Beowulf : aliteration (repetition of sound)

                 no rhyme [invention of romance languages]

                 no indefinite articles

 

            Lord’s prayer in Old English --> hlaf= bread (loaf)

                                                                   hlaford =Lord (shortening)

    King James Version: thou art = 2nd person informal

                                                    who= didn’t exist as rel pron in early Mod Eng

 

Bede: wrote the ecclisiastic history for many. He is the only source of information (since there were no written records)

 

ADUENTUS ANGLORUM

* Jutes arrived in England first and were offered the little island of Thanet to live in but later occupied Kent.

      —Angles: from Denmark settled in the north of the river Humber (northumbria)

      and south (Mercia)

      —Saxon (called sax, a kind of axe) settled in Essex, Wessex, Middlesex and

      Sussex.

                  ** English comes from AngloSaxon. They all spoke different dialects by settling in different areas. This began the beginning of the dialects in

                  english (north different from south).

* The most importnt Saxon kingdom was Wessesx (beginning of standard English) capital of Winchester.

* The seven main kingdoms competing for supremacy formed the AngloSaxon Heptarchy: Kent, Essex, Sussex, Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria.

* Kent was the first nucleous of culture and power approximately in the 6th century  AD (episcopal see at Canterbury)

* In the 7th and 8th century the supremacy passed on to Northumbria: monasteries of Jarrow, Lindisfarne, Wearmouth

* Mercia became the ruling kingdom until it was invaded by the Norsemen

* At the end of the 8th century Wessex was the only surviving AngloSaxon kingdom, thanks to King Alfred the Great [also a scholar(erudito) of great wisdom]. Anglosaxon chronicles started AD 890

 

CELTS AND ANGLOSAXON

* Britons and Anglosaxons cohabitated peacefully at first but Celtic language and customs had very little influence on the Anglosaxons.

* Celtic Britons resisted Saxon invaders. King Arthur (romanized celtic chieftain) fought briefly against the invaders but domination was inevitable.

* About 577 most Britanie was already under Germanic rule.

                             ** Celts had little influence

 

LATIN INFLUENCE

* The Germanic invaders did not adopt Latin because

                  a- no coexistence with latin speaking Britons

                  b- decadence of roman civilization

                  c- Germanic tribes which invaded Brit hadn’t been conquered by Romans

* Latinization: pope Gregory sent St. Augustine to christianize the island from the yr. 597( ecclesiastic latin of enormous influence)[ Latin starts to influence the Anglosaxon]

                  —some of the words that came into English were calques from Latin: gospel (from english using spanish: science-fiction=ciencia ficcion)

 

19TH / 11TH C: VIKING INVASION

* 793AD Viking raid destroyed Lindisfarne and the following yr Jarrow suffered a similar fate.

* From then on pirated coming from Norway and Denmark devastated coastal areas of Ireland and Great Britain

                  —surely but slowy they vikings decided to stay. They invaded east england because it was nearest.

                      remnants: Wales, Corwall, Celtic part of Scotland.

* Viking ivaders were defeated by Alfred the Great in Edington in 878 (English-Danish separation)

* The peace treaty led to the division of the territory into Wessex and the Danelaw.

* By the year 970 the Danelaw (parts of north Lancashire, West Moreland and Cumberland) were settled by the Scandinavian Speakers.

 

NORMAN CONQUEST

* Edward the confessor died, Anglosaxon noblemen elected Harold, son of Godwin, as the new king.

* William of Normandy, second cousing of King Edward though he was the legal king of England

 

[ beginning of the end--> rise of modern english/ 1066= battle of Hastings --> before: Standford brigde Harold beat vikings. By 1066 english was spoken throughout the country, some kind of dialect of english]

 

* William of Normandy invaded, defeated Harold. Norseman brought french language and culture with them.

* The new king imported the principle of feudal system

* William brought with him Norman barons and clerics and replaced the native mobility in the state and church.

* By 1086 only 2 of the greater lanlords and only 2 bishops were saxons.

                  --> clerics are important because they wrote documents (latin&french)

 

LINGUISTIC  SITUATIONS TILL 13TH CENTURY

* Language of church and the court was norman, french and latin

* King greater feudal landlords, higher clergy spoke french and latin.

* Lesser landlords and clergy were bilingual

* Most people of Saxon descent spoke only English

* English was disdained by the upper classes; it was no longer written (AngloSaxon Chronicles ended in 1155)

      ** inmense change crom Anglosaxon to English (including more germanic and french. English writing didn’t evolve with the language. The rot started in           1066 since it wasn’t written or reformed.

 

 

THE RISE OF ENGLISH

* 1204-1348 several events would seal the resugence of english over norman french

                  —black death: fewer workers meant giving land to english speaking

                  tenants for rent.

                  —100 year war: gradual loss of dominions on the continents.

                  —the creation of the cities and birth of middle classes

—    parisian dialect was more fashionable than norman french. Used in

universities and other centers of culture.

For all these reasons English became the national language again