A Study Of English language and grammar. B.A. sem-6, Paper=22. Change in grammar, pronounciation, vocabulary, spelling.

1. Name : Parmar Dhatri
Topic : The Old English Language
Development
Email ID :
dhatriparmar291@gmail.com
B.A. Sem: 6
Paper No. 22
A Study Of English Language And
Grammar

2. The Old English Language
Development

3. Introduction
• Three main stages:
1. Old English Period
(600 to 1100)
2. Middle English
Period(1100 to 1500)
3. Modern English
Period(1500 onwards)
• Rapid changes
• Evolution is Continues.
• Historical Background:
600
• Arrival of Angles , Saxons, Jutes.
1100
• Norman consolidated their power
influence in native tongue.
1500
• Renaissance & Reformation
• Tudor Dynasty.

4. Old English Language
Anglo-Saxon language
• As a old English language
• “Henceforth the tongue of the
invaders become the tongue of
Britain or England as it now came
to be called.”
• English of Spenser/Bible/Prayer
book
• Beowulf
• Translation:
1. Religious work
2. Anglo-Saxon chronicles
3. History of King Alfred
4. Poem & Riddles
5. Medical Treaties
Danish and German Invasion:
• Norman Conquest (1066)
• Norman French as
aristocracy
• English language of mass
• German invaders speaks
similar language as English.
“Old English was not
single homogeneous
language.”

5. Old English Dialects
• Dialects of Wessex : ( Highly civilised area,
Literature was written in this area.
• Northumbian : Angles
• Mercian : Angles
• West Saxon : Saxon
• Kentish : Cant
German Latin Celtic
Old
English
Old English Spelling
Runic alphabet with picture script
Allophonic variation, voiceless words
Sixteen consonant
(V,H,L,M,N,P,R,S,T,C,G,F,D]
Seven Vowels (
a,e,I,o,u,y,ae)

6. Old English Grammar
• Declension of noun:
1.Nominative 2.Accusative 3.
Dative 4. Genitive
• Two numbers : Singular &
Plural ( Chaucer’s work 13th
century)
• Three gender: 1. masculine 2.
feminine 3. neuter
• “The” Article
• Declension of adjective
“weak & strong”
• Verbs had two tenses the
present and past
Gradation
• Process visible in principle
parts of verbs
• Verbs changes in past tense
and past participle, *i.e.,
1. Drive-Drove-Driven
2. Climb-Clumb-Clumben
3. Ride-Rode- Riden

7. Mutation
• Change was caused by I-mutation
or j-mutation.
1. Mutated plurals :made by addition
of ‘iz’ but it changes, i.e.,
Old English Pronunciation
word
too
Boc
mus
early
tooiz
Beck
musiz
modern
teeth
Books
mice
2. Mutated abstract noun derived fro
adjective by addition of ‘ith’=‘ath’ i.e.,
lang>length
hal > health
3. Mutative verbs from cognate noun addition
of suffix, i.e., food > feed, met > meet
4. Mutative verbs from adjective ,i.e.,
full > fill, hal > heal.
5. Mutated degree : earlier used ‘ira’ and ‘ist’
which later become ‘er’ and ‘est’ , i.e.,
old > elder > eldest, long > longer > longest.
Verbal gradation : term ‘ablaud’ introduced by
Jacob Grimm.
• Five kind of vowels :
1. Full grade vowel
2. Secondary grade vowel
3. Reduced grade vowel
4. Vanishing grade vowel
5. Lengthen grade vowel

8. Old English Vocabulary
• Homogenous language
• Result of trading and invasions
• More than 20,000 words
recorded in Oxford Dictionary
Tree
[door ,timber ,
wheel]
Color
[red ,yellow, pink ]
Nature
[ day ,night ,wind
,sun ,star ,moon
,earth ]
Animals
[cow , mouse ,
goose,woulf ]
Indo-European
Language’s
words
• Change in meaning :
• Fiend means enemy but
now devil.
• Silly means happily but now
foolish.

9. Anglo-Saxon
Influence
RELATIONSHIP
[father ,
mother ,
brother ]
WEAPONS
[Sword , spear ,
bow , arrow ]
DIVISION OF
TIME
[NIGH , WEEK ,
MONTH ]
GEOGRAPHY
[SHIRE >
YORKSHIRE ]
PHRASES
[MIGHT AND
MAIN, FAIR
AND FOUL ]
Anglo-Saxon
words [near to
daily life and
natural
phenomena ] • Place &
origin
words
from
Danish.
Canterbur
y , get,
take ,
skipper.
• Associated
with building
of road ,
walls ,camp.
Via > way ,
Finance >
money ,
Manchester.
• Christiani
ty. Priest
, monk ,
bishop.
• Related to
landscape.
Hill , slough
, valley. Celtic
words
Latin
words
(2%)
Danish
words
(500)
Roman
words
Other influence

10. THANK YOU
SO MUCH