From Caedmon to
Caxton
Thomas Honegger
t.m.honegger@gmx.de
http://www.
db-thueringen.de/
content/top/
index.xml
simplified depiction of the development of the Germanic languages
Protogermanic
Northgermanic
Westgermanic Eastgermanic
Gothic (†)
Anglo-Frisian
Old Norse
Old English
Old High German
Anglo-Norman
Old Frisian
Middle English
Middle High German
Old Dutch
Frisian English
Scandinavian languages
German Yiddish
Flemish Dutch Afrikaans
Characteristics of Germanic




1) Gmc characterized by two vowel
mergers: a) IE /a/ and /o/ > Gmc /a/
Examples: Lat. octo = Got. ahtan,
Lat. ager = Got. akkrs
b) IE /a:/ and /o:/ > Gmc /o:/
Examples: Lat. mater = OE modor
Greek pos = Goth. fotus
Characteristics of Germanic



2) Grimm’s Law (First Consonant Shift, c.
500 BC):
a) aspirated voiced stops to voiced stops
(bh> b, dh> d, gh>g)
bh > b: IE *bher- > Lat. fero vs.
Goth. bairan, Engl. bear
gh > g: IE *ghost- > Lat. hostis vs.
Goth. gasts, Engl. guest
Characteristics of Germanic


b) voiced stops to voiceless stops (b, d, g
> p, t, k)
Examples:
b > p: Lat. vibrare vs. Goth. weipan
d > t: Lat. decem vs. Goth. taihun, Eng.
ten
g> k: Lat. genu vs. Goth. kniu, Eng. knee
Characteristics of Germanic


c) voiceless stops to voiceless fricatives
(p, t, k > f, th, h)
Examples:
p > f: Lat. pater vs. Goth. fadar, Eng.
father t > th: Lat. tres vs. Goth. threis,
Engl. three
k > h: Lat. cornu vs. Goth. haurn,
Engl. horn
Characteristics of Germanic

3) The ‘free’ or ‘dynamic’ accentual system
of IE is replaced in Gmc by a system in
which root-initial syllables are stressed.
IE pitár vs. Goth. fádar
Except for certain prefixes, affixes can no
longer be stressed.
Long-term consequence: unstressed
syllables are weakened (=> loss of
inflectional endings in ME).
Characteristics of Germanic

4) Noun inflection is simplified in (but not
only in) Gmc. As a rule, nouns in Gmc
languages only have four cases. IE/Latin
has nominative, accusative, genitive,
dative, ablative, locative, vocative,
instrumental; Old English has nominative
(subject), accusative (direct object),
genitive (possession), dative (indirect
object) [traces of instrumental]
Characteristics of Germanic






Old English noun inflection
nominative (subject): stân, pl. stânas
accusative (direct object): stân, pl. stânas
genitive (possession): stânes, pl. stâna
dative (indirect object): stâne, pl. stânum
[traces of instrumental]: stâne, pl. stânum
Characteristics of Germanic


5) In addition to the IE ‘strong’ adjective
inflection, Gmc develops a new ‘weak’
inflection used after certain determiners.
Cf. Modern German:
dieser gute Mann (weak)
vs. ein guter Mann (strong)
Characteristics of Germanic


6) All IE distinctions of tense and aspect in
the verb are lost in Gmc, except for the
present and preterite (or: past) tenses.
New tense distinctions are made by
means of composite forms.
OE has only two tense distinctions:
present and preterite (more temporal
concepts can be expressed, of course, but
additional elements are needed to do so)
Characteristics of Germanic

7) In addition to IE ‘strong’ verbs, Gmc
develops a new class of ‘weak’ verbs,
which form their past and past participle
forms by means of a ‘dental suffix’ (/-d/ or
/-t/)
Example: schwimmen - schwamm geschwommen / swim - swam - swum
(strong)
vs. kaufen - kaufte - gekauft / climb climbed - climbed (weak)
Characteristics of Germanic

8) Gmc has a large number of words that
have no cognates in other IE languages.
Examples: Hose/hose, Knecht/knight,
See/sea, Schiff/ship, Bär/bear, Volk/folk,
Schwert/sword etc.
Anglo-Saxon Invasion



Anglo-Saxon becomes the dominant
language spoken by most of the
inhabitants of Britain (now: Angle-lond)
loss of written literary culture
Celtic language survives in the ‘margins’
(Wales, Cornwall, Celtic kingdoms of
Northern England and Scotland)
Re-christianisation

A.D. 597 Re-christianisation of England
through missionaries from Rome
(Augustine of Kent and his followers)
Re-christianisation





Gregory the Great and the slave-boys
(cf. Bede’s HEGA II,1)
bright and fair complexion and hair
Angles => angels
Deira => rescued de ira and called to the
mercy of Christ
Aelle => Alleluia shall be sung in their
native land
Re-christianisation




effects of the re-christianisation of
England:
Latin (and Greek) taught in monastery
schools
reading and writing
England again part of a greater cultural
realm (Christendom)
Languages on the British
Isles
????
 Celtic
(5th cent. BC)
 Latin
(1st cent. A.D.)
 Anglo-Saxon
(5th cent. A.D.)

