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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