- •Lecture 1.
- •Introductory. General characteristics of germanic languages
- •2. Inner and outer history of the language
- •3. Chief characteristics of the Germanic languages
- •3.1. Phonetics
- •Indo-European Germanic
- •Indo-European Germanic
- •3.2. Grammar
- •3.3. Alphabet
- •Lecture 2. Old english. General characteristics
- •Outer history
- •1.1. Pre-Germanic history of Britain The Celts
- •The Latin Language in Britain
- •Britain’s Roman villas
- •The Names “England” and “English”
- •1.2. Anglo-Saxon Civilization
- •1.3. Introduction of Christianity
- •1.4. Principal written records of the Old English period
- •2. Dialectal classification of Old English written records
- •2.1. The dialects in Old English
- •2.2. Old English written records Runic inscriptions
- •2. Inner history
- •3.1. Phonetics
- •3.2. Spelling
- •3.3. Grammar
- •3.4. Vocabulary
- •Lecture 3. Middle english. General characteristics
- •1. Outer history
- •1.1. The Scandinavian Invasions in England
- •1.2. Effect of the Scandinavian Invasions
- •1.3. The Norman Conquest
- •1.4. Effect of the Norman Conquest on the linguistic situation
- •1.4. Early Middle English dialects
- •5. Formation of the National language
- •2. Inner history
- •2.1. Phonetics
- •2.2. Grammar
- •Some grammatical features viewed diachronically
- •Тнe problem of spelling pronunciation
- •Lecture 4. New english. General characteristics
- •1. Outer history
- •1.1. Emergence of the nation
- •1.2. Establishment of the literary norm
- •Geographical expansion of English in the 17th – 20th centuries and its effect on the language
- •Cultural Development in the 14th Century
- •Pre-renaissance culture
- •English renaissance
- •2. Inner history
- •2.1. Phonetics
- •2.1.1. The system of stress
- •2.1.2. Consonants
- •2.1.3. Vowels
- •2.2. Grammar
- •2.3. Word-stock
- •Lecture 5.
- •1. Old english vowels
- •1.1. Origin of Old English vowel phonemes
- •1.2. Changes in Old English vowel phonemes
- •1.2.1. Breaking
- •1.2.2.Palatal mutation
- •Monophthongs
- •1.2.3. Effect of palatal mutation upon grammar and word-stock
- •Verb Verb
- •Old english consonants
- •Voicing of Fricatives in Proto-Germanic (Verner’s Law)
- •Lecture 5. Old english grammar. The nominal system
- •Old English grammar
- •2. General survey of the nominal system
- •Grammatical categories of declinable parts of speech
- •2. The noun
- •2.1. Gender
- •Masculine
- •Feminine
- •2.2. Number
- •2.3. Case
- •Nominative plural
- •Declensions in Old English
- •Vowel-stems. Declension of a-stem nouns
- •Consonant stems. Declension of n-stem nouns
- •Declension of a-stem nouns
- •Declension of n-stem nouns
- •Declension of root-stem nouns
- •Declension of root-stem nouns
- •2.4. Homonymity of forms in Old English and its influence on the further development of noun forms
- •3. The pronoun
- •3.1. The personal pronoun
- •Masculine feminine neuter
- •Singular dual Plural
- •Declension of the personal pronoun Ic
- •3.2. Other pronouns
- •Declension of the demonstrative pronoun sē
- •The adjective
- •4.1. Declension of adjectives
- •Declension of adjectives
- •4.2. Degrees of comparison
- •Summary
- •Lecture
- •1. General survey of finite and non-finite forms of the verb
- •Ic зā tō drincenne (I go to drink)
- •2. Grammatical categories of the finite forms of the verb
- •2.1. Person
- •2.2. Number
- •3. Morphological classification of verbs lecture 6 changes in the phonetic system in middle english and new english
- •Changes in the Phonetic System in Middle English
- •Vowels in the unstressed position
- •Vowels under stress
- •1.2.1. Qualitative changes
- •Diphthongs
- •1.2.2. Quantative changes
- •Consonants
- •Summary – Middle English
- •2. Changes in the phonetic system in New English
- •2.1. Vowels in the unstressed position
- •2.2. Vowels under stress
- •2.2.1. Qualitative changes
- •Middle English New English
- •Influence of the consonant “r” upon the Great Vowel Shift
- •Middle English New English
- •Summary – New English
- •Vowels – qualitative changes:
- •Vowels – Quantitative changes:
- •3. Changes in alphabet and spelling in Middle and New English
- •Lecture 7 changes in the nominal system in middle english and new english
- •1. General survey of grammar changes in Middle English and New English
- •2. The noun
- •2.1. Middle English
- •2.2. New English
- •2.2.1. Morphological classification
- •2.2.2. Origin of modern irregular noun forms
- •2.2.3. Grammatical categories
- •3. The adjective
- •Degrees of Comparison
- •Comfortable – more comfortable.
- •Summary
- •Lecture 8 changes in the verbal system in middle and new english
- •1. Non-Finite forms (verbals)
- •I thanked him for brining the happy tidings.
