13 Writing in oe period

Script The Germanic runes are originated from Greek and North-Italic alphabet. The runic alphabet called fuÞark by its first letters consists of 24 characters. The angular character of runes us due to the fact that they were carved in wood or stone. The very word rune originally meant “secret” or “mystery”. Another Germanic alphabet is the Gothic one. It is called Ulfilian – from a proper name Ulfilas, the Gothic bishop. The Gothic alphabet is based on the Greek script supplemented with some runes.

14 The oe Written Documents

The two best known runic inscriptions in England are: 1) on a box called the “Franks Casket” 2) a short text on a stone cross in Dumfriesshire near the village of Ruthwell known as the “Ruthwell Cross”. Both records are in the Northumbrian dialect.

There were also many translations from other dialects, an example of which is Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People (731 AD). Bede, a learned monk at Jarrow, is said to have assimilated all the learning of his time. He wrote on language, science and chronology and composed numerous commentaries on the Old and New Testament.

Old English Manuscripts Many documents survived: various wills, grants, deals of purchase, agreements, proceedings of church councils, laws. They are known as “Anglo-Saxon Charters”. The earliest are in Kentish and Mercian dialects (8-9^th c.). Later laws and charters were written in West Saxon. Glosses to Gospels and other religious texts were made in monasteries for those who did not know enough Latin.

The greatest poem of the time is “Beowulf” (7^th or 8^th c.). It was originally composed in the Mercian or Northumbrian dialect, but has come down to us in a West Saxon copy (10^th c.). The author is unknown. The earliest samples of continuous prose are Anglo-Saxon Chronicles. These are brief account of the year’s happenings made at various monasteries.

Literary prose appeared in the 9^th c. which witnessed a flourishing of learning and literature during King Alfred’s reign. King Alfred translated from Latin books on geography, history, philosophy. One of his most important contributions is Orosius’s World History.

15 Phonetic Changes in oe. Breaking. Back umlaut

Breaking x > ea; e > eo; i > io if they were followed by r, l, h + consonant or single h

e.g. xrms > earm, lirnen > liornen

Back Umlaut

Front vowels æ, i, u turned into diphthongs if the following syllable contained a back vowel (a, o, u)æ > ea caru > cearu ( care) e > eo hefon > heofon i > io silufr > siolufr (silver)

16 Palatal mutation. Exceptions. Traces in Modern English. Double mutation

Palatal Umlaut (i-Umlaut) Back vowels a, o, u (long and short) if followed by i or j in the next syllable became fronted. a > æ, later e Goth. batiza – OE betera; o > oe, later e L. oléum – OE ele, œele. Exeptions. The absence of mutation may be due to different causes.

1) The main cause in the failure of chronological coincidence.

e.g. folcisk (folk) – was formed after the action of i-umlaut.

2) The restoration of unmutated vowels from cognate words.

e.g. OE mōdi™ (brave) from noun mōd (because the root of the noun mōd was taken to the adjective by analogy).

3) No mutation occurred if i was stressed.

e.g. ānlíc (only) – a didn’t change into æ.

Double Mutation In words consisting of 3 syllables with a, o, u in the first, stressed syllable, u in the second syllable and i in third syllable, the vowels of the first two syllables were affected by palatal mutation. a, o, u │u│i OS arundi > OE ærende

17 Lengthening of Vowels

1)The rejection (loss) of nasals before fricatives f, θ, s, h: a > ō OHG gans > OE gōs; i > ī Goth. sinÞs > OE sīÞ; u > ū OHG uns > OE ūs The loss of [h] before d. OE mægden (maiden) – mæden

2) As a result of contraction (стягування) of two neighbouring vowels always tended to contract forming a long vowel. slahan > sleahan > sleaan > sleān

18 Consonantal Changes

Palatalization of initial consonants. k, g, g (single or double) were palatalized under the influence of the neighbouring front vowels. k > k ceap The change was not reflected in spelling.

Voicing of fricatives (in voiced surrounding they became voiced). f wif –wifan; s bōsm; Þ cweÞan (say)

Rejection of consonants. h in the internal position was rejected. mægden – mæden

Metathesis (перестановка). The most often case of metathesis was:

a vowel + r > r + a vowel. Þirda > Þridda (третій)