Revival: An Old English Grammar (1922)

Edith Elizabeth Wardale

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351347723
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Languages & Linguistics
• Subtopic: Languages
• Index: Languages & Linguistics

Old English is the name given to the language spoken by the Germanic inhabitants of Britain till about the time of the Conquest, or, according to some scholars, till about 1100. It is a member of the western division of Germanic, which is itself a branch of the large Indo-Germanic family of languages. This book gives an overview of Old English and its grammar.

CHAPTER I

THE OLD ENGLISH ALPHABET, PRONUNCIATION AND ACCENTUATION

§1. The Old English Alphabet was based on that of Latin with the addition of the two symbols þ (N.E.th) and p (N.E.w), borrowed from the native runic alphabet, and of 5. It contained the follow ing vowels and consonants.

VOWELS:	Front or Palatal	æ, e, œ, i, y.
	Back or Guttural	a, o, u.
	Diphthongs	ea, eo, io, ie.
CONSONANTS:

Note 1.—All vowels might be long or short. When long they are marked in this grammar with a line above them, thus ā. When the sign ⌣ is used, it indicates that the vowel is short.

The student should be careful from the beginning to observe the length of a vowel; ā and ă should be treated as two vowels as distinct as are a and e.

Note 2.—3 is the symbol used in O.E. MSS. for g. For the sounds represented by it and for the use of the symbol 3 in this grammar see § 4, c. For ð see § 4, a, note. 5

PRONUNCIATION OF THE VOWELS

§ 2. The vowels were pronounced approximately as follows:—

a	as in German Mann, as habban, to have.
ā	as in N.E. palm, as hām, home.
æ	like the a in hat, as hætt, hat.
ǣ	much like the a in ware, as wǣr, treaty.
e	as in set, as settan, to set.
ē	nearly as the ey in they, as grēne, green.
i	as in sit, as sittan, to sit.
ī	as in machine, as wrītan, to write.
o	much as in hot, as god, God.
ō	as in bone, as mōna, moon.
u	as in full, as full, full.
ū	as in rude, as hūs, house.
y	much as in French juste, as cynn, kin.
ȳ	with the same sound lengthened, as mȳs, mice,
œ	as in German können, as œxen, oxen.
	as in German öde, as d man, to judge.

Note 1.—The writing ę is used by many scholars to distinguish an e which has arisen from an earlier a before an i or j (see i Mutation, §§ 33, 34) from one corresponding to an e in other Germanic dialects. Thus O.E. nęmnan, to name, is Goth. namnjan; O.E. nęrede, saved, is Goth, nasida; but O.E. beran, to bear, is O.H.G. bëran. The sounds probably fell together early.

Note 2.—In the same way, the writing ǫ is sometimes used to distinguish the o which occurs before nasals and corresponds to an a in other Germanio dialects (see § 27) from the o found also in other dialects. Thus O.E. mǫnn, man, is O.H.G. mann, but O.E. god, God, is O.H.G. got.

Since the later history of ǫ diners from that of o, it is probable that the sounds were never identical, but that the ǫ used before a nasal represents a sound between that of a and o. This view is supported by the fact that both writings a and o occur in O.E. at all times side by side for Germ, a + nasal, as in O.E. hand or hǫnd, hand. In this grammar the writing a is used.

Note 3.—The ligature œ is found only in Anglian and very early Kentish and West Saxon texts.

§ 3. In O.E. diphthongs both vowels were pronounced, the first bearing the accent, as éa, íe.

Examples are: heard, hard; grēat, great; weorðan, to become; cēosan, to choose; liornung, learning; līoht, light; ʒiefan, to give; hīeran, to hear.

PRONUNCIATION OF THE CONSONANTS

§ 4. Special phonetic terms are avoided here as much as possible; the student should refer to §§ 6–8 for any that may occur. For convenience of arrangement all such explanations as well as those of phonetic processes and kindred matter have been collected in those paragraphs.

Of the O.E. consonants, b, d, l, m, n, p, and t, were pronounced as in modern English, but c, f, g, h, r, s, þ, ð, w, and x require notice.

(a) The rules are the same for the pronunciation of the three Bpirants f, s,þ (ð).

Initially and finally in an accented word, medially when doubled or in combination with another voiceless consonant (such as p, t, k), they were voiceless; i.e. they had the sound of N.E. f in full, s in sing, and th in think.

Examples are: full, full; cealf, calf; offrian, to offer; hæft, prisoner; efstan, to hasten; singan, to sing; hūs, house; cyssan, to kiss; wlispian, to lisp; ʒiest, guest; rīcsian, to rule; þencan, to think; weorþ, worth; bliþsian, to rejoice; moþþe, moth.

Medially between vowels, between a liquid and a vowel, between a vowel and a liquid or nasal, and in unaccented words or syllables they were voiced, i.e. they were pronounced like N.E. v, z, and the th in then.

Examples are: ofer, over; ceorfan, to carve; efne, even; of, of; cēosan, to choose; fǣlsian, to purify; hæsl, hazel; hlysnan, to listen; is, is; daʒas, days; sēoðan, to seethe, boil; hǣðen, heathen, byrðen, burden; weorðan, to become; fæðm, fathom; ðū, thou; singað, they sing.

Note.—Most O.E. MSS. make no distinction in the use of the two symbols ð and þ, called by its runio name, thorn. The student will, however, find it useful in writing to keep þ foe the voiceless and ð for the voiced sound. They are so used in this grammar.

(b) The pronunciation of c and 3 can sometimes be determined on etymological grounds only, but the following practical rules will cover most cases. It is important to note that though c ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Orignal Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER I OLD ENGLISH ALPHABET, PRONUNCIATION AND ACCENTUATION
• CHAPTER II VOWELS OF ACCENTED SYLLABLES
• CHAPTER III VOWELS OF UNACCENTED SYLLABLES
• CHAPTER IV ACCENTED VOWELS IN OLD ENGLISH DIALECTS
• CHAPTER V VOWEL GRADATION
• CHAPTER VI CONSONANTS
• CHAPTER VII NOUNS
• CHAPTER VIII ADJECTIVES
• CHAPTER IX PRONOUNS AND ADVERBS
• CHAPTER X VERBS