Philology 3 – Final Exam
Vikings
Causes for Viking expansion in Europe: 1. Overpopulation in a region of poor natural
resources. 2. Political conflicts. 3. They built boats (rough pirates). An Old Norse (ON) group
of Vikings invaded England from 750-838. First they plundered, then overwintered, and then
settled. The “Great Heathen” military invasion took place in 865. In 878, King Alfred the
Great fought against Guthrum (Vikings), and he won. The Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum (+
Wedmore) caused lasting peace through permanent settlement for the Vikings. Alfred’s
successors stole bits back and vice versa. The Viking settlement left its mark on English
placenames, ex: their word by meant “village, homestead” -> Grimsby (“Grim’s village”).
OE and ON are very similar, so they got mixed (ex: OE ege -> ON awe). In the end, ON died
out. Sometimes the ON and OE words would produce the same ModE form, but different
meanings. Sometimes the ModE form may come from one language and the meaning from
the other. A lot of the Scandinavian loan words are ordinary words (ex: sister, leg, knife).
When Scandinavian words appear in English texts, they’re given English inflections.
In 1066 an Old French (OF) group of Vikings invaded England, which was called the Norman
Conquest. This was a battle between Aethelred the Unready (English) and Swein Forkbaerd
(Danish). The following king order was: Aethelred – Edward the Confessor – Harold
Godwinson – William the Conqueror.
There was already strong French influence in England before the Conquest. The rulers of
Normandy had originally been Scandinavian Vikings who occupied parts of northern France
and were eventually recognized by the French crown. French became the language of the
upper class because it was the language of the conquerors (like William of Normandy), but
the majority of England kept speaking English. The prestige languages were Latin (church,
scholarship, internation communication) and French (administration).
French loanwords: baron, duke, prince (titles of rank), country, crown, nation
(administration), court, crime, justice (law), clergy, relic, religion (church), battle, castle, war
(military), fashion, dress, art (art/fashion). Also, pig – pork, calf – beef, sheep – mutton.
100 year’s war: King Edward III claimed the right to French throne, so the ongoing territorial
disputes started here. England wanted Scotland, France intervened.
Middle English
In the years after the Conquest, changes which had already begun to show continued, which
led to Middle English (ME):
Spelling: new consonants and symbols were introduced. g -> ȝ. u or v were used for /v/
instead of f. /z/ was similarly introduced, and /θ/ and /ð/. Thorn, eth, and wynn changed into
th/y, w. The ash (ae) disappeared and changed into a.
Changes in pronunciation: ā -> long open o (ex: goat). There also came a long closed o (ex:
goose), a long open e (ex: French faire) and long closed e (ex: German zehn).
Lengthening of short vowels: happens before certain consonant groups (ld, mb, nd). The
short vowels were also lengthened in open syllables (ending on a vowel) in 2-syllable words
(ex: OE ba-can to ME baken).
Morphology: the OE inflectional system was reduced. This had multiple causes: 1. The
mixing of OE with ON. 2. The loss and weakening of unstressed syllables at the ends of
words. As a result, OE word-final -a, -u, -e all became -e, and -an, -on, -un, -um all became -
1
, en, later reduced to -e. -as, -es became -es and -aÞ, -eÞ became -eÞ.
Syntax: word-order became more important (SVO was dominant) & and words were used
instead of inflections to show their functions (ex: prepositions like in, with and by).
Verb system: system of tenses is built up by using primary and modal auxiliaries.
The earliest record of the Scots’ literary language date from the late 14th-century. Spelling
was somewhat variable, but Scots had certain distinctive spelling conventions of their own.
For example, they insert an i in vowels to show that the vowel is long (heim -> home). The
spelling ch corresponded to southern gh (nicht -> night), and quh- to southern wh- (quhen ->
when). Also, Scots use -it for the ending of the past tense and past participle of weak verbs
(closit -> closed), they use -and for the present participle (dansand -> dancing). They don’t
have many loanwords from Gaelic, more from French and Scandinavian.
During the 16th century, Scots was increasingly influenced by English, because of the
prestige of English poets (Chaucer, etc), biblical translations, and London became a central
place. So the people in Scotland didn’t stop speaking Scots, but in writing they adopted the
conventions of the south. The mix of these dialects combined into Scottish.
