BIRTH OF A LANGUAGE

Old English

So, how old is Old English?

As old as 449AD – this is the year that many scholars commonly agree on as the birth year of the English language

About the time that the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes came to England to protect the Celts after the Romans left

Important People

Alfred the Great King Cnut

Important People, continued

Edward the Confessor William of Normandy

Main Old English Dialects

Mercian – evolved into Middle English

West Saxon – language of King Alfred the Great; language of most Old English literature

Northumbrian

Kentish

Major Linguistic Influences

Latin Roman control from 55BC to 410AD

Scandinavian/Germanic Anglo-Saxon presence beginning in 449AD

Viking invasions beginning in 850AD

French William of Normandy in 1066AD

Some Celtic influence Residual from Celts originally inhabiting Briton

The Power of the Church

Key Features of Old English

Continental long vowelsSign system mixture of select runes and

Roman (or Latin) alphabetSynthetic language – inflection (word

endings) determined function Paratactic language – coordinating

grammatical structure (connect simple sentences with conjunctions, such as “and”)

Sample of Old English

Fæder úre, ðú ðe eart on heofonum, Sí ðín nama gehálgod. Tó becume ðín rice. Gewurde ðín willa On eorþan swá swá on heofonum. Urne dægwhamlícan hlaf syle ús tódæg. And forgyf ús úre gyltas, Swá swá wé forgyfaþ úrum gyltendum. And ne gelæd ðu ús on costnunge, Ac álýs ús of yfele. Sóþlice.

Father our thou that art in heavensbe thy name hallowedcome thy kingdombe-done thy willon earth as in heavensour daily bread give us todayand forgive us our sinsas we forgive those-who-have-sinned-against-us and not lead thou us into temptationbut deliver us from evil. truly