History of English

Presentation: Daniel Riechmann

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle forthe year 1087

Page from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (Abingdon II)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Chroniclehttp://www.sandisullivan.com/images/William%20the%20Conqueror.gif

Overview

• Introductory Part:- Audio file: Old English

• Main Part- Closer look at the entry for the year 1087

• Summary

How OE might have sounded.

• Extract from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle forthe year 937 AD:

The Battle of Brunanburh

Does the pronunciation remind you of modern languages ? Of which ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfaEGU45lKA

I thought of...

• A Scandinavian language (Swedish/Norse)• Danish• Dutch• German

OE is considered to be a sister language ofOld High German.

Anglo Saxon invasion (450 AD)www.bbc.co.uk/.../images/invasion/map.gif

Main Part

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 1087

VocabularyGermanic word stock:

100%Borrowings:

None

Special feature of OE

What context it was written in, by whom, and when?• Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (9 MSS are known)• Initiated by Alfred the Great in the late 9th century• A collection of annals in OE chronicling the

history of the Anglo Saxons from late 9th century at least up to 1066 (Norman conquest of England)

• One manuscript goes far beyond 1066 (The Peterborough Chronicle), viz. until 1154

• Written by monks

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Chronicle

How was it transmitted to us?The Peterborough Chronicle is the version which was updated for the longest period. It was copied from an original up to 1121; then the same scribe continued the chronicle, but with some spellings influenced by contemporary spoken language. A different scribe added the data for 1132 –1154 with new forms based on contemporary east midlands, not archaic Wessex forms (cf. Knowles: 48)Text was taken from Mr. Gramley´s presentation. V. : http://wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/sgramley/HoE-2-

LgChange+OE.pdf

The extract we are dealing with comes from the Peterborough Chronicle.

How does the language look?

Alphabet. The alphabet was a modified Latin one. It adopted the letters <a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, l, m, n, o, p, r, s, t, u, x, y,but not <q, z>.

The use of capital letters: we find <G> as in "God" and the initial letter of some place names is also sometimes capitalized. For example:

"Engleland"

An extract from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 1087ll. 1-4Se cyng 7 þa heafod men lufedon swiðe 7 oferswiðe gitsunge. on golde. 7 on seolfre. 7 ne rohtan hu synlice hit wære begytanbuton hit come to heom.

The king and the head men loved much, and overmuch, covetousness in gold and in silver; and recked not (= were not concerned with) how sinfully it was got, provided it came to them.

Se cyng sealde his land swá deóre to male swá heo deórestmihte; þonne com sum oDer and beade máre þonne þe oDer Qr sealde, and se cyng hit let þam men þe him máre beád;

The king let his land at as high a rate as he possibly could; then came some other person, and bade more than the former one gave, and the king let it to the men that bade him more.

Note the semantic narrowing of sellan "sell, give"Ditto of deóre from "beloved, valuable, expensive"

ll. 5-9þonne com se þridde, and beád gét máre, and se cyng hit let þám men to handa þe him ealra mQst beád, and ne róhte ná húswíDe synlíce þa gerefan hit begeatan óf earme mannum, ne húmanige unlaga hi dydon. Ac swá man swýDor spQc embe rihtelage, swá man dyde máre unlaga.

Then came the third, and bade yet more; and the king let it to hand to the men that bade him most of all: and he recked not how very sinfully the stewards got it of wretched men, nor how many unlawful deeds they did; but the more men spake about right law, the more unlawfully they acted.

Hi arerdon unrihte tóllas, and manige oDre unriht hi dydan þesindon éarfoþe to areccenne.

They erected unjust tolls, and many other unjust things they did, that are difficult to reckon.

Note the word order ealra mæst, where ModE has most of all.Ditto: swá man swýDor spæc for the more strongly men spoke.

ll. 10-15Se cyng Willelm, þe we embe sprécaD wQs swíDe wís man, and swíDe ríce, and wurDfulre and strengere þonne Qnig his foregenga wQre. This King William then that we speak about was a very wise man, and very rich; more splendid and powerful than any of his predecessors were.He wæs milde þam godum mannum þe God lufedon. 7 ofer eallgemett stearc þam mannum þe wiðcwædon his willan. On ðam ilcan steode þe God him geuðe þæt he mosteEngleland gegan. he arerde mære mynster. 7 munecas þærgesætte. 7 hit wæll gegodade.He was mild to the good men that loved God, and beyond all measure severe to the men that gainsayedhis will.On that same spot where God granted him that he should gain England, he reared a mighty minster, and set monks therein, and well endowed it.Derivation: arerdon < a- (cf. German er-) + ræran "raise, rear"; similar: a+reccan; éarfoþe, cf. Arbeit; swíDe > swith (dialect "quickly") related to (ge-)sund > sound. Note there is no need of a preposition with the dative þám (gódum) mannum.

ll. 16-21On his dagum wQs þQt mQre mynster on Cantwarbyrig getimbrod, and eác swíDe manig óDer ofer eall Engleland.

