Englisċ
Old English
Indo-European · historical / hidden variety
Old English (Englisċ, "the English language") was the West Germanic language spoken in England from the Anglo-Saxon migration (5th century CE) until c. 1100, after which French and Norse influences from the Norman Conquest (1066) catalyzed its evolution into Middle English (enm). The principal Anglo-Saxon literary corpus includes Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the Exeter Book, the Vercelli Book, and Bede's Ecclesiastical History (Latin original with Old English Wessex translation by Alfred the Great's circle 9th-10th c.). Old English shows classic Germanic features: strong/weak verb classes, four cases (nominative/accusative/genitive/dative), grammatical gender (masculine/feminine/neuter). Modern study primarily centered on the West Saxon literary standard (Wessex dialect; cf. Mitchell & Robinson 1992).
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Old English
Water
wæter
/wæter/
Fire
fȳr
/fyːr/
Sun
sunne
/sunːe/
Moon
mōna
/moːnɑ/
Star
steorra
/ˈstæɔrːɑ/
Mother
mōdor
/moːdor/
Father
fæder
/fæder/
I
ic
/itʃ/
You
þū
/θuː/
Name
nama
/ˈnɑma/
Eye
ēage
/æːɑɣe/
Hand
hand
/hɑnd/
Heart
heorte
/ˈheorte/
Love
lufu
/luvu/
Tree
trēow
/treːow/
House
hūs
/huːs/
Dog
hund
/hund/
Cat
catt
/kɑtt/
Eat
etan
/etɑn/
Drink
drincan
/drinkɑn/
One
ān
/aːn/
Two
twā
/twɑː/
Hello
wes hāl
/wes haːl/
Thank you
þanc
/θɑnk/
Good
gōd
/ɡoːd/
Cuckoo
ġēac
/jæːɑk/
Sources
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European languages
| Meaning | Old English | Old Frisian | Middle English | Old Saxon | Norwegian Nynorsk | Old Norse | Gothic |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | wæter /wæter/ | wetir /wetir/ | water /watər/ | watar /ˈwatar/ | vatn /vɑːtn/ | vatn /vɑtn/ | 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 /wɑtoː/ |
| Fire | fȳr /fyːr/ | fiur /fjuːɾ/ | fyr /fyːr/ | fiur /fiur/ | eld /ɛld/ | eldr /eldr/ | 𐍆𐍉𐌽 /foːn/ |
| Sun | sunne /sunːe/ | sunne /sunːe/ | sonne /sɔnːə/ | sunna /ˈsunːa/ | sol /suːl/ | sól /soːl/ | 𐍃𐌿𐌽𐌽𐍉 /sunːoː/ |
| Moon | mōna /moːnɑ/ | mōna /moːnɑ/ | mone /moːnə/ | māno /ˈmaːno/ | måne /moːnə/ | máni /mɑːni/ | 𐌼𐌴𐌽𐌰 /meːnɑ/ |
| Star | steorra /ˈstæɔrːɑ/ | stera /ˈstɛra/ | sterre /ˈstɛrːə/ | sterro /ˈsterro/ | stjerne /ˈʃæːɳə/ | stjarna /ˈstjarna/ | 𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌽𐍉 /stɛrnoː/ |
| Mother | mōdor /moːdor/ | moder /moːdeɾ/ | moder /moːdər/ | modar /ˈmoːdar/ | mor /muːr/ | móðir /moːðir/ | 𐌰𐌹𐌸𐌴𐌹 /aiθiː/ |
