnysse; ⁊ Godes gāst wæs geferod ofer wæteru. God cwæð ðā: “Gewurðe lēoht,” ⁊ lēoht wæarð geworht.

A Taste of Old English: Genesis

Figure 2: London, British Library, MS Cotton Claudius B. iv, fol. 1v (detail; public domain)

On angynne gescēop God heofonan ⁊ eorðan. Se eorðe sōðlice

wæs īdel ⁊ ǣmti, ⁊ þēostra wǣron ofer ðǣre nywelnysse brādnysse; ⁊ Godes gāst wæs geferod ofer wæteru. God cwæð ðā: “Gewurðe lēoht,” ⁊ lēoht wæarð geworht.

A Fusional Language

Fusional languages (Latin, German, Old English) may overlay multiple grammatical data points onto the same morpheme. ▶ der Kluge

▶ Masculine ▶ Singular ▶ Nominative

All three characteristics are expressed in the endings of an article (-er) and a substantivized adjective (-e).

A Fusional Language

Table 5: The declension of Latin rēx “king”

masc. singular plural Nom. rēx rēgēs Acc. rēgem rēgēs Gen. rēgis rēgum Dat. rēgī rēgibus Abl. rēge rēgibus

A Fusional Language

Table 6: The declension of OE stān “stone”

masc. singular plural Nom. stān stānas Acc. stān stānas Gen. stānes stāna Dat. stāne stānum

A Fusional Language

Table 7: The declension of Latin bonus “good”

fem. singular plural masc. singular plural neut. singular plural Nom. bona bonae bonus bonī bonum bona Acc. bonam bonās bonum bonōs bonum bona Gen. bonae bonārum bonī bonōrum bonī bonōrum Dat. bonae bonīs bonō bonīs bonō bonīs Abl. bonā bonīs bonō bonīs bonō bonīs Voc. bona bonae bone bonī bonum bona

A Fusional Language

Table 8: The strong declension of OE gōd “good”

fem. singular plural masc. singular plural neut. singular plural Nom. gōd gōda gōd gōde gōd gōd Acc. gōde gōda gōdne gōde gōd gōd Gen. gōdre gōdra gōdes gōdra gōdes gōdra Dat. gōdre gōdum gōdum gōdum gōdum gōdum Inst. gōde gōde

Flexible Word Order

Table 9: Modern English word order

The servant seeks the king The king seeks the servant

Table 10: Modern German word order

Der Diener sucht den König Den König sucht der Diener Heute sucht der Diener den König Heute sucht den König der Diener Weil der Diener den König sucht ? Weil den König der Diener sucht Der König sucht den Diener

Flexible Word Order

Table 11: Modern English word order

The servant seeks the king The king seeks the servant

Table 12: Old English word order

Se þēow sēceð þone cyning Þone cyning sēceð se þēow Sēceð se þēow þone cyning Sēceð þone cyning se þēow Þone cyning se þēow sēceð Se þēow þone cyning sēceð Se cyning sēceð þone þēaw

Strong vs Weak: Verbs

Any given verb is reliably either strong or weak; it doesn’t routinely switch between these categories.

Strong

Table 13: A verb of class VII strong

Present Preterite MnE I see I saw OE ic sēo ic seah German ich sehe ich sah

Weak

Table 14: A verb of class 2 weak

Present Preterite MnE I spare I spared OE ic sparige ic sparode German ich spare ich sparte

Strong vs Weak: Nouns

Any given noun is reliably either strong or weak; it doesn’t routinely switch between these categories.

Strong

Table 15: A masculine a-stem noun

Singular Plural Nom. stān stānas Acc. stān stānas Gen. stānes stāna Dat. stāne stānum (Cf. German Stein)

Weak

Table 16: A masculine n-stem noun

Singular Plural Nom. nama naman Acc. naman naman Gen. naman namena Dat. naman namum (Cf. German Name)

Strong vs Weak: Adjectives

Nearly all Old English adjectives have both weak and strong declensions. Positive adjectives decline strong where they are the first element in the noun phrase, but otherwise decline weak.