In his days was the great monastery in Canterbury built, and also very many others over all England.

Eác þis land wQs swíDe afylled mid munecan, and þa leofodan heora líf Qfter Sanctus Benedictus regule,

This land was, moreover, well filled with monks, who modelled their lives after the rule of St. Benedict.

7 se Cristendom wæs swilc on his dæge þæt ælc man hwæt his hade to belumpe. folgade se þe wolde.

and Christianity was such in his day that each man who wished followed out whatever concerned his order.

Note: háde "state (also: person, individual" gives us the derivational ending {hood} (cf. {-heit}).

ll. 22-26Eac he wæs swyðe wurðful. þriwa he bær his cynehelm ælcegeare. swa oft swa he wæs on Englelande. On Eastron he hinebær on Winceastre. on Pentecosten on Westmynstre. on midewintre on Gleaweceastre. 7 þænne wæron mid him ealle þarice men ofer eall Englaland. arcebiscopas. 7 leodbiscopas. abbodas 7 eorlas. þegnas 7 cnihtas

Also, he was very dignified: three times every year he wore his crown, as often as he was in England. At Easter he wore it at Winchester, at Whitsuntide at Westminster, and at Chritmasat Gloucester, and then were with him all the rich men over all England; archbishops and diocesan bishops, abbots and earls, thanes and knights.

Note leód "man", plural leóde "people" (cf. Leute).Note how semanically differently cniht and German Knecht have developed.

What are its register features?

medium: written

field: history, in this case a review on William the Conqueror´s Politics and his character traits.

purpose: Continuation of the Anglo-Saxon tradition to chronicle themost important events of a year.

style: narrative

genre: annals

traditions: draws on Bede, but coexisted with other chronicles or annals, such as the Irish Annals of Ulster (Annála Uladh) in Irish with some Latin, of Innisfallen(in Latin and Irish) or the Welsh AnnalesCambriae, and those of the Carolingian Resaissance(AnnalesFuldenses, Annals of Lorsch), the latter all in Latin.

Syntax

What is the main difference between OE and Modern English ?

From my point of view, it's the differentiation between synthetic and

analytic languages.• Synthetic: e.g. OE• A synthetic language is one that indicates the

relation between words in a sentence largely by means of inflections.

• Analytic: e.g. Modern English• Languages that make extensive use of prepositions

and auxiliary verbs and depend upon word order to show these relationships are known as analyticlanguages.

OE nouns, adjectives, definite articles and pronouns were declined and verbs were conjugated.• Standing rule for nouns was marking for:

CaseNumberGender congruence

• l. 12: He wæs milde þam godum mannum þe GodSubj. P. Obj. Def.Art. Adj. noun Demon. noun

lufedon,…Verb

• mannum: Dative / Plural / Masculine• godum: Dative / Plural / Masculine• Þam: Dative / Plural / Masculine

The CNG of the definite articles and the adjectives depends on the CNG of the related noun.

The Noun

The Definite Article

The Adjective

OE : a synthetic languageModern English: an analytic language

• Modern English: SVO/SPO Language• OE: Relation between words by means of

inflectionCompare:

On that same spot where God granted him that he should gain England, he reared a mighty minster, and set monks therein, and well endowed it.

On ðam ilcan steode þe God him geuðe þæt he mosteEngleland gegan. he arerde mære mynster. 7 munecas þærgesætte. 7 hit wæll gegodade.

Although the text below is an OE one and therefore synthetic, one can find in lots of sentences with SPO-structure.

Example:

L.1: Se cyng 7 þa heafod men lufedon swiðe 7 oferswiðe gitsunge. on golde. 7 on seolfre. 7 ne rohtan hu synlice hit wære begytan buton hit

come to heom.

S P O

The Verb

• As in ModE there are two types of verbs:1. regular (weak): e.g. lufian (to love)2. irregular (strong): e.g. sprecan (speak)

The Verb

References• Baugh, Albert C., and Thomas Cable. (2002) A

History of the English Language. 5th ed.London: Routledge.

• Knowles, Gerald O. (1997) A Cultural History of the English Language. London: Edward Arnold.

• Leith, Dick (1992 [1983]) A Social History of English. London: Routledge.

• Strang, Barbara (1972) A History of English. London: Methuen.

• Notes and homework from session two (April 30, 2009)