- •Федеральное агентство по образованию
- •Contents
- •Introduction the subject of the history of the english language. The indo-european family of languages. Germanic languages. The periods in the history of english 5
- •Indo-European Language Family 6
- •Variant I 86
- •Causes of language changes
- •Historical Linguistics
- •Indo-European Language Family
- •Indo-European languages tree
- •Germanic Languages
- •Peculiarities of Germanic languages
- •Germanic people. Origin and culture
- •Germanic Alphabet
- •Periods in the History of English
- •The Old English period: brief outline and main features
- •The Middle English period: brief outline and main features
- •The Modern English period: brief outline and main features
- •The old english period Historical Background: Prehistoric Britain, Roman Britain, Anglo-Saxon Britain
- •Old English Writings
- •How Do We Know What Old English Pronunciation Was Like?
- •The Old English Sound System
- •Phonetic Changes in Old English
- •Vowel changes
- •Consonants changes
- •Old English Grammar The Old English Noun
- •The Old English Pronoun
- •Interrogative pronouns
- •Indefinite pronouns
- •The Old English Adjective
- •The Old English Verb
- •Irregular (anomalous) verbs.
- •The Old English Numeral
- •The Old English Adverb
- •The Old English Auxiliary Words
- •The Old English Syntax
- •Old English Vocabulary Composition
- •Word building
- •Foreign influences on Old English
- •The middle english period Historical background: Medieval Britain
- •Changes in Spelling
- •Phonetic Changes in Middle English
- •Vowel changes:
- •Changes in Middle English Grammar
- •Changes in Middle English Vocabulary
- •The modern english period Historical background: Tudor Britain, Stuart Britain
- •General Changes in Modern English Phonology
- •The Great Vowel Shift
- •Early Modern English Grammar Changes and features of ModE noun system
- •The Modern English Pronoun
- •Changes and features of Early ModE verbal system
- •Early Modern English Syntax
- •Features of Early ModE vocabulary:
- •Part II The Old English Period
- •Part III the Middle English period
- •Part IV The Modern English Period
- •Appendix 1: British History Timeline
- •Appendix 2: Control tests
- •Part III.
- •Task IV.
- •Instructions: Read the following extract from Hamlet by Shakespeare and do the tasks below.
- •Variant II
- •Instructions: Basing on the Grimm’s law, explain the correspondences of underlined sounds in the following words of the common root from Germanic and non-Germanic Indo-European languages.
- •Instructions: Provide grammatical analysis of the suggested elements from the sentence below:
- •Verbs — strong or weak type, define tense, aspect, mood, person, number.
- •Part III.
- •Instructions: Read the passage in Middle English, analyze the part in bold and do the tasks below.
- •Task IV.
- •Instructions: Read the following extract from Hamlet by Shakespeare and do the tasks below.
- •Variant III.
- •Part III.
- •Instructions: Read the passage in Middle English, analyze the part in bold and do the tasks below.
- •Task IV.
- •Instructions: Read the following extract from Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare and do the tasks below.
- •Variant IV
- •Part III.
- •Instructions: Read the passage in Middle English, analyze the part in bold and do the tasks below.
- •Task IV.
- •Instructions: Read the following extract from The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare and do the tasks below.
- •Variant V
- •Part III.
- •Instructions: Read the passage in Middle English, analyze the part in bold and do the tasks below.
- •Task IV.
- •Instructions: Read the following extract from the Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare and do the tasks below.
- •Related reading
- •Internet resources
- •Г. А. Васильцова история английского языка и введение в специальную филологию
Part II The Old English Period
Check-up questions:
When did the Germanic invasion in the British Isles begin? What Germanic tribes came to live there?
What Germanic kingdoms existed on the British Isles?
How did the country acquire the name of England?
What important event took place at the end of the 8th century AD?
What alphabet did Anglo-Saxons use for their writings? What written records have survived from that time?
What vowels existed in Old English? How were they represented in writing?
