Module 1: OLD ENGLISH

OBJECTIVES

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Describe the changes that occurred during the Old English era
• Illustrate the different phases of the Old English Era

The Old English period

We have reached roughly the half-way mark of this module. In the earlier bits, we
focused mainly on describing some of the changes that have occurred in the English
language in terms of writing, pronunciation, lexis and grammar (the internal history of
the language). It is possible to describe and account for change without making
reference to the the speakers or the events that surround the speakers, but we feel that
this will only provide only part of the picture. The rest of the module will take on a
more sociolinguistic focus on the history of English (and refer more to the external
history).

An American scholar, Salikoko Mufwene prefers to talk about the ecology of

language evolution (that, in fact, is the title of his book, published by Cambridge
University Press in 2001). The word ecology, normally used today in relation to
biological studies is to do with the reciprocal relations between organisms and their
environment. When we talk about language ecology or linguistic ecology, therefore,
we mean that we need to consider language not as an abstraction, but language as a
living entity spoken by real users with real needs, living in particular cultural, economic,
social, religious and other contexts. To understand why languages evolved – whether
there has been language change (ie the same language has developed new lexis,
structures, etc.) or whether there has been language shift (ie a particular community
changes the repertoire of language(s) being spoken) or whether there has been
a functional shift between languages (ie in multilingual situations, different languages
might be associated with different social contexts and situations, and the prestige of
each variety of language might change) – we need to appreciate the outer context.

This is not as arcane as it might sound here. Many of the forces at work in the
past are still at work here, and examining the history of English in this light might make
us more aware of the forces at work today and appreciate how linguistic issues relate to
a range of other issues.
 At this point now, we are ready to discuss some aspects of the external history
of English and we can relate some of it to the internal history. Because we will discuss
the external history, here is a quick sketch of the salient events through a series of
maps. Our main interest will be in the relationship between the external history and the
language.

Phase 1. Pre-English Days (AD 1–450)

Notice that there was no such thing as ‘English’ during this period. The inhabitants
of Britain – the Britons – did not speak English, but various Celtic languages. Modern
Welsh, Irish Gaelic and Scots Gaelic are Celtic languages and ‘survivors’ of the original
languages in Britain. In Northern France, a Celtic language that continues to be spoken
is Breton. Some of you might be aware of Celtic legends (eg King Arthur and
the knights of the round table) or of the Asterix comics set in the Roman period.
 This was also the time when the Roman Empire was
dominant, and continued expanding until the second century. For
much of this period, Britain was a Roman colony. The language of
the Roman Empire was Latin. Some form of Latin would have been
spoken by at least part of the local population in Britain and other
Roman colonies. However, the dominant languages continued to be
the Celtic languages. This is unlike Gaul (‘France’), another Roman
province, where Latin to a large extent replaced the local Celtic
languages. (Modern French is derived from the variety of Latin
spoken in Gaul.)

(Please note that during this period, it is meaningless to talk

about ‘England’. There was no such entity then. We can only refer
to the whole island – Britain.)

Phase 2. Anglo-Saxon invasions and consolidation in Britain (449 onwards)

The OE extract from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle tells us that the Romans faced many
problems from attacks by various tribes, including the Huns. In 410, the last of the
Roman legions left Britain, which meant that the island was left open for attack or
occupation by various tribes. From about 449, these so-called Germanic tribes started
attacking and migrating to Britain. (As a group, we can call them the Anglo-Saxons or
the Germanics. There were four main groups, each with their own dialects: the Angles,
Saxons, Jutes and Frisians. They settled in different parts of the country and the accent
and dialectal differences in Britain today can be traced back to the original dialects of
the Germanics.) They were originally from around present-day Germany, Denmark and
the Netherlands (Holland). The original Celtic tribes were chased off to the northern,
western and south-western extremities, and it is therefore not surprising that it is in these
places where some Celtic languages (Welsh, Scots Gaelic) survive. Those who
remained in the central areas would probably have been overwhelmed by the Germanic
tribes, and have merged in with them, and we can perhaps think of this as
the centripetal force at work. It is interesting that there are in fact very few Celtic
borrowings into the English language.

The tribes that set up their kingdoms in Britain are collectively known as
the Anglo-Saxons. Bede, an 8th century historian, tells us these tribes included
the Jutes and Angles (both from present-day Denmark),
and Saxons (northern Germany and the Netherlands). A fourth tribe,
the Frisians (from present-day Netherlands), also came to Britain. Their language
existed in several dialects – generally each tribe (Angle, Saxon, Jute, Frisian) had its
own associated dialect. Their language is often collectively known as Anglo-
Saxon or Old English. Sometimes the term Saxon is used on its own because the
‘standard’ that developed was based on the West Saxon (or Wessex) dialect in south-
west England.

(There is a question mark over the status of the Jutes and whether they can be
associated with the Jutland peninsula. There are theories of them being from south of
the Saxons or from southern Sweden. We also know very little about the language they
spoke.)

Latin texts of the time used the terms Angli and Anglia to describe the country,
and local writers describe their language as Englisc (English). These terms derive from
the name of the Angle tribe (in OE Engle). The people and the land, collectively, were
known as Angel cynn (‘Angle-kin’), and it was not until around 1000 that the
name Englaland (Angles’ land) was used.

