English language Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Proto-Germanic to Old English === {{Main|Old English}} [[File:Beowulf Cotton MS Vitellius A XV f. 132r.jpg|thumb|The opening of ''[[Beowulf]]'', an Old English epic poem [[manuscript|handwritten]] in [[half-uncial]] script between 975 AD and 1025 AD: {{lang|ang|Hƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon...}} ("Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings...")]] The earliest form of English is called [[Old English]] or Anglo-Saxon ({{Circa|550–1066}}). Old English developed from a set of [[West Germanic]] dialects, often grouped as [[Anglo-Frisian]] or [[North Sea Germanic]], and originally spoken along the coasts of [[Frisia]], [[Lower Saxony]] and southern [[Jutland]] by Germanic peoples known to the historical record as the [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]], [[Saxons]], and [[Jutes]].<ref>Baugh, Albert (1951). A History of the English Language. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 60–83, 110–130</ref> From the 5th century, the Anglo-Saxons [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain|settled Britain]] as [[end of Roman rule in Britain|the Roman economy and administration collapsed]]. By the 7th century, this Germanic language of the Anglo-Saxons [[Celtic language decline in England|became dominant in Britain]], replacing the languages of [[Roman Britain]] (43–409): [[Common Brittonic]], a [[Celtic language]], and [[British Latin]], brought to Britain by the Roman occupation.{{sfn|Collingwood|Myres|1936}}{{sfn|Graddol|Leith|Swann et al.|2007}}{{sfn|Blench|Spriggs|1999}} At this time, these dialects generally resisted influence from the then-local Brittonic and Latin languages. ''England'' and ''English'' (originally {{lang|ang|Ænglaland}} and {{lang|ang|Ænglisc}}) are both named after the Angles.{{sfn|Bosworth|Toller|1921}} Old English was divided into four dialects: the Anglian dialects ([[Mercian dialect|Mercian]] and [[Northumbrian Old English|Northumbrian]]) and the Saxon dialects ([[Kentish Old English|Kentish]] and [[West Saxon dialect|West Saxon]]).{{sfn|Campbell|1959|p=4}} Through the educational reforms of [[Alfred the Great|King Alfred]] in the 9th century and the influence of the kingdom of [[Wessex]], the West Saxon dialect became the [[standard language|standard written variety]].{{sfn|Toon|1992|loc=Chapter: Old English Dialects}} The [[epic poetry|epic poem]] ''[[Beowulf]]'' is written in West Saxon, and the earliest English poem, ''[[Cædmon's Hymn]]'', is written in Northumbrian.{{sfn|Donoghue|2008}} Modern English developed mainly from Mercian, but the [[Scots language]] developed from Northumbrian. A few short inscriptions from the early period of Old English were written using a [[Anglo-Saxon runes|runic script]].{{sfn|Gneuss |2013|p=23}} By the 6th century, a [[Old English Latin alphabet|Latin alphabet]] was adopted, written with [[half-uncial]] [[letterform]]s. It included the runic letters ''[[wynn]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|ƿ}}}} and ''[[thorn (letter)|thorn]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|þ}}}}, and the modified Latin letters ''[[eth]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|ð}}}}, and ''[[Æ|ash]]'' {{angbr|{{lang|ang|æ}}}}.{{sfn|Gneuss |2013|p=23}}{{sfn|Denison|Hogg|2006|pp=30–31}} Old English is essentially a distinct language from Modern English and is virtually impossible for 21st-century unstudied English-speakers to understand. Its grammar was similar to that of modern [[German language|German]]: [[Old English grammar|nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs]] had many more [[inflectional morphology|inflectional endings and forms]], and word order was [[free word order|much freer]] than in Modern English. Modern English has [[grammatical case|case forms]] in pronouns (''he'', ''him'', ''his'') and has a few verb inflections (''speak'', ''speaks'', ''speaking'', ''spoke'', ''spoken''), but Old English had case endings in nouns as well, and verbs had more [[grammatical person|person]] and [[grammatical number|number]] endings.{{sfn|Hogg|1992|loc=Chapter 3. Phonology and Morphology}}{{sfn|Smith|2009}}{{sfn|Trask|Trask|2010}} Its closest relative is [[Old Frisian]], but even some centuries after the Anglo-Saxon migration, Old English retained considerable [[mutual intelligibility]] with other Germanic varieties. Even in the 9th and 10th centuries, amidst the [[Danelaw]] and other [[Viking]] invasions, there is historical evidence that Old Norse and Old English retained considerable mutual intelligibility,<ref name="Gay 2014">{{cite thesis |last1=Gay |first1=Eric Martin |title=Old English and Old Norse: An Inquiry into Intelligibility and Categorization Methodology |type=MA thesis |publisher=University of South Carolina |date=2014 |url=https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2604/ |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=16 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216164617/https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/2604/ |url-status=live }}</ref> although probably the northern dialects of Old English were more similar to Old Norse than the southern dialects. Theoretically, as late as the 900s AD, a commoner from certain (northern) parts of England could hold a conversation with a commoner from certain parts of Scandinavia. Research continues into the details of the myriad tribes in peoples in England and Scandinavia and the mutual contacts between them.<ref name="Gay 2014" /> The translation of [[Matthew 8:20]] from 1000 shows examples of case endings ([[nominative case|nominative]] plural, [[accusative case|accusative]] plural, [[genitive case|genitive]] singular) and a verb ending ([[present tense|present]] plural): * {{lang|ang|Foxas habbað holu and heofonan fuglas nest}} * Fox-as habb-að hol-u and heofon-an fugl-as nest-∅ * fox-{{sc|NOM.PL}} have-{{sc|PRS.PL}} hole-{{sc|ACC.PL}} and heaven-{{sc|GEN.SG}} bird-{{sc|NOM.PL}} nest-{{sc|ACC.PL}} * "Foxes have holes and the birds of heaven nests"{{sfn|Lass|2006|pp=46–47}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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