Old English: The Anglo-Saxon Language

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Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Language

(AD 449-1066)

Old English or Anglo-Saxon Language

the language of the Germanic tribes (Angles, Saxons, Jutes) that invaded the British islands around 449 A.D. It continued to be used till the French Norman invasion of England in 1066 A.D.

Phonology (notice the sounds circled in the chart below were new in Old English and did not exist in Common Germanic)

examples: [ p ]: pat, [ b ]: bat, [ t ]: time, [ d ]: dime, [ k ]: came, [ g ]: game, [ tʃ ]: chump, [ dʒ ]: jump, [ f ]: fat, [ θ ]: thigh [ s ]: sap, [ ʃ ]: sure/mash, [ h ]: ham, [ m ]: man, [ n ]: nun, [ l ]: lamp, [ r ]: ramp, [ w ]: world, [ y ]: yes/you

The sounds [ ʃ ], [ tʃ ], [ dʒ ] did not exist in Common Germanic and were Old English innovations (derived from Common Germanic [sk], [k], [g]. Also [y] began to be used instead of Germanic [g] in certain situations. Examples:

The sound [k] in Common Germanic before a consonant or back vowel was preserved unchanged in Old English. Examples:

cyning ("king")

cniht ("knight")

claene ("clean")

corn ("corn")

Germanic [k] next to a front vowel was palatalized to [ tʃ ] :

cirice ("church")

ceaster ("castle")

ceap ("cheap")

cild ("child")

Germanic [sk] was palatalized to [ ʃ ] in all situations:

fisc ("fish")

sceotan ("to shoot")

scearp ("sharp")

scield ("shield")

wascan ("wash")

Germanic [g] before consonants and back vowels was preserved in Old English:

grimm ("fierce, savage ")

god ("god")

gōd ("good")

Germanic [g] in medial or final position was palatalized to [ dʒ ]:

brycg ("bridge")

Germanic [g] was palatalized to the semivowel [y] before or between front vowels:

gear ("year")

geoguþ ("youth")

giet ("yet")

There were no phonemic voiced fricatives in Old English (i.e. these sounds did not exist yet in Old English: [v], [ð], [z], [ʒ])

In Old English [h] was always pronounced. Examples:

hraefn ("raven")
hwael ("whale")
hand ("hand")
sihþ ("vision," "sight")
eahta ("eight")
heah ("high")
þurh ("through")

Old English had distinctly pronounced consonant clusters ([hr], [hl], [hn], [hw], [kn], [gn]) (but they have been lost in modern English pronounciation). Examples:

hlaford ("lord")

hlaefdige ("lady")

hraefn, ("raven")

hlud ("loud")

hwaet ("what") (notice the original cluster is still spelled, in inverted order, but the [h] is not generally pronounced)

cneow ("knee") (notice the original cluster is still spelled but the first consonant is not pronounced)

gnaet: ("gnat") (notice the original cluster is still spelled but the first consonant is not pronounced)

Old English Vowels

The Old English vowels were [a], [æ], [ɛ], [i], [ɔ], [u]:

The [ə] likely existed as an allophone of other vowel sounds (mostly in unstressed positions) but was not phonemic in Old English.

Used as a vowel, in words like cyning ("king") the [y] was pronounced with rounding of the lips, as in German ü

Some phonological changes from Common Germanic to Old English:

FRONT MUTATION (also called i-umlaut,or i-mutation): if stressed syllable followed by unstressed syllable containing [i] or [y], the vowel in the stressed syllable was fronted or raised. Example:

In Germanic, the singular noun fōts ("foot") was fōtiz ("feet") in the plural. The [i] sound in the ending caused the ō in the root to be raised to ē in Old English, fēt, eventually resulting in Modern English feet. This also explains the singular/plural pairs: man/men, tooth/teeth, goose/geese, louse/lice

Prosody

the root syllable took major stress e.g. mórgen ("morning"; compounds stressed on first element e.g. hwáelweg ("whale-way" "ocean")

Writing

At the beginning of Christian era, the alphabet employed by the Germanic peoples was the Futhark or Runic alphabet; the sixth-century Christianization of England led to the adoption of the Latin/Roman alphabet; handwriting in early Old English manuscripts was influenced by Irish scribes and is known as Insular hand. Example of Latin insular handwriting with Old English glosses:

Beginning of the Gospel of Mark. Lindisfarne Gospels (c. AD 715-720). Cotton Nero D.IV. British Library, London.

