Old English (12 h, jan 1, 850 y – 12 h, jan 1, 1100 y)
Description:
Dialects of Old English (NO Standard English)
Northumbrian
Mercian (Mid)
Kentish (SE)
West Saxon (S+SW)
Orthography
Different Letters and Spellings (Ash, Thorn, Eth, Wynn, Yogh)
All letters pronounced
Old English Lexis
Almost entirely Germanice
Many words obsolete and replaced
Familiar vocab remains (esp things due to religion)
Grammar in Old English
Highly Inflected (Prefixes and Suffixes)
Gender (M, F, N)
Case (Nominative [subject],Accusative [direct object],Dative [preposition],Genitive [possessive])
Number (Numerous Plural Inflections)
Word order less important
Pronouns
3rd Person Pronouns begin with h
Verbs
Present Participle Inflection (-ende)
Past Participle Prefix (ge-)
Viking Influence
Angles, Saxons, Jutes united under Alfred the Great
Old Norse similar to Old English, so limited influence
Th-, sh-, and sk- digraphs
Christianity
Latin (From Romans)
Added to timeline:
History of the English Language
Date:
