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Late Old English and Early Middle English
I do not know where to go, so I thought I would try here. I would like to know about (or discuss) the transition period between Old and Middle English. Does anyone know of any Internet sources where I can find out about post-Conquest English (within a hundred years of 1066)?
I have read various sources, though none come to mind, that Old English in 1066 was almost an uniflected language, having lost a lot its noun declensions. I am not sure where I stand at this point because there seems to be hardly no information on the English language between the years 1000 and 1150. I am sure there is information, but hardly nothing on spoken English right before and after the Norman Conquest.
Clark,
I doubt OE was an (almost) uninflected language before 1066.I do know that the 'Latin influence*' really began in the , well 2 centuries before the Norman invasion.
Also that the (written form of the) language practically dissapeared after the invasion (with the exceptions of some works like 'the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle') and the dominant languages (of the people who could read and write) became French and Latin, then the language (now totally changed) made a come back in around 1200, then known as early modern English...
So I think you wont find much about (changing) Old English in that period.Since all what was being written was in French. Latin or a type of OE spoken before the Norman Invasion.
Below are a couple of internet web pages that touch on the subject but there is indeed not much information. French ran right over English immediately following the Norman Conquest - something which it didn't do to Welsh or Gaelic (Irish & Scottish) which all have relatively few Norman French and Anglo-Norman loan words . So, there is kind of a hiatus from 1066 to 1204 where not to much is recorded in the contemporary English of the time period about which you are talking.
Eventually, the Normans "went native" and intermarried with the indigenous English and even Celtic populations adopting their languages in every case. Nobody today thinks about the Norman origins of names like Richards (Richardson), Fitzgerald or Stewart but considers them very English, Irish and Scottish respectively.
http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/english/fajardo/teaching/eng520/mideng.htm
http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1278
A good book to read if you can find it (some libraries have it) is Lancelot Hogben's "The Mother Tongue". He talks a little bit about the ongoing flexional decay in English in the 10th and early 11th centuries just before the Conquest as evidenced in an Anglo-Saxon church document from that period.
not to much is recorded > not TOO much is recorded.
This text is from the epic poem Beowulf.
Line Original Translation
[332] oretmecgas æfter æþelum frægn: …asked the warriors of their lineage:
[333] "Hwanon ferigeað ge fætte scyldas, "Whence do you carry ornate shields,
[334] græge syrcan ond grimhelmas, Grey mail-shirts and masked helms,
[335] heresceafta heap? Ic eom Hroðgares A multitude of spears? I am Hrothgar's
[336] ar ond ombiht. Ne seah ic elþeodige herald and officer. I have never seen, of foreigners,
[337] þus manige men modiglicran, So many men, of braver bearing,
[338] Wen ic þæt ge for wlenco, nalles for wræcsiðum, I know that out of daring, by no means in exile,
[339] ac for higeþrymmum Hroðgar sohton." But for greatness of heart, you have sought Hrothgar."
[340] Him þa ellenrof andswarode, To him, thus, bravely, it was answered,
[341] wlanc Wedera leod, word æfter spræc, By the proud Geatish chief, who these words thereafter spoke,
[342] heard under helme: "We synt Higelaces Hard under helm: "We are Hygelac's
[343] beodgeneatas; Beowulf is min nama. Table-companions. Beowulf is my name.
[344] Wille ic asecgan sunu Healfdenes, I wish to declare to the son of Healfdene
[345] mærum þeodne, min ærende, To the renowned prince, my mission,
[346] aldre þinum, gif he us geunnan wile To your lord, if he will grant us
[347] þæt we hine swa godne gretan moton." that we might be allowed to address him, he who is so good."
[348] Wulfgar maþelode (þæt wæs Wendla leod; Wulfgar Spoke – that was a Vendel chief;
[349] his modsefa manegum gecyðed, His character was to many known
[350] wig ond wisdom): "Ic þæs wine Deniga, His war-prowess and wisdom – "I, of him, friend of Danes,
[351] frean Scildinga, frinan wille, the Scyldings' lord, will ask,
[352] beaga bryttan, swa þu bena eart, Of the ring bestower, as you request,
[353] þeoden mærne, ymb þinne sið, Of that renowned prince, concerning your venture,
[354] ond þe þa ondsware ædre gecyðan And will swiftly provide you the answer
[355] ðe me se goda agifan þenceð." That the great one sees fit to give me."
[edit]
See also
Adam,
Beowulf has got nothing to do with Clarks question whatsoever.Bugger off.
This text is from the epic poem Beowulf.
Line Original Translation
[332] oretmecgas æfter æþelum frægn: …asked the warriors of their lineage:
[333] "Hwanon ferigeað ge fætte scyldas, "Whence do you carry ornate shields,
[334] græge syrcan ond grimhelmas, Grey mail-shirts and masked helms,
[335] heresceafta heap? Ic eom Hroðgares A multitude of spears? I am Hrothgar's
[336] ar ond ombiht. Ne seah ic elþeodige herald and officer. I have never seen, of foreigners,
[337] þus manige men modiglicran, So many men, of braver bearing,
[338] Wen ic þæt ge for wlenco, nalles for wræcsiðum, I know that out of daring, by no means in exile,
[339] ac for higeþrymmum Hroðgar sohton." But for greatness of heart, you have sought Hrothgar."
[340] Him þa ellenrof andswarode, To him, thus, bravely, it was answered,
[341] wlanc Wedera leod, word æfter spræc, By the proud Geatish chief, who these words thereafter spoke,
[342] heard under helme: "We synt Higelaces Hard under helm: "We are Hygelac's
[343] beodgeneatas; Beowulf is min nama. Table-companions. Beowulf is my name.
[344] Wille ic asecgan sunu Healfdenes, I wish to declare to the son of Healfdene
[345] mærum þeodne, min ærende, To the renowned prince, my mission,
[346] aldre þinum, gif he us geunnan wile To your lord, if he will grant us
[347] þæt we hine swa godne gretan moton." that we might be allowed to address him, he who is so good."
[348] Wulfgar maþelode (þæt wæs Wendla leod; Wulfgar Spoke – that was a Vendel chief;
[349] his modsefa manegum gecyðed, His character was to many known
[350] wig ond wisdom): "Ic þæs wine Deniga, His war-prowess and wisdom – "I, of him, friend of Danes,
[351] frean Scildinga, frinan wille, the Scyldings' lord, will ask,
[352] beaga bryttan, swa þu bena eart, Of the ring bestower, as you request,
[353] þeoden mærne, ymb þinne sið, Of that renowned prince, concerning your venture,
[354] ond þe þa ondsware ædre gecyðan And will swiftly provide you the answer
[355] ðe me se goda agifan þenceð." That the great one sees fit to give me."
[edit]
fuckers
Brennus and Sander,
Thank you very much for the input. I will definately look at those websties you gave me.
I know that English was not written very much, especially after the Conquest, though I always tend to forget it. Anyway, I was hoping to find even written sources of how the language would have been spoken before and after the Conquest.
I have never read (or even seen) the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the year 1086, but I would like to compare that to something within 50 years before the Conquest to the Peterborough Chronicle written in 1137 (the first part). I think that would be very interesting to compare to see the differences.
Sander, if I recall correctly, the time in which English made a comeback was the 1300s and 1400s, which was the period of Late Middle English, not Early Modern English, as Late Middle English transitioned into Early Modern English starting at about the start of the 1500s (but the phonological changes involved in said change really were not completed until the *end* of the Early Modern English period).
Sander : tu te trompes. La langue qui a remplacé l'ancien français et le médiolatin dans la sphère écrite n'est pas une quelconque forme d'« anglais moderne » mais le moyen-anglais tardif.
L'influence du latin sur l'anglais a certes commencé vers le IVe siècle (terme hérités de l'occupation romaine de la Grande-Bretagne pendant plus de trois siècles). Elle s'est à nouveau manifestée à partir du VIIe s. quand les Anglo-saxons sont entrés en contact avec l'Europe chrétienne où l'on parlait le bas-latin.
Mais le formidable impact du latin sur l'anglais a pris toute sa mesure avec l'arrivée des francophones sur les Îles britanniques. Les francophones outremanchais vénéraient le latin à l'instar de leurs collègues continentaux. Quant il n'y eut plus de francophone (maternel) outremanchais, l'habitude de recourir au latin (et au grec) pour former les mots qu'il manquait persista néanmoins.
Enfin, l'ascension du moyen-anglais tardif manque de robustesse avant le milieu du XIVe s. Ce n'est qu'en 1362 que l'anglais est rétabli comme langue officielle. Et encore l'acte signifiant ce retour est rédigé en... français !
<< Ce n'est qu'en 1362 que l'anglais est rétabli comme langue officielle>>
Only in law courts and (gradually) Parliament. English has never been declared the 'official' language in England, in general.
<<Sander, if I recall correctly, the time in which English made a comeback was the 1300s and 1400s>>
No, Sander was right. Written English made a big comeback around the year 1200. It wasn't 'Early Modern English', however.
I always feel a bit of reluctance in calling OE , English :-) I mean when I look at Old Dutch , or even (theoretical) Prt.Grmnc. I see many similarities,I mean when comparing present English to OE ... it must be as if you're looking into another world!
Guest: ????
'I feel a bit of reluctance', or 'I feel reluctant'. What he wrote was fine.
<<I mean when comparing present English to OE ... it must be as if you're looking into another world! >>
Sure is! ;)
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