Special characters in Old English writing:

þ called the " thorn"; stood for the sound [θ] and later came to be spelled "th"; itwas borrowed from the runic alphabet; example: þæt ("that")

ð called the "eth"; also stood for the sound [θ] and later came to be spelled "th"; example: ðeoden ("prince")

æ called the "ash"; it was pronounced [æ] as in "mat"; the name "ash" is derived from the ANSUZ/OS ("ash tree") runic character, ᚨ, that stood for the sound [a]. Phonologically, the runic alphabet represented the sound [æ] with the EIWAZ ("yew tree") rune, ᛇ. Example of the use of the ash in Old English: ælf ("elf")

ᚹcalled the "wen" or "wynn" ("hope"); stood for the sound [w]; it was borrowed from the runic alphabet character called the WUNJO ("joy"). Example; ᚹæpen ("weapon")

ʒ was the Old English graphic sign for "g". Example: daeʒ ("day")

Sample of Old English writing:

Beowulf, Cotton Vitellius A.XV, Folio 132r. 11th century. British Library, London.

Punctuation: raised point to indicate pause; semicolon and inverted semicolon (punctus elevatus) also indicated pause

Morphology

Loss of inflections: reduction of vowels in unstressed inflectional endings, need for syntactical support (word order) and prepositions

Nouns
Old English nouns had grammatical gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), singular and plural number, and were also classified as "strong" or "weak" according to the distinctness of their inflectional endings. All of these classifications called for specific inflectional endings in each of the cases used in Old English: nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative.

Strong Noun Declension

Number Case Masculine Neuter Feminine

Singular Nominative bāt ("boat") scip ("ship) lufu ("love")

Accusative bāt scip lufe

Genitive bātes scipes lufe

Dative bāte scipe lufe

Plural Nominative bātas scipu lufa

Accusative bātas scipu lufa

Genitive bāta scipa lufa

Dative bātum scipum lufum

Weak Noun Declension

Number Case Masculine Neuter Feminine

Singular Nominative nama ("name") eage ("eye") tunge ("tongue")

Accusative naman eage tungan

Genitive naman eagan tungan

Dative naman eagan tungan

Plural Nominative naman eagan tungan

Accusative naman eagan tungan

Genitive namena eagena tungena

Dative namum eagum tungum

Demonstrative pronouns/adjectives
Demonstrative pronouns are forms like se ("that," "the") and þes (" this"). They were inflected according to gender, number, and case and had some instrumental forms.Demonstratives had to agree with their referents and with any nouns or other adjectives when used adjectivally.

Number Case Masculine Neuter Feminine

Singular Nominative se ("the") þaet seo

Accusative þone þaet þa

Genitive þaes þaes þaere

Dative þaem þaem þaere

Instrumental þy þy þaere

Plural Nominative þa þa þa

Accusative þa þa þa

Genitive þara þara þara

Dative þaem þaem þaem

Instrumental þaem þaem þaem

examples (notice the noun used in this examples, cyning ("king"), is a strong masculine noun):

se cyning ("the king")

þaes cyninges ("of the king")

þaem cyninge ("to the king")

þara cyninga ("of the kings")

Number Case Masculine Neuter Feminine

Singular Nominative þes ("this") þis þeos

Accusative þisne þis þas

Genitive þisses þisses þisse

Dative þissum þissum þisse

Instrumental þys þys þisse

Plural Nominative þas þas þas

Accusative þas þas þas

Genitive þissa þissa þissa

Dative þissum þissum þissum

Instrumental þissum þissum þissum

examples (notice the noun used in this example, cwen ("queen," "woman") is a strong feminine noun):

þeos cwen ("this queen")

þisse cwene ("to this queen" or "of this queen")

þissa cwena ("of these queens")

Adjectives
A given adjective could be inflected in either of two ways: 1) weak (when accompanied by a demonstrative, numeral, or possessive pronoun), or 2) strong (when it was accompanied by no supporting words). An adjective had to agree with its noun in gender, number, and case. Some adjectives had instrumental case forms (in addition to nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative).

