Old English / Anglo- Saxon : A Very Brief Introduction

NOTE : I sometimes say the g in the text as the modern German G as in "Grüß Dich". We do not fully know the exact pronunciation of Old English and the pronunciation is often based on Late West Saxon texts, where the phonology is influenced by north Germanic where the g is often said as "y". My pronunciation is not perfect and I tend to default back to a likely earlier sound because of my speaking German. You may read the text online here : http://faculty.virginia.edu/OldEnglish/anthology/wulf.html



Teach Yourself Old English
http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Yourself-English-Package-Book/dp/0071485082/ref=s...

Old English and Its Closest Relatives: A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages
http://www.amazon.com/Old-English-Its-Closest-Relatives/dp/0804722218/ref=cm_...

Old and Middle English : An Anthology
http://www.amazon.com/Old-Middle-English-Anthology-Anthologies/dp/0631204652/...

Further Resources that I do NOT have but have read good things about :

http://www.amazon.com/Old-Middle-English-Anthology-Anthologies/dp/0631204652/...

Lehrbuch des Altenglischen (NOTE THAT THIS IS A GERMAN TEXT TO LEARN OLD ENGLISH FROM THE AMAZON SITE IN GERMANY)
http://www.amazon.de/Lehrbuch-Altenglischen-Wolfgang-Obst/dp/3825315940/

FREE RESOURCES :

http://www.the-orb.net/textbooks/oeindex.html

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/oldenglish.htm

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Old English
• Altenglisch
• Anglo-Saxon
• Frisian
• Dutch
• German
• Nederlanders
• Deutsch
• English
• Englisch
• Beowulf
• Linguistics
• Languages
• West Germanic
• Germanic
• Indo European
• British
• England
• Middle Ages
• Medieval

[Bell222A1979]

Hello my friend im going to be making a short movie and looking for any books on old english by any chance what is the book name you're reading from?

Dante Feraco,

Bristol Productions, Bristol Pictures LLC

[DerPoltergeist13]

@Bell222A1979 Yes, if you click show more in the information, I list several links to Old Engish resources.

[sabradan]

Very, very good video. I just wanted to point out one nitpick. You said something about Old English and its use in mediaeval England. I think it would be more accurate to say 'Dark Age' or 'Late Antique' England, as by the time the actual 'middle ages' or 'mediaeval times' came around in England, we were already speaking middle English thanks to the Norman conquest in 1066.

[DerPoltergeist13]

@sabradan Old English was spoken into the early middle ages; it's generally considered to be the 1000 year period from 400 - 1400s with the Renaissance having its beginnings in that time era which was in full swing by the 1600s. But you are right, Old English has its earliest origins in Late Antiquity though most of its usage occurred in the earlier part of the middle ages.

[RavenofDenmark]

what do you study? =)

[DerPoltergeist13]

I'm currently still getting an Associates in Arts. Most of my linguistic education is self taught.

[Lintflas]

Here in northern germany we have an old dialect that is pretty close to english. You see, we're all one big family.

Best regards from lower saxony in Germany to anglo saxony in England.

[MikDonsen]

That the most natural reading i've heard so far it's like it's not even a foreign language too you.

[MrAmericaRules]

Nice

[aaronjayke]

I'm English and studying my Masters Degree in Linguistics and History. I've studied Old English for quite some time, and your pronunciation is pretty good! And your history of the language is good, too. However, you forgot that, although the least common of the cases, Old English had the instrumental case.

Overall though, for someone who niether specialises in linguistics in his studies, nor is a native Englishman, you ought to be super proud! I actually enjoyed the video! Super!

[canis77]

@Lintflas All the best from the Angles. Last century was a bit shit in terms of our relations with our continental cousins. Here's to this century re-building a few bridges.

[SubjectAlpha100]

I wish we still spoke Old English. It sounds more germanic. I hate that there is so much Latin in our vocabulary! I hope we can revive Anglo-Saxon as a spoken language (even though we don't know exactly how it sounded, but still)!!

[AxierNigromante]

Old English sounds better than Modern English!

[resurgam44]

Hailaz,

the unpalatallized 'g's don't really bother me, but you're also diphthongizing the long 'i' sound in many words. 'Ungelic is us' should sound something like 'un-yeh-leech is oos' (I don't feel like typing out the IPA :P). Anyway, good job otherwise! Thanks for helping to spread the awesomeness of Anglo Saxon!

wes thu hael!