By and large, they were well-known for their military prowess, and not for their
sophisticated culture. They were concerned with ordinary day-to-day living, and there
was a lot of in-fighting until they were united by King Alfred the Great (871–899). As
a result of this a standard began to be developed based on the Wessex (‘West Saxon’)
dialect. Writing was very, very limited (first text: around AD 700), and generally, only
specially trained scribes (usually monks) could write. Writing was only used for special
records. Therefore, whatever writing there was tended to have the feel of conversation
– there are many paratactic structures in OE texts. Additionally, we can consider the
down-to-earth vocabulary as reflecting the comparatively unsophisticated nature of the
Anglo-Saxons.

Two important puzzles remain though.

(a) If the Germanics maintained their language in a new land, how is it that there isn’t
more evidence of contact through borrowing from the original Celtic languages?

Loreto Todd in an article in English Today puzzles over this. (For copyright reasons,
the article is not on the website, but is available to registered students from
the Workbin in IVLE.)

(b) Why is it that the Germanics were able to maintain their language in Britain,
whereas they were not able to in France (there was language shift)?

Phase 3. Scandinavian invasions (787 onwards)

The Scandinavian attacks on Britain took place between 787 and 850. These people
were commonly known as the Vikings and they were Germanic inhabitants in
presently Denmark, Norway and Sweden. What is interesting therefore is that they
were originally also neighbours of the Anglo-Saxons, and therefore spoke a closely
related language (Old Norse) that they would have understood a lot of. We can call Old
Norse and Old English cognate or related languages.
 The Scandinavians raided towns and monasteries; they captured towns and cities
and then proceeded to settle in these places.
The army of Alfred the Great resisted them
for seven years before taking refuge in the
marshes of Somerset. However, fresh troops
enabled him to attack the Scandinavians,
under Guthrum, and defeat them
convincingly. Alfred and Guthrum signed
the Treaty of Wedmore in 878, and the
Scandinavians (‘Danes’) agreed to settle on
the east of the line, running roughly
from Chester to London. This region would
be subject to Danish law, and is therefore
known as the Danelaw. The Danes also agreed to become Christians and Guthrum was
baptised. This began the process of the fusion of these two peoples, coming to a head
in the next period of history.

This, however, was not the end of the battles. There were more Scandinavian
attacks later on, and in the new millennium, England was ruled by Canute (or Cnut),
the Danish king.

After taking over the land, the Scandinavians often lived peaceably with the
English, and there were many intermarriages. They adopted English customs, and the
English accepted them. More important for our purposes, however, is the language
contact situation resulting in the English language accepting Old Norse (ON) words
and forms. For example, the personal pronouns they, them and their come from ON. So
does the 3rd person inflexion for verbs –s. Words that are borrowed from ON
include anger, cake, egg, loan, root, skirt, steak, take and window. There was no
obvious centripetal or centrifugal force at work.

Many suggest that the contact between OE and ON might have led to the loss of
many inflexions. Because the inflexions were different in OE and ON, they were often
unhelpful in conversation between OE and ON speakers. They suggest that speakers
might have deliberately not used the inflexions to facilitate communication. In
situations of intermarriage, the children might grow up learning this ‘simplified’ version
of English. Some would even say that the English language had undergone a process
of pidginisation and creolisation.
CHECKPOINT

ACTIVITY 1:
Fill in the blanks with the missing terms to make the statements complete. Write your
answers on the blanks.

1. The word __________________________, normally used today in relation to

biological studies is to do with the reciprocal relations between organisms and their
environment.

2. Those who remained in the central areas would probably have been overwhelmed
by the______________________________, and have merged in with them, and
we can perhaps think of this as the centripetal force at work.

3. Latin texts of the time used the terms _______________________ and Anglia to
describe the country, and local writers describe their language
as Englisc (English).

4. After taking over the land, the ____________________________often lived

peaceably with the English, and there were many intermarriages.

5. Scandinavians were commonly known as the

________________________________and they were Germanic inhabitants in
presently Denmark, Norway and Sweden.

6. We can call Old Norse and Old English _________________ or related

languages.

7. _____________________, an 8th century historian, tells us these tribes included

the Jutes and Angles (both from present-day Denmark),
and Saxons (northern Germany and the Netherlands).

8. The original ____________________________tribes were chased off to the

northern, western and south-western extremities, and it is therefore not surprising
that it is in these places where some Celtic languages (Welsh, Scots Gaelic)
survive.

9. The OE extract from the ______________________________ tells us that the

Romans faced many problems from attacks by various tribes, including the Huns.

10. The language of the Roman Empire was ______________________________.

11. An American scholar, ______________________________________ prefers to
talk about the ecology of language evolution (that, in fact, is the title of his book,
published by Cambridge University Press in 2001).

12. Some form of Latin would have been spoken by at least part of the local population
in ______________________ and other Roman colonies.

13. _________________________is derived from the variety of Latin spoken in Gaul.

14. The Scandinavian attacks on Britain took place between ___________ and 850.

15. The inhabitants of Britain – the ___________________– did not speak English.

ACTIVITY 2: Label the Map with the correct name of places as discussed in this
module. Then, below the map, be able to discuss the Scandinavian invasions.
ACTIVITY 3:

Be able to summarize what you have learned in this module in not less than 250
words. Your reflection essay must be composed of an introduction which should
provide a summary of the learning after reading the lecture in this module. The body
of the essay must contain a brief discussion on the importance of what you have
learned in this module and for the conclusion, be able to mention the social relevance
of this lesson.
References:

David Graddol, Dick Leith and Joan Swann, English: History, Diversity and
Change (London: Open University/Routledge, 1996)

https://courses.nus.edu.sg/course/elltankw/history/OE.htm