Adjective Indefinite or Strong Declension

Number Case Masculine Neuter Feminine

Singular Nominative dol ("foolish") dol dolu

Accusative dolne dol dole

Genitive doles doles dolre

Dative dolum dolum dolre

Instrumental dole dole dolre

Plural Nominative dole dolu dola

Accusative dole dolu dola

Genitive dolra dolra dolra

Dative dolum dolum dolum

examples (notice cyning is a strong masculine noun):

dol cyning ("foolish king")

doles cyninges ("of the foolish king")

dolum cyninge "to the foolish king"

Adjective Definite or Weak Declension

Number Case Masculine Neuter Feminine

Singular Nominative dola ("foolish") dole dole

Accusative dolan dole dolan

Genitive dolan dolan dolan

Dative dolan dolan dolan

Instrumental dolan dolan dolan

Plural Nominative dolan dolan dolan

Accusative dolan dolan dolan

Genitive dolra dolra dolra

Dative dolum dolum dolum

examples:

se dola cyning ("the foolish king")

þissa dolra cyninga ("of these foolish kings")

seo dole cwen ("the foolish queen")

Personal Pronouns
Personal pronouns had first, second and third person forms; singular, dual, and plural numbers; and were declined according to the standard cases (nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative).

Number Case 1st Person 2nd Person 3rd Person m. 3rd Person n. 3rd Person f.

Singular Nominative ic ("I") þu ("you") he ("he") hit ("it") heo ("she")

Accusative me þe hine hit hie

Genitive min þin his his hiere

Dative me þe him him hiere

Plural Nominative we ge hie hie hie

Accusative us eow hie hie hie

Genitive ure eower hiera hiera hiera

Dative us eow him him him

example:

ic lufie þe ("I love you") (notice the accusative case of "þe")

Interrogative pronouns

Case Masculine and Feminine Neuter

Nominative hwa hwaet

Accusative hwone hwaet

Genitive hwaes hwaes

Dative hwaem hwaem

Instrumental hwy hwy

example: hwa eart þu ("who are you?")

Other pronouns

Forms like þe (used as a relative pronoun, "the one that"), indefinite pronouns: aelc ("each"), hwilc ("which"), aenig ("any", eall ("all"), nan ("none"), swilc ("such"), sum ("some"), man ("one")

Verbs

The infinitive forms of verbs end in the suffix -an (example, faran "to travel"); verbs are inflected for tense, person, number, and mood; two tenses: present and preterite; the verbs were classified into strong and weak according to how they formed their past tenses (strong verbs changed their root vowel and weak verbs added [d] to the ending to signify past tense.

Verb Conjugations

Weak Verb Strong Verb Irregular Verb

Infinitive baernan "to burn" singan "to sing" wesan "to be"

Present Tense

Indicative Mood

1st person singular baerne ("I burn") singe eom

2nd person singular baernst singst eart

3rd person singular baernþ singþ is

1st person plural baernaþ singaþ sindon

2nd person plural baernaþ singaþ sindon

3rd person plural baernaþ singaþ sindon

Subjunctive Mood

singular baerne singe sy

plural baernen singen syn

Imperative Mood

2nd person singular baern sing wes

2nd person plural baernaþ singaþ wesaþ

Present Participle baernende singende wesende

Past (Preterite) Tense

Indicative Mood

1st person singular baernde sang waes

2nd person singular baerndest sunge waere

3rd person singular baernde sang waes

1st person plural baerndon sungon waeron

2nd person plural baerndon sungon waeron

3rd person plural baerndon sungon waeron

Subjunctive Mood

singular baernde sunge waere

plural baernden sungen waeren

Past Participle baerned (ge)sungen beon

Example: þaet leoð waes gesungen ("the song was sung")