What consonants existed in Old English? How were they represented in writing?
What phonetic changes are illustrated by the following correspondences?
Gothic: ahtau OE eahta (eight);
Gothic: skadus OE sceadu (shade);
Gothic: salijan OE sellan (sell);
Gothic: uns OE ūs (us) .
What was the etymological composition of the OE vocabulary? What languages did the loan words come there from?
What word building patterns were common in OE?
What categories did the OE noun have?
What categories did the OE adjective have?
What were the classes of OE pronouns?
What categories did the OE verb have?
What were the most common syntactical patterns in OE?
Did there exist any analytical forms in OE?
Practical assignments
Task 1. Strong and weak nouns and demonstrative pronouns. Define Gender, Number and Case in the suggested word combinations.
-
hring, n., -a ring
tunge, n., -n tongue
dēor, n., -a deer
ondswaru n., -o answe
sē tunge __ nom., sing_fem___
Þǣre ondsware __gen/dat., sg., fem. _
Þone hring __________________
Þā dēoru __________________
Þæs hringes __________________
Þā ondswara __________________
Þæt dēor __________________
Þǣm hringe __________________
Þāra ondswara __________________
sēo ondswaru __________________
Þāra tungena __________________
Þǣm tungan __________________
Þǣm dēorum __________________
Þæs dēores __________________
Þone tungan __________________
Þāra ondswara __________________
Þone tungan __________________
sē hring __________________
Þǣm hringum __________________
Þā ondsware __________________
Task 2. Pronouns. Find all the 16 pronouns in the text, define their class and, if possible, gender, number and case.
New Testament:
the Gospel of Mark Chapter 8
Parabel on Loafs and Breads
On sumre tīde wæs micel menigu mid Þām Hǣlende on ānum wēstene metelēas. Þā clipode se Hǣlende his leorningcnihtas him tō and cwæð:
Me ofhrīewð Þisse menigu, for ðām Þe hīe nū for ðrim dagum hēr mīn anbidodon, and nabbað hwæt hīe etað; and gif ic hīe forlǣte faestende hām gecierran, Þonne ātēoriað hīe be wege, for ðām Þe hīe sume sindon feorran cumene.
Glossary:
anbidian, wk. 2. await, past pl. anbidodon;
atēorian, st. 2. fail, become weary. pl. atēoriað;
be, prep. (with dat.) by, along, about, with. Be;
clipian, wk. 2. call;
cuman, st. 4. come. past part. cumen past part. pl. cumene;
cweþan, st. 5. say, call; past sg cwæð;
forl ǣtan, st. 7. leave, allow, permit, release. subj. 1sg. forl ǣte;
gecierran, wk. 1. turn, change, return, go;
gif, conj. if. gif, gyf;
(ge)etan, st. 5. eat, pl. etað;
eth, masc. journey, undertaking;
fæstan, wk. 1. fast, pres. part. Fæstende;
feorran, adv. from afar.
for, prep. (with dat., sometimes with acc.) for, because of, instead of, in spite of, with respect to;
habban, wk. 3. have, hold. negated. pl. nabbað;
hām, masc. home. adv. homewards, home;
Hǣlend, masc. nd-stem. Savior;
leorningcniht, n.,masc. a- disciple;
menigu, n., fem., i-stem multitude;
metelēas, adj. without food;
micel, adj. large, big, great, vast;
nabbað à habban;
nū, adv. Now;
ofhrēowan, st. 2. cause pity for someone;
se þe, rel. pron. that, which, who;
sindon à bēon – to be
tīd, fem. time, hour;
ðām à se;
þonne, adv. then. conj. when, than;
þe, rel. pron. that, which, who, where;
wēste, adj. waste, uncultivated, barren, ruined.
Modern English translation:
1 In those days the multitude being very great, and having nothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, 2 I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: 3 And if I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from far.
Task 3. Noun forms. In the following sentences, find Dative nouns (a hint: they usually stay after prepositions).