5 ME dialects: Northern, West Midlands, East Midlands, Southern, Kentish.
There are 2 standard forms of English (England and Scotland). Scotland was an
independent kingdom, with their language called ‘Inglis’ and Gaelic. The main English dialect
was the East Midlands dialect, probably due to the importance of the area: Cambridge was
centred here & London was a big commercial area.
Early Modern English
1430: Chancery starts keeping records in English (East midland dialect).
1476: Caxton’s printing press, because there was a market for print.
1485: Henry Tudor VII makes English the language of the court, and French statutes were
replaced by English ones.
1700: Great Vowel Shift completed, codification of Standard language starts.
Rise of English instead of French & Latin: 1. During the Reformation, people wanted their
opinions to be read by a large public. Many Protestants lacked a classical education, so they
wrote in English. 2. A social shift in literacy in the 14th century: Wycliffe challenged the
authority of the Church and advocated translations of the Bible & English literature flourishes
(Chaucer, etc) & language in church changes from Latin to English. 3. Increase in national
feeling which accompanied the rise of the modern nation-state in 15th and 16th centuries. 4.
The rise of social groups which knew little to no Latin, but wanted to read and learn, and
wanted books in English. These were many practical men. 5. King John ‘Lackland’ hijacked
a French bride (Isabelle) promised to the Lusignan’s. He anticipates the retaliation and beats
the French to it. King Philip of France wanted a court case, John didn’t show up, so Philip
took Normandy in 1204. The Normans in England still obeyed the French king, so they had
to choose between the 2 countries. This way the English-speaking people had more political
importance.
On the other hand: there were groups who fought hard for Latin, because their monopoly
depended on excluding ordinary people from their mysteries (ex: physicians).
There were confusions between dialects (ex: eggys – eyren), because there was no
standard dialect at the beginning, which later became London dialect. The GVS started, and
was completed in 1700, which was also the start of the codification of standard language.
Great Vowel Shift (GVS) = only the long vowels changed.
2
Vikings
Causes for Viking expansion in Europe: 1. Overpopulation in a region of poor natural
resources. 2. Political conflicts. 3. They built boats (rough pirates). An Old Norse (ON) group
of Vikings invaded England from 750-838. First they plundered, then overwintered, and then
settled. The “Great Heathen” military invasion took place in 865. In 878, King Alfred the
Great fought against Guthrum (Vikings), and he won. The Treaty of Alfred and Guthrum (+
Wedmore) caused lasting peace through permanent settlement for the Vikings. Alfred’s
successors stole bits back and vice versa. The Viking settlement left its mark on English
placenames, ex: their word by meant “village, homestead” -> Grimsby (“Grim’s village”).
OE and ON are very similar, so they got mixed (ex: OE ege -> ON awe). In the end, ON died
out. Sometimes the ON and OE words would produce the same ModE form, but different
meanings. Sometimes the ModE form may come from one language and the meaning from
the other. A lot of the Scandinavian loan words are ordinary words (ex: sister, leg, knife).
When Scandinavian words appear in English texts, they’re given English inflections.
In 1066 an Old French (OF) group of Vikings invaded England, which was called the Norman
Conquest. This was a battle between Aethelred the Unready (English) and Swein Forkbaerd
(Danish). The following king order was: Aethelred – Edward the Confessor – Harold
Godwinson – William the Conqueror.
There was already strong French influence in England before the Conquest. The rulers of
Normandy had originally been Scandinavian Vikings who occupied parts of northern France
and were eventually recognized by the French crown. French became the language of the
upper class because it was the language of the conquerors (like William of Normandy), but
the majority of England kept speaking English. The prestige languages were Latin (church,
scholarship, internation communication) and French (administration).
French loanwords: baron, duke, prince (titles of rank), country, crown, nation
(administration), court, crime, justice (law), clergy, relic, religion (church), battle, castle, war
(military), fashion, dress, art (art/fashion). Also, pig – pork, calf – beef, sheep – mutton.
100 year’s war: King Edward III claimed the right to French throne, so the ongoing territorial
disputes started here. England wanted Scotland, France intervened.