The weak verbs were a Germanic innovation (they did not exist in Proto-Indo-European). Weak verbs are also called "dental preterite" verbs because they form their past tense by means of a dental sound [d] or [t] at the end of the word. These are the regular verbs in Modern English, example: seglan ("to sail"), ic segle ("I sail"), ic seglode ("I sailed")

The strong verbs were divided into seven classes defined by the patterns of their root vowel changes in their four principal parts (the infinitive, the past singular, the past plural, and the past participle):

Strong Verb Classes

Verb Class Infinitive Past singular Past Plural Past Participle

Class 1: i-a-i-i
scinan ("to shine") scan scinon (ge)scinen

Class 2: eo-ea-u-o ceosan ("to choose") ceas curon (ge)coren

Class 3: i-a-u-u singan ("to sing") sang sungon (ge)sungen

Class 4: e-ae-ae-o stelan ("to steal") stael staelon (ge)stolen

Class 5: e-ae-ae-e sprecan ("to speak") spraec spraecon (ge)sprecen

Class 6: a-o-o-a faran ("to travel") for foron (ge)faran

Class 7: x-e-e-x fon ("to seize") feng fengon (ge)fongen

raedan ("to counsel") red redon (ge)raeden

Other verbs:

irregular verbs:

don ("to do"), ic do ("I do"), ic dyde ("I did"), we dydon ("we did")

willan ("to will"), ic wille ("I will"), ic wolde (I willed), we woldon ("we willed")

gan ("to go"), ic ga ("I go"), ic eode ("I went"), we eodon ("we went")

beon is an alternative form of the verb "to be"

preterite-present verbs:

their present tense forms used to be past tenses in earlier stages of the language (examples: sculan, cunnan, magan, agan, dearr, durfan). Some of these verbs are the ancestors of Present Day English modal auxiliaries (shall, can, may, ought, dare, must). Notice the evolution of meaning in the following:

magan ("to be able"), ic mæg ( "I am able") > "I may", ic meahte ("I was able") > "I might"

sculan ("to be obliged"), ic sceal ("I am obliged") > " I shall", ic sceolde ("I was obliged") > " I should"

cunnan ("to know"), ic cann ("I know") > "I can", ic cuþe ("I knew") > "I could"

motan ("to be permitted"), ic moste ("I was permitted") > "I must"

Prepositions

Prepositions themselves are not inflected but the words that follow in the prepositional phrase must be inflected according to the case required by each specific preposition. Examples:

to (with dative means "to, towards, at "): to midre nihte ("toward the middle of the night");

þurh (with accusative means "through," "by means of"): þurh reaflac and mansliht ("through robbery and manslaughter")

wiþ (with accusative, "against"): wiþ þone here ("against the enemy army")

be (with dative means "by," "alongside"): be þaem saeriman ("by the coast," "along the coast")

mid (with dative means "with"): mid him ("with him")

on (with dative means "in," "on"): on þissum geare ("on this year")

geond (with accusative, "throughout"): geond lagulade ("throughout the water-way")

for (with dative or accusative, "for" "before" "in front of"): þeos giefu is for us ("this gift is for us")

under (with accusative and dative, "under"): se fisc swam under þaet scip ("the fish swam under the ship")

ofer (accusative and dative, "over"): ofer waþema gebind ("over the turmoil of the waves")

fram (dative, "from" "by"): Suðhamtun waes forhergod fram scipherige ("Southampton was raided by a fleet of enemy ships")

ymb (accusative or dative, "about" "around" "concerning"): ymb þa gatu ("around the gates")

of (with dative, "from" "of"): þaet wif genam þa of þaes treowes waestme and geaet ("the woman took then from the fruit of the tree and ate")

Conjunctions

Conjunctions act as logical connectors. Examples:

and/ond ("and")

ac ("but")

gif ("if")

þeah ("although")

forþæm ("because")

Syntax

modifiers are placed close to the modified word

prepositions precede objects

interrogative formed by inverting the subject and the verb

Subject-Verb-Object order in main declarative clauses, Verb-Subject-Object in interrogative and imperative clauses