(1) Þā fōr Moyses and gecyrde tō his mǣge, Þām wæs Iethro nama.
Dative noun: ________________
(2) Þa cwæðPharao tō Moyse and tō Aarone: Hwī myrrað gyt Þis folc fram heoraweorcum?
Dative noun: ________________
cwæð –cweþan;
cweþan, v., st. 5say,call;
gecierran, wk. 1.turn,change,return,go;
gecyrde àgecierran;
gyt àþū, gē;
heora àhīe;
hwī àhwú;
hwú, adv. (inst. of hwā) why;
faran, st. 6. travel, go. past;
folc, neut.people;
fōr àfaran;
fram, adv. from there; prep. (with dat.) from, by;
mǣg, masc. –a- stemkinsman;
mierran, wk. 1. mar, disturb, squander, hinder. pl. myrrað;
myrrað àmierran;
nama (n. m. n) name;
weorc, neut.n –a-work,workmanship.
Task 4. Noun forms. Find 8 direct accusative objects and indirect accusative after prepositions. Find a noun in the Genitive case.
Hēr Cynewolf ond Offa gefuhton ymb Benesingtūn, ond Offa nam Þone tūn. Hīe woldon ferian hira herehúðongēan Þā scipu. Hī noldon faran ofer Þone ford. Hī fordydon Þā Bryttas Þurh fúr and Þurh sweordes ecge.
Glossary:
Bryttas, masc. Britons;
ecg, n, fem. –jo edge;
faran, v., st. 6. travel, go;
(ge)feohtan, v., st. 3. fight; past pl. gefuhton, fuhton;
ferian, v., wk. 2. carry;
ford, masc., -a ford;
ford ōn, anom. verb. ruin, destroy; past pl. fordydon;
fúr, n., neut., -a fire;
(ge)niman, v., st. 4. take, seize, capture. past 3sg.;
nam, genam;
hēr, adv. Here;
herehúþ, n., fem., -i booty, plunder;
hira à hīe;
nam à (ge)niman;
noldà willan;
ofer, prep. (with dat. or acc.) over, upon, after;
ond, conj. and prep. (with dat. or acc.) against, towards, opposite;
ongēan, adv. back, again;
scip, n., neut., -a ship;
sweord, n., neut., -a sword;
tūn, n., masc.,-a enclosure, dwelling, village, town;
þurh, prep. (usually with acc., sometimes with dat. or gen.) through, by, by means of, because of;
willan, anom. verb. wish, be willing, desire, will; forms of this verb often coalesce with the negative particle ne: ne wille à nylle, ne wolde à nolde;
woldon à willan;
ymb, prep. (usually with acc., sometimes with dat.) around, near, about, after.
Now decline the nouns from the text:
herehúþ;
tūn;
ecg.
Task 5. Verb forms. Try your hand at conjugating some Old English verbs:
scēotan strong Class II shoot
singan strong Class II sing
tellan weak verb Class I
we shoot |
scēotaÞ |
they sing |
|
she tells |
|
you (pl.) shoot |
|
they tell |
|
you (sg.) shoot |
|
I tell |
|
we sing |
|
he sang |
|
I shot |
|
we told |
|
they told |
|
Task 6. Verb forms. Find all the verbs in this extract from the parable on Abraham and Isaak, define their form.
e.g. wolde – preterito-present verb, preterite singular, 3d person.
God wolde þa fandian Abrahames gehiersumnesse, and clipode his naman,
and cwæð him þus to: 'Nim þinne ancennedan sunu Isaac, þe þu lufast, and far to þam lande Visionis hraðe, and geoffra hine þær uppan anre dune.'
Abraham þa aras on þære ilcan nihte, and ferde mid twam cnapum to þam fierlenan lande, and Isaac samod, on assum ridende.
