Old English

Old English, also called Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest form of the English language. It was spoken in England and parts of Scotland during the Early Middle Ages. This language developed from the tongues brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th century. The first pieces of Old English writing date back to the mid-7th century.

After the Norman Conquest in 1066, English was replaced for some time by Anglo-Norman, a kind of French. This event marked the end of the Old English period, and the language began to change into what we now call Middle English.

Old English came from dialects spoken by Germanic tribes like the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. As these groups settled in England, their language replaced the older Celtic language and Latin spoken there. Old English had four main dialects: Kentish, Mercian, Northumbrian, and West Saxon. West Saxon became the basis for much of Old English literature.

Unlike today’s English, Old English had many ending changes in words and more flexible word order. At first, people used a runic system to write it, but later switched to a version of the Latin alphabet. Though hard for us to understand now, Old English is a vital part of our language’s history.

Etymology

The word "English" comes from Englisċ, which means "pertaining to the Angles". The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Britain during the 5th century. By the 9th century, people speaking Old English, regardless of whether they were Saxon or Jutish, were called Englisċ.

The name Englisċ might have come from an old Proto-Germanic word that meant narrowness or anxiety, perhaps describing shallow coastal waters. Another possibility is that it came from a word meaning curve or hook, possibly because the Angles lived on a curved piece of land shaped like a fishhook or because they were fishermen.

History

Further information: History of English

Old English was the earliest form of the English language, spoken from the 5th century until the late 11th century. It developed from the languages brought by Anglo-Saxon settlers to Britain. Many of its words are no longer used today, but some remain in our language.

Old English was a West Germanic language, similar to dialects spoken around the North Sea. It was used across most of what is now England and parts of southeastern Scotland. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, English was replaced by Anglo-Norman French for several centuries among the upper classes. The oldest surviving work of Old English literature is Cædmon's Hymn, written in the late 7th century.

Dialects

Old English, like Modern English, had different forms depending on where you were. The main dialects were Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish, and West Saxon. Each was linked to a different kingdom in England.

Northumbrian was spoken north of the Humber River, Mercian between the Humber and the Thames, West Saxon south and southwest of the Thames, and Kentish in a small area southeast of the Thames. Over time, Viking invasions changed these areas, and West Saxon became the standard language for government and literature. However, the other dialects influenced later forms of English, including Scots.

Influence of other languages

Further information: Celtic influence in English, Latin influence in English, and Scandinavian influence in English

Old English was influenced by several other languages. The native British Celtic languages had little effect on Old English, though a few words from Celtic remain, especially in western areas. Latin, however, contributed many words, especially after Christian missionaries brought the Latin alphabet for writing Old English.

Old Norse, the language of Scandinavian rulers and settlers, also greatly influenced Old English. Many everyday English words come from Old Norse. This influence helped simplify English grammar, making it easier to understand.

Phonology

Old English had a variety of sounds, many of which are similar to sounds in modern English but with some important differences. For example, some sounds that we no longer use, like certain soft consonants, had disappeared by the time English evolved further. The way vowels and consonants changed over time helped shape the English language we speak today.

Some key changes included the shifting of certain vowel sounds, the merging of diphthongs (combinations of vowel sounds), and the influence of surrounding letters on pronunciation. These changes are part of what makes Old English interesting to study, showing how language slowly evolves across centuries.

The sounds in Old English were influenced by the position of letters in a word and their surrounding letters, leading to a rich variety of pronunciations that have since simplified in modern English.

Grammar

Old English had a complex system of word endings that showed relationships between words in a sentence. Nouns could change their endings to show things like who owned what or who was doing an action. Verbs also changed their endings to show tense, like past or present, and who was doing the action.

The word order in Old English was more flexible than in modern English because of these endings. Sentences often followed a pattern where the verb was the second important word in the sentence. Questions were made by switching the order of words instead of using "do" like we do today.

Orthography

Old English was first written using runes, called the futhorc, which came from a German set of symbols. By the 8th century, writers began using a form of the Latin alphabet brought by Irish Christian teachers. This changed to a special cursive style called Insular script and later to Carolingian minuscule.

The Old English alphabet did not have the letters ⟨j⟩, ⟨w⟩, or ⟨v⟩. It added special symbols like ⟨æ⟩ and ⟨ð⟩, taken from old runes. Writers also used pairs of letters to show single sounds and special signs for short words. Today, when we print old books, we use modern letters but keep some old symbols like ⟨æ⟩, ⟨ð⟩, and ⟨þ⟩. Old English spelling followed sound rules closely, without silent letters as in modern English.

Literature

Old English literature includes around 400 surviving manuscripts. It mixes pagan and Christian ideas, making it one of the richest collections from early Germanic peoples. Key works include Beowulf, an epic poem about a hero; the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, a history record; the Franks Casket, a decorated whalebone box; and Cædmon's Hymn, a religious poem. Most Old English writers are unknown, except for a few like Bede and Cædmon.

Beowulf starts with the story of Hrothgar's ancestor, Scyld, found as a baby and raised by a noble family. Old English poetry uses stress and alliteration, where words start with the same consonant sound. The Lord's Prayer and a charter from King Cnut in 1019 are also important examples of Old English writing.

Dictionaries

Old English lexicography began during the Anglo-Saxon period when scholars made English glosses on Latin texts. These glosses were at first written in the margins or between lines of Latin books, but they were later collected into word-lists like the Épinal-Erfurt, Leiden, and Corpus Glossaries. Over time, these lists were organized and expanded into larger glossaries that resembled dictionaries, such as the Cleopatra, Harley, and Brussels Glossaries.

In more recent times, Old English lexicography was revived in the early modern period. Important works include William Somner's Dictionarium Saxonico-Latino-Anglicum and Joseph Bosworth's Anglo-Saxon Dictionary from 1838. Today, key dictionaries include the Dictionary of Old English, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary by Bosworth and Toller, and A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary by Clark Hall. These resources help scholars study and understand Old English words and their meanings.

Main articles: Dictionary of Old English, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Roget's Thesaurus

Modern legacy

Old English continues to inspire writers and language enthusiasts today. Famous authors like J. R. R. Tolkien used Old English in their works, and some websites focused on Modern Paganism and historical reenactment encourage people to learn and use Old English. There is even an Old English version of Wikipedia.

However, many online texts that try to mimic Old English contain mistakes and do not accurately reflect the real language. People interested in linguistic purity sometimes look back to Old English for new words or to bring back old ones.