Strong

(1) mycel dæg (2) großer Tag

Weak

(3) se mycla dæg (4) der große Tag

Nominals: Nouns, Pronouns, Adjectives, Numerals

Old English nominals inflect for: ▶ case: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, (instrumental);

▶ se, þone, þæs, þām, þȳ

▶ number: singular, (dual,) plural;

▶ ic, wit, wē

▶ gender: feminine, masculine, neuter;

▶ hēo, hē, hit

▶ personal pronouns also answer to person: first, second, third.

▶ wē, gē, hīe

Case: Basic Uses

Case Functions Nominative subject, subject complement, address Accusative direct object, object complement Genitive possession, description, adverbial uses (note the partitive genitive construction) Dative interest, instrumental, possession, adverbial uses (e.g. time), comparison, (absolute) (Instrumental) means/manner, comparison, (accompaniment), time

Case: Examples

Nominative Se cyning is gōd The king is good Accusative Ic gesēo mīnne cyning I see my king Genitive Æðelflǣd wæs þæs cyninges dohtor Æthelflæd was the king’s daughter

Case: Examples

Dative Hē geaf his dohtor Burgrēde cyninge He gave his daughter to King Burgred Þā wearð God þām werode wrāð Then God became angry with that host Hīe wǣron englum gelice They were like angels Him wæs þearf micel To him there was great need (i.e. he had great need) Instrumental function Se palm þe drihten sylf sette his āgenum handum The palm tree which the Lord planted with his own hands Þā wæs gāst ofer holm boren miclum spēdum Then the spirit was carried across the sea at great speed

Verbs

Old English verbs inflect for: ▶ person: first (I, we), second (you), third (they, she, he, it)

▶ ic hȳre, þū hȳrst, hēo hȳrþ

▶ number: singular, plural;

▶ ic hȳre, wē hȳraþ

▶ tense: present, preterite (= past)

▶ gē hȳraþ, gē hȳrdon

▶ mood: indicative, subjunctive, imperative

▶ hē hȳrþ, hē hȳre, hȳr!

They also answer to the categories of aspect and voice, but these are not inflectional categories in Old English.

Variable Orthography (i.e. Spelling)

behygdiglīce (adv.), “carefully, attentively,” 9 DOEC occ. across multple MSS, in 21 forms:

behygdiglice bighydiglice bihigdelice bihygdiglice behydilice bighigdelice bighygdiglice bihydilice behidiglice bihygdelice bighydilice bighidiglice bighygdelice behydelice bighidilice behydiglice bighyldiglice behygdlice bihydiglice behigdilice bihygdlice

Language Learning Strategy

Learn to Parse!

• 1. Identifz verbs:

You thought I had already eaten.

• 2. Divide a sentence up into clauses. It helps to identifz conjunctions:

She says | she can’t I run | because I must

• 3. Identifz subject, direct object, indirect object:

[Mary] gave (John) <a punch in the face>

• 4. Identifz prepositional and adverbial phrases:

It was Colonel Mustard (in the library) (with the lead pipe) The world ended (yesterday)

• 5. Identifz inflections to analyze syntax and phrases:

Dem Mann gab die Frau ein Geschenk Gottes Hīe wǣron englum gelīce

Language Learning Strategy

Memorize

• 1. Pronouns (6 “inclusive” paradigms)
• 2. 3 noun classes (4 to 6 paradigms)
• 3. Weak verbs (2 paradigms)
• 4. Basics of strong verb conjugation
• 5. Principles of adjectival declension (2 “inclusive” paradigms)
• 6. Core vocabulary

Tools

▶ Textbook ▶ Paradigms ▶ Magic Sheet of Old English Inflections ▶ Strong verb cheatsheet ▶ Flashcards, e.g.

▶ yorku.ca/inpar; ▶ flash.langeslag.org ▶ DIY

Practice Sentences

▶ Se casere wæs ofslagen. ▶ Se yrðling lufað þone æcer. ▶ Þa gesawon þæt his þegnas. ▶ Ða com Willelm eorl fsam geondan sæ. ▶ Gyt ne com min tid. ▶ Eower tid is symble gearu. ▶ Samuhel ða ferde be Godes hæse to Bethleem.

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