Glossary:
an, num., a, one;
ancenned, adj., only, only begotten;
aras à arisan;
arisan, v., str. 1 arise;
ass, n., masc, donkey, ass;
clipian, v., w., 2 call;
clipode à from clipian;
cnapa, n., masc., -n servant;
cwaeð à cweðan;
cweþan, st. 5. say, call;
dun, n., fem. -o, mountain, hill;
gehiersumnesse, n., fem., obedience;
fandian, v., w., 1 with gen. to test;
far àfaran;
faran, v., st. 6. travel, go;
feran, v., w., 1 to fare, get on, set out, proceed;
ferde à feran;
fierlen, adj. distant; far off;
hræðe, adv. Quickly;
ilca, prn. the same;
lande, n., neut., -n land;
lufian, v., w. 2 love;
lufast àlufian;
mid, prep. With;
naman à name;
name, n., masc., -n name;
niht, n., cons., night;
nihte à night;
nim à niman;
niman, v., str., 4 take;
geoffraàgeoffrian;
(ge)offrian, v., wk. 2. offer;
ridan, v., str., 1 ride;
samod, adv. too; at the same time;
sunu, n, masc, -n son;
þaer, adv. there;
to, prep. to;
þa, adv., then;
þus, adv. thus, in this way;
uppan, prep., with dative upon;
Visionis, n., proper Moriah – from the Hebrew for "vision";
willan, v., pret, want, desire;
wolde à willan.
Modern English variant from the Douay-Rheims version of the Old Testament, a version translated from the Latin Vulgate
Abraham and Isaac
Genesis 22: 1–19
1. And after these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.
2. He said to him, Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision [Vulgate: "vade in Terram visionis"]: and there thou shalt offer him for a holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will show thee.
3. So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass: and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.
Task 6. Text analysis. Read and translate the text in modern English. Analyse the grammar forms of words.
Follow the example:
Word as used in the text |
Form, notes |
Corresponding ModE word |
Đa |
adv. |
when, then |
ealdode |
from ealden, v. to get older; weak verb, preterite singular |
to grow older |
and |
|
|
he |
… |
… |
ēagan |
… |
|
Translation: When Isaak grew older, … |
Đa Isaak ealdode and he ēagan Þỹstrodon, Þæt hē ne mihte nān Þing gesēon, Þā clypode hē Ēsau, his yldran sunu:
ða, adv. when, then elden, v. to get older ēage, n – eye Þỹstrian, v to get dim, blind magan, v, prtpr) – to be able |
Þing, n., neut., -a – thing (ge)seon, v., str., 5) – to see clipian, v. – to call eald, adj. – old; comp. degree – yldra sunu, n., masc. – son |
and cwæð to him: “Þu gesihst Þæt ic ealdige, and ic nāt hwænne mine dagas āgāne bēoÞ”:
cweðan, v – to say (ge)seon,v., str. 5 – to see ealdian, v – to get older nāt = ne-witan, prtprs. v. – not to know |
hwænne, adv.- when dæg, n. – day bēon, substantive verb – to be a-gān, v., irr. – to pass away, to die |
Nim þin gesceot, þinne cocur and þinne bogan, and gang ūt; and, þonne þu ǣnig þing begite þæs-þe þū wēne:
niman, v., str. – to take
gesceot, n., neut. – a set of arrows
cocur, n., masc – quiver
boga, n., m. – bow
wēnan, v., w., 1 – to think
gangan, v., irr.– to go
ūt, adv. – out
þonne, adv. – when, then
ænig, prn – any, some
ðing, n., neut. – thing
begiten, v., str. 5 – to get
þe – emphatic particle
þæt mē lỹcige, bring mē, þæt ic ete and ic þē bletsige, ǣt-þǣm-þe ic swelte:
līcian, v., w., 1 – to like bringan, v., prtprs – to bring etan, v., str. 5 – to eat |
blētsian, v., w., 2 – to bless ǣt- þǣm-þe, conj – before sweltan, v., str. 3 – to die |
Have more exercises in Old English at OLD ENGLISH AEROBICS WORKOUT ROOM http://www.engl.virginia.edu/OE/OEA/index.html |