Before we start our lesson, first we need to the root of English language

Indo- European Language

 Family of languages spoken in most Europe and areas of European settlement and in
much of Southwest and South Asia.

 It includes the Anatolian, Indo-Iranian, Greek, Italic, Germanic (where English belongs),
Armenian, Tocharian, Celtic, Balto-Slavic, and Albanian.

The Germanic Language

 Germanic tribes lived in southern Scandinavia, and Northern Germany. The Germanic
languages are subdivided into three branches; The North Germanic, West Germanic, and
East Germanic

 The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branch, the three most
prevalent languages are English, German, and Dutch.

 English is a West Germanic language that originated from Anglo-Frisian dialects (which
include Anglic or English and Frisian) brought to Britain in the mid 5th to 7th centuries
AD by Anglo-Saxon settlers.

Where did the term “English” came from?

 Englisc, which the term English is derived from, means “pertaining to The Angles”.

 In old English, Englisc was derived from Angles.

 During the 9th century, all invading Germanic tribes were referred to as Englisc.

 Angles acquired their name because their land on the coast of Jutland (now
mainland Denmark) resembled a fishhook.

The Germanic Tribes

Celts and Jutes

 Germanic people who settled in Britain in 5th century

 They came from the Jutland Peninsula (called Iutum in Latin, in modern day Denmark).
 Hengest and Horsa was their leader during the invasion
 Jutes are warriors together with the Angles and Saxons who fought against the Celts
 In Britain, they settled in Kent and in the Isle of Wright
 Jutes, Angles and Saxons mixed their different languages and the result is what is called
Anglo-Saxon or Old English
Anglo-Saxons

 Anglo Saxons were a cultural group who inhabited Great Britain on 5th century.

 They are known to be strong, brave, intelligent, and humble.

 During the 5th Century, they left their homelands in Northern Germany, Denmark, and
The Netherlands and rowed across the north sea in wooden boats to Britain.

 The warriors were invited to England to help out invaders from Scotland to Ireland

 Old English were spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons.

 The Cultural foundations laid by the Anglo-Saxons are the foundation of English.

Old English (450-1100 A.D.)

Old English or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest historical form of English language, spoken
in England and Southern and Eastern Scotland in the Middle Ages. It was brought to Britain by
Anglo-Saxon settlers probably in the mid-5th century. Old English is mostly a
reconstructed language as no literary witnesses survive (with the exception of limited epigraphic
evidence. The pre-dating documented Old English or Anglo-Saxon, has been called Primitive
Old English.

Old English is mostly a reconstructed language as no literary witnesses survive (with the
exception of limited epigraphic evidence. The pre-dating documented Old English or Anglo-
Saxon, has been called Primitive Old English. The Northumbrian south of the Tyne, and
most of Mercia, were overrun by the Vikings during the 9th Century . West Saxon dialect became
the standardised as the language of government.

Old English Literature

 English Literature is considered the largest body of literature ever written. It has
developed continuously for over 15 centuries. It ranges from the Anglo-Saxon period up
to the modern times.

Timeline of English Literature

640- 709

- Adhelm wrote Latin Riddles which were translated into English. This can be found on the
book “Exeter”

731
 - Bede (the greatest Anglo-Saxon scholar) wrote 40 books, but the most famous is the
Eclessiastical History of the English People.

871

- Alfred The Great became the King of Wessex. He employed court scholars, encouraged
learning, and translated several books into English.

1023

- Aelfric wrote “The Grammarian”

Literary Works

 EPIC

 Beowulf

 The oldest surviving Germanic epic

 The longest Old English poem

 Composed between 700 and 750

 POETRY

 The Wanderer

 Preserved in an anthology known as the Exeter Book (a manuscript dating

from the late 10th century)

 Has 115 lines of alliterative verse

 The Seafarer

 A 124 line poem

 A companion piece to “The Wanderer”

 One of the most Anglo-Saxon elegies

 The Battle of Maldon

 A heroic poem describing a historical skirmish between East Saxons and

Viking (mainly Norwegian) raiders in 991

 It is incomplete, its beginning and ending both lost

  The Dream of the Rood

 Christian poem

 Written in alliterative verse

 PROSE

 Legal writings

 Medical tracts

 Religious texts

 Translation from Latin and Other Language

 Historical Record

 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

 About the time of King Alfred’s reign (871-899)

 EPIC

 Widsith

 Written in the 7th century

 the oldest elegy

 POETS

 Caedmon (658-680)

 First Old English Christian poet

 The Father of English song

 WORKS:

 Caedmon’s Hymn

 Cynewulf (9th Century AD)

 Also spelled Cynwulf or Kynewulf

WORKS:

 Christian Beowulf

 The Dream of the Rood

 Elene

 Old English poetry has survived almost entirely in “four manuscripts”

1. The Exeter Book

The largest extant collection of Old English poetry

2. The Junius Manuscript (a.k.a Caedmon Manuscript)

Old English scriptural paraphrases copied about 1000, given in 1651 to thescholar Francisco
Junius by Archbishop James Ussher of Armagh.