Parataxis: phrases strung together by means of simple coordinating conjunctions like and ("and"), ac ("but"), þa ("then"). Example:

seamannan waeron meðe and scipu ne seglodon ("the sailors were tired and the ships did not sail")

Hypotaxis: more complex linking of thoughts by means of subordinating conjunctions like þa ("because of"), gif ("if"), forþan ("because"). Example:

forþan seamannan meðe waeron, scipu ne seglodon ("because the sailors were tired, the ship did not sail")

Lexicon

Basic words inherited from Indo-European or Germanic, such as 1-10 numerals (an, twegen, þrie, feower, fif, syx, seofon, eahta, nigon, tyn), kinship terms (modor, faeder); some words found only in Germanic/West Germanic languages (not present in other Indo-European languages: baec ("back"), ban ("bone"), folc ("folk"), grund ("ground"), rotian ("to rot"), seoc ("sick"), swellan ("to swell"), werig ("weary"), wif ("wife"), blod ("blood"), cniht ("young man," "knight")

miscellaneous vocabulary:

cyning ("king")

fierd ("English army")

here ("Viking army")

scop ("poet")

scyppend ("Shaper," "Creator," "God")

meotod ("Measurer," "God")

rice ("kingdom")

wig ("battle")

wiga ("warrior")

feond ("enemy")

A few Celtic borrowings: some place names (Thames, Dover, London, Cornwall, Carlisle, Avon), others: dunn ("dun"), binn ("bin," "basket), hogg ("hog")

Some Scandinavian influence: e.g. ran ("rapine"), ha ("rowlock"), cnearr ("small ship"), orrest ("battle")

Major Latin influence

words for religious, intellectual concepts/activities, plants: e.g. abbod ("abbot"), engel ("angel"), candle ("candle"), martir ("martyr"), scol ("school") peru ("pear"), persic ("peach"), lilie ("lily")

calques or loan translations: Latin unicornis, OE anhorn ("unicorn"); Latin evangelium, Old English gōdspell ("gospel")

formation of new words:

compounding: noun+noun, e.g. sunbeam ("sunbeam," "sunshine"), adjective+noun, e.g. yfelweorc ("evil-work," "wrongdoing")), adverb+noun, e.g. innefeoh ("inside-treasure," "household property"), compound adjectives, e.g. isceald ("ice-cold"), wishydig ("wise-thinking"), some compound adverbs, eg. neafre (ne-aefre, "not-ever," "never"), eallmaest (eall-maest, "all-most," "almost"), compound verbs, e.g. goldhordian (gold-hordian, "to hoard gold")
ge-, a very frequently used prefix; employed to create new words from existing ones (nouns and verbs) and to denote some past participles:

broðor (brother), gebroðor (member of a religious community)

nipan (to grow dark), genip (darkness)

sprecan ("to speak"), gesprecen ("spoken")

abstract nouns constructed with suffixes like -nes, -ung, -dom, -scipe, etc.; examples: wis ("wise"), wisdom ("wisdom"); freond ("friend"), freondscipe ("friendship"); leornian ("to learn"), leornung ("learning"); heah ("high"), heahnes ("highness")
agent nouns constructed with with suffixes like -ere, -end, -a, -bora; examples: ridan ("to ride"), ridere ("rider"); beran ("to carry," "to bear," "to support"), berend ("carrier"); wig ("battle"), wiga ("warrior"); mund ("trust, "protection"), mundbora ("protector")
adjective suffixes: -ig, -lic, -ful, -leas, -ed, -isc, -sum, etc.; examples: freond ("friend"), freondlic ("friendly"), freondleas ("friendless"); miht ("might," "power," "strength"), mihtig ("mighty," "powerful")
adverbs often formed in Old English by adding -e or -lice to an adjective. Example: the adjective riht (right") is the origin of the adverbs rihte, rihtlice ("rightly")
other prefixes often used: un-, in-, ofer-, æfter-, fore-, mis-, under-, etc. examples: unraed ("without wisdom," "un-ready"); ingangan ("to go in"); ofermod ("over-mood," "pride"); misdon ("to do evil"); understandan ("to understand")