Writing Systems
Celtic Ogham
Anglo-Saxon Runes (futhorc)
Anglo-Saxon Runes








fuπorc ....
feoh = money, cattle, wealth (Vieh, ‘fee’)
ur = aurochs, Auerochse
πorn = thorn, Dorn
os = mouth
rad = riding
cen = torch
...
Writing systems

Latin alphabet:
a
bcdefghiklmn
opqrstuvwxyz
Periodization



Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
500-1100
Middle English
1100-1500
(Early) Modern English
1500-
Periodization

drei geschlechter: masculinum femininum
neutrum, drei numeri: singularis dualis
pluralis, drei personen: erste zweite dritte, drei
genera: activum medium pasivum, drei
tempora: praesens praeteritum futurum, drei
declinationen: durch A I U [omits strong ostems and consonant-stems]. (J. Grimm,
quoted in Lass 2000:12)
Periodization




Tripartite division first by Sweet in New
English Grammar (1891):
OE: period of full endings
ME: period of levelled endings
Modern English: period of lost endings.
Periodization


He cwåƒ, Soƒlice
sum man håfde
twegen suna.
ƒa åfter feawum
dagum ealle his πing
gegaderude se
gingra sunu, and
ferde wråclice on
feorlen rice, and
forspilde πar his
åhta.

And he seide, A man
hadde twei sones;

And not aftir many
daies, whanne alle
thingis weren gedrid
togider, the yonger
sone wente forth in
pilgrymage into a fer
cuntre; and there he
wastide his goodis
Criteria for ‘archaism’







a) root-initial accent
b) at least 3 distinct vowel qualities in
weak inflectional syllables
c) a dual
d) grammatical gender
e) 4 vowel-grades in (certain) strong verbs
f) distinct dative in at least some nouns
g) inflected definite article (or proto-article)
Criteria for ‘archaism’



h) adjective inflection
i) infinitive suffix
j) person/number marking on the verb
Archaism ranking of
Germanic languages







1.0 Gothic, Old English, Old Icelandic
0.9 Old High German, Modern Icelandic
0.6 Middle High German, Modern German,
Middle Dutch
0.5 Middle English
0.4 Modern Swedish, Modern Dutch
0.1 Afrikaans
0.0 Modern English
Germanic language-clusters




1.0-0.9 OLD: Gothic, Old English, Old
Icelandic, Modern Icelandic, Old High
German
0.6 MIDDLE: Middle High German,
Modern German, Middle Dutch
0.35 EARLY MODERN: Middle English,
Modern Swedish, Modern Dutch
0.15-0.0: MODERN: Afrikaans, English
Literature in Old English







Beowulf
Fight at Finnsburh
Battle of Maldon, Battle of Brunanburh
Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, Judith, Christ,
Andreas, Judgment Day, Dream of the
Rood
Riddles
Elegies (e.g. Wife‘s Lament)
Homilies, as. Chronicle
The Poetic Manuscripts


The Junius Manuscript
(Oxford, Bodleian Library, Junius 11)
Genesis, Exodus, Daniel, Christ and Satan
The Vercelli Book
(Vercelli [Italy], Bibliotheca Capitolare
CXVII)
Elene, Dream of the Rood, Andreas, Fate
of the Apostles, Homilies
The Poetic Manuscripts

The Exeter Book
(Exter, Cathedral 3501)
Christ I (Advent Lyrics), Christ II
(Ascension), Christ III (Judgment),
Guthlac A& B (7th century Mercian
prince), The Phoenix, Juliana, The
Wanderer, The Gifts of Men, The Seafarer,
Vainglory, Widsith, The Fortunes of Men,
Maxims, Descent into Hell, Soul and Body,
Wulf and Eadwacer, Riddles, The Wife’s
Lament
St Guthlac
The Last Judgment
Last Judgment
Last Judgment Theory
Matthew
Last Judgment Theory John
Purgatory
Individual Judgment 1
Michael weighs the soul
Individual Judgment &
Last Judgment