3. The Vercelli Book

Latin Codex Vercellensis, Old Engish manuscript written in the late 10th century.

4. The Beowulf Manuscript

The manuscript is approximately 1,000 years old.

Word Transitions

Old English word Meaning Modern English Word

Eald having lived for a long time,elderly, mature, old
aged
Brodor Male siblings, fellow human being brother
hus a building for human habitation house
widuwe a woman who has lost her spouse by death and widow
has not remarried

Riht morally good, justified, or acceptable right

Old English Word with different meaning today

Old English Meaning Today’s meaning (Modern

world English)
Girl a child or young person of either sex Female child, young
 woman
meat meat meant solid food (as opposed to drink) or Food, flesh of an animal
fodder for animals
naughty naughty people had naught (nothing); they were mildly rude or indecent,
poor or needy
nice From the 1300s through 1600s it meant silly, pleasant; agreeable;
foolish, or ignorant satisfactory.
pretty “pretty” meant crafty and cunning; by the 1400s, the attractive, lovely, good-
meaning diverted to its present sense: good-looking looking; quite, rather,

Runic Alphabet

 Old English / Anglo-Saxon was first written with a version of the Runic alphabet known
as Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Frisian runes, or futhorc/fuþorc. This alphabet was an extended
version of Elder Futhark with between 26 and 33 letters. Anglo-Saxon runes were used
probably from the 5th century AD until about the 10th century.

 Runic inscriptions are mostly found on jewelry, weapons, stones and other objects, and
only about 200 such inscriptions have survived. Most have been found in eastern and
southern England.

 Their use ceased not long after the Norman conquest.

Times and Milieu

The Anglo-Saxon culture was centred around three classes of men: the working
man, the churchman, and the warrior. During this period, Anglo-Saxon includes the
creation of English nation and Christianity was re-established and there was a blossoming
of literature and language.

Grammatical structure of the Old English

 More synthetic than present- day English.

 Grammatical function of sentence components are signalled through their form, in

particular by inflected endings.

 Old English syntax is similar to that of modern English, some differences are
consequences of the greater level of nominal and verbal inflections, allowing free word
order.

Four main grammatical cases in Old English

 Nominative (subject)
  Accusative (direct object)

 Genitive (possessions)

 Dative (indirect object)

Transition of Old English to Middle English

The event that began the transition from Old English to Middle English was the Norman
Conquest at 1066, when William the Conqueror conquered the island of Britain from his home
base in northern France, and settled in his new acquisition along with his nobles and court.

In summary:

 English belongs to the west Germanic languages- which is also under the Indo- European
languages.

 Old English was used by the Germanic tribe, Anglo- Saxons

 The term English, came from the word ‘Englisc’ that pertains to “The Angles”.

 The Celtics were the primary settlers of Great Britain, but was outnumbered by the
Anglo-Saxons during invasion, thus flourishing and expanding the ‘Old English’ all
throughout Great Britain.

 The four main dialect of Old English were Mercian, Northumbrian, Kentish, and West
Saxon.

 The Old English period saw the blossoming of English Literature, (specifically the epic
poem “Beowulf” one of the most treasured gems of English literature.)

 Old English / Anglo-Saxon was first written with a version of the Runic alphabet known
as Anglo-Saxon or Anglo-Frisian runes, or futhorc/fuþorc.

 The Anglo-Saxon culture was centred around three classes of men: the working man, the
churchman, and the warrior.

 In 1066, it was the final stage of the Old English leading up to the Norman Conquest of
England, and subsequent transition to Middle English

References

 https://www.britannica.com/topic/Germanic-languages
 https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/where-did-english-come-
from/1571948.html

 https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-hccc-worldhistory/chapter/the-
anglo-saxons/

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English

 https://www.britannica.com/art/Anglo-Saxon-literature

 https://www.omniglot.com/writing/oldenglish.htm

 https://kids.kiddle.co/Anglo-Saxon_England

 https://oldenglishteaching.arts.gla.ac.uk/Units/3_Description_of_OE.ht
ml

 https://www.thehistoryofenglish.com/history_middle.html
 Bicol University
Bicol University- College of Arts and Letters
Main Campus
Legazpi City Albay

History of the
English language
(Old English)
Prepared by:
Group One
- Jayvee Aguilar
- Genefe Rosello
- Mary Faty Logronio
- Januela Monica Boceron
- Christine Joy Manlapas
- Chrisine Joy Arcega
- April Fontelo
- Judy Camacho
- Angelica Marie Cam