- •2. Morphological classification of verbs in Middle English and New English
- •2.1. Strong verbs
- •2.1.1. Classes of the strong verbs
- •2.1.2. Principal forms of the strong verbs
- •2.2. Weak verbs
- •2.2.1. Classes of the weak verbs
- •2.2.2. Principal forms of the weak verbs
- •2.3. Origin of modern irregular verbs
- •3. Grammatical categories of the English verb
- •Summary
- •Lecture 9 english vocabulary
- •1. Old English
- •General characteristics
- •1.2. Means of enriching vocabulary
- •1.2.1. Internal means of enriching vocabulary
- •Vowel interchange:
- •2. Middle English
- •3. New English
- •Lecture 12
- •2. Native element in Modern English
- •2.1. Common indo-European stratum
- •2.2. Common Germanic stratum
- •3. Foreign element in Modern English (borrowings)
- •3.1. Latin element
- •3.2. Scandinavian element
- •3.3. French element
- •4. Word-hybrids
- •5. Etymological doublets
- •6. Sources of the new words in modern English
1.2. Effect of the Scandinavian Invasions
Though the Scandinavian invasions of England are dated in the OE period, their effect on the language is particularly apparent in ME.
We may recall that since the 8th century the British Isles were ravaged by sea rovers from Scandinavia, first by Danes, later by Norwegians. By the end of the 9th century the Danes had succeeded in obtaining a permanent footing in England, more than half of England was yielded to the invaders and recognized as Danish territory – “Danelaw”.
While some of Scandinavians came to England, merely to plunder and return their homeland, others made their permanent home in North East England.
In the early years of the occupation the Danish settlements were little more than armed camps. But gradually the conditions stabilized and the Danes began to bring their families. The new settlers and the English intermarried and intermixed, they lived close together and did not differ either in social rank or in the level of culture and customs. They intermingled the more easily as there was no linguistic barrier between them. OE and O Scand belonged to the Germanic group of languages and at that time were much closer than their descendants are today.
The colonization and the intermixture of the newcomers with their former foes continued from the 9th century during 200 years, which witnessed diverse political events, the reconquest of Danelaw under Alfred’s successors, the renewal of Scandinavian onslaughts in the late 10th century under Sweyne, and the political annexation of England by Denmark under Canute.
1.3. The Norman Conquest
For a short time England was part of an Anglo-Scandinavian Empire under Canute but after 1042 Norman influence increased under Edward the Confessor who promised the succession to William of Normandy.
When Edward died early in 1066, the Saxon “Assembly of Wise Men” [“the Witeagemot” it means “Council of the Wisest”, the members were big landowners, thanes, bishops, the king was supposed to ask their advice on important decisions of the state.] declared Harold king. William, the duke of Normandy, cousin to Edward the confessor, declared himself heir to the throne of England. Having got the support and the agreement to the right of the throne from the Pope of Rome he started preparations for the English campaign in order to sweep the Saxon dynasty forever.
The Normans were the same Northmen who had invaded Britain three centuries earlier. They had assimilated the local people, who were Romanized Gaul Celts by origin, borrowed their language and culture, their advanced civilization, so that the Duke of Normandy headed an already complex society, which was situated in the north of France. Being fully under the influence of Rome, Normans exercised its cultural influence to the benefit of Norman civilization. Church architecture had reached an advanced stage in Normandy.
The Norman army was much better equipped than the English one. The tactics of the Anglo-Saxons did not change since Alfred the Great’s time. They used the great axes and horses to cover great distances. The core of the Saxons army consisted the housecarls, the ordinary people consisted the other part of the army, which was less equipped and worse trained, wished they had been at home to harvest their crops. The Normans had a very effective cavalry and a great number of bowmen, shooting from the safe distance, to let the arrows down hitting the less protected portions of their opponents’ bodies. It was in this manner that Harold, the king of England shot in the eye.
Harold’s acceptance of the Witenagemot’s offer of the crown, was taken by William as sacrilege (he had made Harold’s swear he would support his claim to the throne) and he appealed to all European knights to get on the march against oath breaker. He promised them land and opportunities of plunder.
On September 28, 1066, William of Normandy landed near Hastings. The last Anglo-Saxon king Harold, who a few days earlier had defeated a Norwegian army at Stamford Bridge, in Yorkshire hurried south. On October 14 William marched out of his camp and attached. In six hours fighting the Anglo-Saxon host was crushed and Harold slain. It was the last successful invasion of England. The strong centralized government imposed by thousand Continental adventurers, distributed Anglo-Saxon estates among Norman barons and their French followers.
The Great Council replaced the Anglo-Saxon Witan (Cora Regis). The majority of English nobles were killed and exiled.
William took their lands and redistributed them among his Norman nobles on terms of feudal military service. The Norman Conquest tied England dynastically, commercially and culturally to the Continent. Many of the ties were beneficial, but England was also committed to an ultimately futile struggle for control of France, which delayed attempts to unity the British Isles.
William the Conqueror installed his followers in castles strategically placed against invasion and revolt. Northumbria was laid waste as a penalty for rebellion. Four fifths of All England’s land changed ownership. As a result of the conquest the English church was more closely linked with Rome and increased its powers Norman bishops were appointed and special over the church and limited interference from Rome. French became the language of the upper classes and Latin the language of the people.
The English village economy was not greatly affected by the Conquest. The Domesday Book, an inquiry into the nature and value of all land herd of the king, was a remarkable and ambitions survey of England conducted by William in 1086 to assess the land, livestock, and population of the country. It is far from complete. It does not cover most of the northern counties, or large town such as London, Bristol and Winchester.
The arrival of the Normans added surprisingly little to the existing place names of the British Isles. There is little significance in the distribution of the few Norman-French names that survive, for they were symbols of class rather than of geographical language units.
Whatever the actual number of Normans settled in England it is clear that the members of the new ruling class were sufficiently predominant to continue to use their own language. This was natural at First, since they knew no English, but they continued to do so for a long time to come.