booklet_3rd_12

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Exercise 1. Study the words below and translate the given text in Old English into Modern English:

1.ac – E. ‘but’.

2.aþer… oððe… – E. ‘either… or…’.

3.be – E. ‘by’.

4.byne, bynum – adj. E. ‘cultivated’.

5.brad, bradre, bradost – adj. from “brad” (E. ‘broad, wide’).

6.būde – v., from ‘būan’, anomal. (E. ‘to live’).

7.cyninʒe – n., m., a – stem ‘cyninʒ’.

8.clūdiʒ – adj. rocky, hilly (from ‘clūd’, E. ‘rock, hill’).

9.cwæð – v. from ‘cweðan’, strong (E. ‘to say’).

10.ealra – from ‘eal’.

11.eardiað – v., from ‘eardian’ (E. ‘dwell, inhibit’).

12.emnlanʒe = efenlanʒe – prep. ‘along’.

13.erian – E. ‘to plough’.

14.ettan – E. ‘to graze’.

15.fiscaþe – v. from ‘fiscian’.

16.for – v., preterite sing. from ‘faran’(E. set for, travel, go).

17.hlāforde – n., m., a – stem ‘hlāford’ (E. ‘lord, master’).

18.huntoðe – v. from “huntian”.

19.hwene –adv ‘somewhat, a little’ (instr. of ‘hwon’).

20.lið, licʒað – from ‘licʒean’ (E. ‘to lie, to rest’).

21.middeweard – from ‘midd’ (E. ‘middle, placed between’).

22.mīla – n. from ‘mīl’.

23.mōras, mōre – n. from ‘mōr’ (E. ‘moor, waste land’).

24.norþweardum – adj. n. of ‘norþward’ (E. ‘northern’).

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25.oððe – conj., E. ‘or’.

26.oferferan – E. ‘to pass, cross, go over; go through; come across’.

27.s – n., fem., i – stem.

28.s de – v., from ‘secʒan’ [Dsedan].

29.sīe – Pres. Subj. of ‘bēon’.

30.symle = simbles – E. ‘ever, always’.

31.syþþan – E. ‘afterwards, since, after’.

32.smæl,smælre,smalost–adj.(E.‘small,little,notgreat;narrow,notbroad’).

33.stycce-m lum [Dsty`è] – E. ‘here and there’.

34.stōwum–from‘stōw’fem.(-e/-a)(E.‘aplace,spot,locality,site’).

35.sumera – n., m., u – stem, from ‘sumor’.

36.swā–adv.,rel.pron.‘so,as,while’;swā…swā…–conj.(E.‘so…as…’).

37.swīþe – E. ‘very’.

38.sumum – from ‘sum’.

39.þā – fem., of sē, sēo, þæt.

40.þēah – E. ‘though’.

41.þ re – fem., gen. or dat. sing. of ‘sē, sēo, þæt’.

42.þonan – E. ‘from there’.

43.wēste – E. ‘uninhabited.

44.wīciað – from ‘wīcian’ [Dwī`ias], verb weak (E. ‘to live’).

45.wintra – n., m., u – stem, from ‘winter’.

46.wucum – n. from ‘wucu’ (E. ‘week’).

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THE VOYAGES OF OHTHERE

1.Ōhthēre s de his hlāforde, Ælfrēde cyninʒe, þæt hē ealra Norðmanna norþmest būde.

2.Hē cwæð þæt hē būde on þ m lande norþweardum wiþ þā Wests .

3.Hē sæde þēah þæt þæt land sīe swīþe lanʒ norþ þonan; ac hit is eal wēste, būton on fēawum stōwum stycce-m lum wīciað Finnas, on huntoðe on wintra and on sumera on fiscaþe be þ re s .

4.þa for hē norþryhte be þæm lande.

5.Hē sæde þæt Norðmanna land wære swīþe lanʒ and swīþe smæl.

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6.Eal þæt his man aþer oððe ettan oððe erian mæʒ, þæt lið wið ða s ; and þæt is þēah on sumum stōwum swīþe clūdiʒ; and licʒað wilda mōras wið eastan and wið uppon emnlanʒe þ m bynum lande.

7.On þ m mōrum eardiað Finnas.

8.And þæt byne land is ēastweard bradost, and symle swā norðor swā smælre.

9.Eastweard hit mæʒ bion syxtiʒ mīla brad, oððe hwene bradre, and middeweard þritiʒ oððe bradre; and norðeweard hē cwæð, þær hit smalost wære, þæt hit mihte beon þreora mīla brad to þ m more; and se mōr syþþan, on sumum stowum, swā brad swā man mæʒ in twam wucum oferferan; and on sumum stowum swā brad swā man mæʒ on syx daʒum oferferan.

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Exercise 2. Comment on the sound value of the OE fricatives þ, a, s, f in the initial, medial and final positions. Find examples in the text.

Exercise 3. What is the origin of the vowel [y] in the OE word cyninw=

(OHG. kuninw)?

Exercise 4. Find all the verbs in the text and comment on their principal forms.

Exercise 5. Comment on the morphological structure of the words:

hlāford, Norðmanna, norþweardum, Wests , ēastweard, middweard.

Exercise 6. Comment on the forms of the adjectives bradra(e), smælre, wildan, tamra, smalost. Define the function of these adjectives in the

sentences.

Exercise 7. Analyse all the numerals and nouns that denote animals.What kind of changes have they undergone?

Exercise 8. Which types of word connection are used in the text? How are the relations between the words of the sentence expressed? Comment on word order in the sentences of the text.

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PRACTICAL TASK 5

MIDDLE ENGLISH VOCABULARY AND TEXT

You might find it interesting to know that…

Only 2 per cent of the British population in the Middle English period spoke only one language – French, the rest spoke either English or both languages.

Starter Activity:

Listen to the text of Prologue from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer and try to understand the gist of it. In small groups discuss what changes can be expected in the text below knowing that it belongs to the ME period:

Exercise 1. Read the following ME text from The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer, think about the way some words were pronounced and try to explain why. Translate the text into ModE:

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14Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre;

15But al that he myghte of his freendes hente,

16On books and his lernynge he it spente,

17And bisily gan for the soules preye

18Of hem that yaf hym wherewith to scoleye.

19Of studie took he moost cure and moost heede,

20Noght o word spak he moore than was neede,

21And that was seyd in forme and reverence,

22And short and quyk, and ful of hy sentence.

23Sownynge in moral vertu was his speche,

24And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche.

Notes:

al be that – NE ‘albeit’; benefice – ecclesiastic living;

clerk – university student, scholar; courtepy – short coat, jacket;

gan … preye – ‘prayed’; holwe – emaciated;

hym was levere – ‘he would rather’, ‘it was more pleasant for him’; office – secular employment, function;

psaltry – a harp-like instrument; quyk – alive, lively, vivid; reverence – dignity, respect;

scoleye – study, attend the schools of the university;

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sentence – meaning, saying; decision,command; sobrely – seriously, gravely;

undertake – affirm, declare;

unto logyk hadde longe ygo – ‘had long since proceeded to the study of logic’; yaf – v. past, ‘gave’.

Exercise 2. Analyze the text. Pay attention to the spelling differences.

Exercise 3. Point out instances of the use of the indefinite article in the text.

Exercise 4. Explain the use of the word combination “at his beddes heed”.

Exercise 5. Give examples of the borrowings from French and Scandinavian.

Exercise 6. Find the infinitives and explain their structure and function.

Exercise 7. Explain the further development of the following OE words (their ME. spelling is given in the text):

OE. hlēne________________________________________________

OE. lēornian_____________________________________________

OE. lōcian_______________________________________________

OE. raca________________________________________________

OE. riht_________________________________________________

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PRACTICAL TASK 6

NEW ENGLISH VOCABULARY AND TEXT

You might find it interesting to know that…

It is often said that only after 1300 does English reemerge as a language used for literature, the court, and the church.

Starter activity:

Listen to the recording, look through the text and see whether you can understand the gist of it.

W. Shakespeare, Julius Caesar

1.Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears:

2.I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.

3.The evil that men do lives after them;

4.The good is oft interred with their bones;

5.So let it be with Caesar! The noble Brutus

6.Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:

7.If it was so, it was a grievous fault;

8.And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.

9.Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest

10.(For Brutus is an honourable man.

11.So are they all, all honourable men),

12.Come I to speak in Caesar’s funeral.

13.He was my friend, faithful and just to me,

14.But Brutus says he was ambitious;

15.And Brutus is an honourable man.

16.He hath brought many captives home to Rome,

17.Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill;

18.Did this in Caesar seem ambitious?