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Summary Origins of Old English
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
Origins of Old English
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ENG3701ASSIGNMENT 01, SEMESTER 01
Zenobia Clemencia Block
Student Number: 62588745
Unique Number: 615023
Due Date: 20 March 2019
The following written work will place the old English extract in its historical
context and comment briefly on the origins of Old English and the influence of
Latin and Old Norse. It will also discuss the differences between Old English and
Modern English under the various headings; Orthography and spelling, vocabulary
and syntax.
Firstly, let us look at the different definitions below:
Orthography is the normal standard spelling system of a language and in this case
we will be looking at the English language.
Spelling is the way a word is spelt or the process in which a word is being named
Vocabulary is the body of words used in a particular language.
Syntax is the arrangement of words and phrases
The Origins of old English
1
The Modern English Language as we know it today comes from the Germanic
family of Languages. It is the language we use today for a number of things such
as talking, singing, writing and so much more. This very language of English as we
know it today also took its first pace away from fully tribal routes when
Christianity was first introduced and from there it had evolved.
2
Old English and its historical context (as in the given text) originated I mainly in
Friesland with the invasion/takeover of the Germanic tribes/People as early as the
5th century. 3This was the language of a mixture of tribes mainly the Saxons,
Angles and the Jutes who were later merged and then became the Anglo-Saxons
and thus Old English is also called the language of the Anglo-Saxons.
1
The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg, page 1
2
The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg, page 3
3
The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg, page 2
, ENG3701
ASSIGNMENT 01, SEMESTER 01
Zenobia Clemencia Block
Student Number: 62588745
Unique Number: 615023
Due Date: 20 March 2019
4
Old English/Anglo-Saxons was later influenced by the language of Latin in 597
through Christian communities and it was then when the English Language itself
began to form layers upon layers and develop from there for years to come.
5
When the language of Latin came into being it also came with its own
alphabet/script and it was then when a culture of writing was started in Latin and
so this language was seen as giving individuals more capability of being able to
record and explore things on a daily basis.
6
Then came the potential demolition of Old English through The Viking Invasion in
the 8th Century- This was a time when various Viking raids took place and one of
them was on Linders Farm through which religious centers was burnt to the
ground and in the process a complete destruction of books and pages and even
many were killed leaving very few to tell the tale of what had happened, various
artefacts were burnt and this brought the Old English Language close to being
extinct however and in the process The Vikings had managed to take control of
the majority of the country and their language Old Norse had now also come into
being and had spread out so fast and so many people were sort of enforced to
now speak this newly evolved language. However, not all was lost of the Old
English Language as King Alfred came to the rescue of the people and language
itself and had won the battle between the Danes and in the process he 7created
the Danelaw. King Alfred also signed a peace treaty between the Danes and the
English and so it would now mean that the two groups would become more civil
with each other and when they met they were only to meet for Business/Trading/
intermarriages reasons because, they lived so close to one another
simultaneously, the English language was also now secured.
Many Norse Dialects stayed with the English mainstream vocabulary and we still
use them today. Some examples are as follows:
4
The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg ,page 8
5
The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg, page 10
6
The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg ,page 21
7
The Adventure of English, Melvyn Bragg, page 21 and 25
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