| Father | fæder /fæder/ | feder /fædeɾ/ | fader /faːdər/ | fader /ˈfadər/ | far /fɑːr/ | faðir /fɑðir/ | 𐌰𐍄𐍄𐌰 /ɑtːɑ/ |
| I | ic /itʃ/ | ik /ik/ | I /iː/ | ik /ik/ | eg /eːɡ/ | ek /ek/ | 𐌹𐌺 /ik/ |
| You | þū /θuː/ | thū /θuː/ | thou /θuː/ | thu /θuː/ | du /dʉː/ | þú /θuː/ | 𐌸𐌿 /θuː/ |
| Name | nama /ˈnɑma/ | nama /ˈnama/ | name /ˈnaːmə/ | namo /ˈnamo/ | namn /nɑmn/ | nafn /nafn/ | 𐌽𐌰𐌼𐍉 /nɑmoː/ |
| Eye | ēage /æːɑɣe/ | āge /aːɣe/ | eye /iːə/ | ōga /ˈoːɡa/ | auga /æʉɡɑ/ | auga /ɑuɣɑ/ | 𐌰𐌿𐌲𐍉 /ɑuɣoː/ |
| Hand | hand /hɑnd/ | hond /hond/ | hand /hand/ | hand /hand/ | hand /hɑnd/ | hǫnd /hɔnd/ | 𐌷𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌿𐍃 /hɑndus/ |
| Heart | heorte /ˈheorte/ | herte /heɾte/ | herte /hɛrtə/ | herta /ˈherta/ | hjarte /jɑːrtə/ | hjarta /hjɑrtɑ/ | 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐍂𐍄𐍉 /hɛrtoː/ |
| Love | lufu /luvu/ | minne /minːe/ | love /lʊvə/ | minnea /ˈminːea/ | kjærleik /çæːrlɛik/ | ást /ɑːst/ | 𐍆𐍂𐌹𐌰𐌸𐍅𐌰 /friɑθwɑ/ |
| Tree | trēow /treːow/ | bām /baːm/ | tre /treː/ | bōm /boːm/ | tre /treː/ | tré /treː/ | 𐌱𐌰𐌲𐌼𐍃 /bɑɣms/ |
| House | hūs /huːs/ | hūs /huːs/ | hous /huːs/ | hūs /huːs/ | hus /huːs/ | hús /huːs/ | 𐍂𐌰𐌶𐌽 /rɑzn/ |
| Dog | hund /hund/ | hund /hund/ | hound /huːnd/ | hund /hund/ | hund /hʉnd/ | hundr /hundr/ | 𐌷𐌿𐌽𐌳𐍃 /hunds/ |
| Cat | catt /kɑtt/ | katte /katːe/ | catte /katːə/ | katta /ˈkatːa/ | katt /kɑtː/ | kǫttr /kɔtːr/ | *𐌺𐌰𐍄𐍄𐍃 /kɑtːs/ |
| Eat | etan /etɑn/ | eta /etɑ/ | eten /eːtən/ | etan /ˈetan/ | eta /eːtɑ/ | eta /etɑ/ | 𐌼𐌰𐍄𐌾𐌰𐌽 /mɑtjɑn/ |
| Drink | drincan /drinkɑn/ | drinka /dɾinkɑ/ | drinken /drɪŋkən/ | drinkan /ˈdrinkan/ | drikka /drɪkːɑ/ | drekka /drekːɑ/ | 𐌳𐍂𐌹𐌲𐌺𐌰𐌽 /driŋkɑn/ |
| One | ān /aːn/ | ān /aːn/ | oon /oːn/ | ēn /eːn/ | ein /ɛɪn/ | einn /ɛinː/ | 𐌰𐌹𐌽𐍃 /ains/ |
| Two | twā /twɑː/ | twā /twaː/ | two /twɔː/ | twēne /ˈtweːne/ | to /tuː/ | tveir /tveir/ | 𐍄𐍅𐌰𐌹 /twai/ |
| Hello | wes hāl /wes haːl/ | heil /heil/ | hail /hɛːl/ | heil /heil/ | hei /hɛɪ/ | heill /hɛilː/ | 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐍃 /hails/ |
| Thank you | þanc /θɑnk/ | thank /θank/ | thank /θank/ | thank /θaŋk/ | takk /tɑkː/ | þǫkk /θɔkː/ | 𐌸𐌰𐌲𐌺𐍃 /θɑŋks/ |
| Good | gōd /ɡoːd/ | gōd /ɡoːd/ | good /ɡoːd/ | gōd /ɡoːd/ | god /ɡuːd/ | góðr /ɡoːðr/ | 𐌲𐍉𐌸𐍃 /ɡoːθs/ |
| Cuckoo | ġēac /jæːɑk/ | — | cuccu /ˈkukuː/ | — | gauk /ɡæʉk/ | gaukr /ˈɡɔukr̩/ | — |
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