Middle English
In the years after the Conquest, changes which had already begun to show continued, which
led to Middle English (ME):
Spelling: new consonants and symbols were introduced. g -> ȝ. u or v were used for /v/
instead of f. /z/ was similarly introduced, and /θ/ and /ð/. Thorn, eth, and wynn changed into
th/y, w. The ash (ae) disappeared and changed into a.
Changes in pronunciation: ā -> long open o (ex: goat). There also came a long closed o (ex:
goose), a long open e (ex: French faire) and long closed e (ex: German zehn).
Lengthening of short vowels: happens before certain consonant groups (ld, mb, nd). The
short vowels were also lengthened in open syllables (ending on a vowel) in 2-syllable words
(ex: OE ba-can to ME baken).
Morphology: the OE inflectional system was reduced. This had multiple causes: 1. The
mixing of OE with ON. 2. The loss and weakening of unstressed syllables at the ends of
words. As a result, OE word-final -a, -u, -e all became -e, and -an, -on, -un, -um all became -
1
, en, later reduced to -e. -as, -es became -es and -aÞ, -eÞ became -eÞ.
Syntax: word-order became more important (SVO was dominant) & and words were used
instead of inflections to show their functions (ex: prepositions like in, with and by).
Verb system: system of tenses is built up by using primary and modal auxiliaries.
The earliest record of the Scots’ literary language date from the late 14th-century. Spelling
was somewhat variable, but Scots had certain distinctive spelling conventions of their own.
For example, they insert an i in vowels to show that the vowel is long (heim -> home). The
spelling ch corresponded to southern gh (nicht -> night), and quh- to southern wh- (quhen ->
when). Also, Scots use -it for the ending of the past tense and past participle of weak verbs
(closit -> closed), they use -and for the present participle (dansand -> dancing). They don’t
have many loanwords from Gaelic, more from French and Scandinavian.
During the 16th century, Scots was increasingly influenced by English, because of the
prestige of English poets (Chaucer, etc), biblical translations, and London became a central
place. So the people in Scotland didn’t stop speaking Scots, but in writing they adopted the
conventions of the south. The mix of these dialects combined into Scottish.
5 ME dialects: Northern, West Midlands, East Midlands, Southern, Kentish.
There are 2 standard forms of English (England and Scotland). Scotland was an
independent kingdom, with their language called ‘Inglis’ and Gaelic. The main English dialect
was the East Midlands dialect, probably due to the importance of the area: Cambridge was
centred here & London was a big commercial area.
Early Modern English
1430: Chancery starts keeping records in English (East midland dialect).
1476: Caxton’s printing press, because there was a market for print.
1485: Henry Tudor VII makes English the language of the court, and French statutes were
replaced by English ones.
1700: Great Vowel Shift completed, codification of Standard language starts.
Rise of English instead of French & Latin: 1. During the Reformation, people wanted their
opinions to be read by a large public. Many Protestants lacked a classical education, so they
wrote in English. 2. A social shift in literacy in the 14th century: Wycliffe challenged the
authority of the Church and advocated translations of the Bible & English literature flourishes
(Chaucer, etc) & language in church changes from Latin to English. 3. Increase in national
feeling which accompanied the rise of the modern nation-state in 15th and 16th centuries. 4.
The rise of social groups which knew little to no Latin, but wanted to read and learn, and
wanted books in English. These were many practical men. 5. King John ‘Lackland’ hijacked
a French bride (Isabelle) promised to the Lusignan’s. He anticipates the retaliation and beats
the French to it. King Philip of France wanted a court case, John didn’t show up, so Philip
took Normandy in 1204. The Normans in England still obeyed the French king, so they had
to choose between the 2 countries. This way the English-speaking people had more political
importance.
On the other hand: there were groups who fought hard for Latin, because their monopoly
depended on excluding ordinary people from their mysteries (ex: physicians).
There were confusions between dialects (ex: eggys – eyren), because there was no
standard dialect at the beginning, which later became London dialect. The GVS started, and
was completed in 1700, which was also the start of the codification of standard language.
Great Vowel Shift (GVS) = only the long vowels changed.
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