Semantics

Like other Germanic languages, Old English had many terms for kinship; ego- and nuclear-family-oriented culture; little distinction beyond immediate family circle; no separate terms for marriage relationship; distinction between paternal and maternal relatives; special emphasis given to the relationship between maternal uncle and nephew

uncommon reference to color (e.g. readnes "redness") but frequent reference to light (leoht), brightness (beorhtnes), darkness (heolstor, genip, sceadu), shine (scinan)

samples of semantic change:

generalization: OE gesund (healthy), Modern English "sound"

narrowing: OE wæd (garment), Modern English "weed" (mourning clothes)

amelioration (improvement of meaning): OE prættig (tricky, sly), Modern English "pretty"

pejoration (worsening of meaning): OE sælig (happy), Modern English "silly"

shift in denotation: OE dwellan (to deceive), Modern English "dwell"

Dialects

Old English had several dialects spoken in the various regions of the land: Northumbrian, Mercian, West Saxon, Kentish; northern dialects lost inflectional endings earlier than those of the south; heavier use of diphthongs and extensive palatalization of velar consonants in West Saxon areas.

Literature

literacy among the clergy; use of vellum/parchment for manuscripts; hand copying; command of Latin, English and Irish/Gaelic by the literate; anonymity of texts; religious and didactic literature, translations from Latin works and the Bible, sermons, lives of saints; historical annals, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, beginning in the days of Alfred the Great (late 9th century); heroic poetry, e.g. Beowulf (early 11th century); elegies (mournful poems lamenting the passing away of life, wealth, and glory): The Wanderer, The Seafarer (late 10th century)

earliest literary works: Widsith (a short narrative poem telling of the travels of a poet named Widsith) and "Caedmon's Hymn" (a short religious lyric telling of the creation of the world) (both of the 7th century)

some distinguished authors and thinkers: the Venerable Bede (8th century), Cynewulf (9th century), Aelfric, Wulfstan (late 10th-early 11th century)

Old English verse was characterized by four-stress alliterative line with mid-line pause (caesura); formulaic style; interlacing of motifs; recurring images (eagle, wolf, ice, snow); use of apposition (parallel variations on a phrase or motif);

kennings or metaphorical poetic compounds, examples:

hwaelweg ("whale-way," i.e. "the ocean")

hranrad ["whale-road," also “the sea”]

Miscellaneous Old English Expressions

Ic grete þe [I greet you]

Wes ðu hal [be you well/whole/healthy!]
Hal wes þu [be healthy!]
Sy ðu hal [may you be healthy!]
Wes gesund [be sound/well/healthy!]
Beoð ge gesunde [be you (plural) well!]

Wilcume [Welcome!]

Broðor min [My brother]

Sweostor min [My sister]

Lareow [Teacher]

Leornere [Student]

Hlaford min [My lord]

Hlæfdige min [My lady]

Leof [Dear one]

Men ða leofestan [Dearest men]

Leofe broðra [Dear brothers]

Hwa eart þu? [Who are you ?]

Beowulf is min nama [My name is Beowulf]

Interjections

wa me [Woe is me!]

eala [Alas!]

la [Lo!]

wa la wa [emphatic expression of woe]

hwæt ("what!" "ah!" "behold!")

giese [yes]
gea [yes]

nese [no]
ne [no]

ic þancie þe [Thank you]
ic þancie eow
ic þe þancas do
ic sæcge eow þancas

Wel ðu spricst [You speak well]

Wel ðu writst [You write well ]

Ic wat [I know]

Ic nat [I don't know}

Recommended texts and useful links:

Celia M. Millward, A Biography of the English Language (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988)

Albert C. Baugh & Thomas Cable, A History of the English Languag, (Prentice Hall, 2002)

Thomas Pyles & John Algeo, The Origins and Development of the English Language (Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1993)

Bosworth-Toller Anglo-Saxon Dictionary

© 2000-2018 by Fidel Fajardo-Acosta, all rights reserved

Last updated: October 4, 2018 12:29

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