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Thomas Honegger t.m.honegger@gmx.de From Caedmon to Caxton Thomas Honegger t.m.honegger@gmx.de.

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Presentation on theme: "Thomas Honegger t.m.honegger@gmx.de From Caedmon to Caxton Thomas Honegger t.m.honegger@gmx.de."— Presentation transcript:

1 Thomas Honegger t.m.honegger@gmx.de
From Caedmon to Caxton Thomas Honegger

2 Tolkiens Weltbild(er)
Zweites Tolkien Seminar der DTG FSU April 2005 Hörsaal 6, Carl-Zeiss-Strasse 3 Programm Homepage Anglistik oder unter

3 A (Literary) History of the English Language
‘Literary’ counterpart to Prof. H. Diessel’s lecture History of the English Language

4 Recommended Reading Barber, Charles The English Language. A Historical Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Baugh, A.C. & Thomas Cable A History of the English Language. 5th edition. London: Routledge. Blake, Norman A History of the English Language. London: Macmillan.

5 Recommended Reading Freeborn, D From Old English to Standard English. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan. Millward, C.M A Biography of the English Language. 2nd edition. Boston: Thomson/Heinle. Pyles, Thomas and John Algeo The Origins and Development of the English Language. 4th edition. Fort Worth, Texas: Harcout Brace Jovanovich

6 Recommended Reading The Cambridge History of the English Language. Vol. I-V Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

7 The father of English poetry
Caedmon The father of English poetry

8 Bede’s account of Caedmon
Bede (Beda Venerabilis) *637, 735 Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum 731 A History of the English Church and People Book IV, Chapter 24 (A.D. 680)

9 Caedmon’s Hymn Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard Metodes mihte 7 his modgeπonc, weorc wuldorfaeder, swa he wundra gehwaes ece drihten, ord onstealde; He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard; ece dryhten aefter teode firum foldan, frea aelmyhtig.

10 Caedmon’s Hymn Now we must praise heaven-kingdom’s Guardian Creator’s might and his mind-thought work Glory-father’s as he of-wonders each everlasting Lord, beginning established. He first shaped of-earth for-children heaven as roof, holy Creator; then middle-earth, mankind’s Guardian, everlasting Lord, after determined for-men homeland, Ruler almighty.

11 Caedmon’s poetic output
Creation of the world and of the human race (Genesis) Israel’s exodus from Egypt (Exodus) Entry into the Promised Land (Joshua) Lord’s Incarnation Passion, Resurrection, Ascension Judgment Day

12 English? Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard Metodes mihte 7 his modgeπonc, weorc wuldorfaeder, swa he wundra gehwaes ece drihten, ord onstealde; He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard; ece dryhten aefter teode firum foldan, frea aelmyhtig.

13 Old English - English / German
nu we sculan herian heofon rice weard now / nun we / wir shall / sollen ––– / hehr heaven / (Himmel) rich / Reich warden / Wärter

14 Old English - English / German
mihte weorc wunder aerest gesceop eorπan hrof middangeard might / Macht work / Werk wonder / Wunder ere/ erst shaped / schuf earth / Erde roof / ––––– middle- / Midgart

15 English Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard now we shall praise heavenkingdom’s warden spelling & pronunciation? more or less ‘phonetic’ spelling of Old English; ‘continental’ pronunciation

16 English Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard now we shall praise heavenkingdom’s warden inflections? sculan – sollen – shall__ rices – des Reichs – of the kingdom

17 English He aerest gesceop bearnum heofon to hrofe syntax? subject: he
direct object (acc.): heofon indirect object (dat.): bearnum

18 English vocabulary? He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard. continuation: heofon – heaven, eorπe – earth semantic change: scyppan – shape (=> replaced by ‘create’) substitution: bearn – child

19 Literature? Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard Metodes mihte 7 his modgeπonc, weorc wuldorfaeder, swa he wundra gehwaes ece drihten, ord onstealde; He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard; ece dryhten aefter teode firum foldan, frea aelmyhtig.

20 Literature? Criteria for literature? topic? diction? form?
informative - relational - expressive

21 Literature! Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard Metodes mihte 7 his modgeπonc, weorc wuldorfaeder, swa he wundra gehwaes ece drihten, ord onstealde; He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard; ece dryhten aefter teode firum foldan, frea aelmyhtig.

22 Alliteration / Stabreim
Examples from the OE poem Beowulf (try to find the alliterating sounds) on fagne flor feond treddode, ligge gelicost leoht unfæger recedes muπan. Raπe æfter πon eode yrremod; him of eagum stod

23 Alliteration / Stabreim
on fagne flor feond treddode, a a // a x ligge gelicost leoht unfæger a a //a x recedes muπan. Raπe æfter πon a x // a x eode yrremod; him of eagum stod a a //x a

24 Alliteration / Stabreim
Basic rule for alliterative long line: at least one (and at most two) of the stressed syllables of the first half-line alliterate(s) with one (usually the first) stressed syllable of the second half-line: a (a) // a x identical consonants alliterate all vowels alliterate glottal stop

25 Before Caedmon ca. A.D. 680 Caedmon
A.D. 597 Re-christianisation of England through missionaries from Rome (Augustine of Kent and his followers) A.D. 449 Anglo-Saxon invasion A.D. 409/10 Rome calls back the last remaining legions in Britain A.D. 43 Roman army conquers Britannia ca. 500 BC Celtic settlement of Britain

26 Before Caedmon ca. 500 BC Celtic settlement of Britain => Britain with a Celtic speaking population A.D. 43 Roman invasion => Celtic speaking population with Latin speaking upper class / administration 4th cent. A.D. Christianisation of Roman Britain

27 Before Caedmon A.D. 409/410 retreat of the Roman occupation/protection force => Celtic speaking population, Latin among educated people A.D. 449 onwards: Anglo-Saxon invasion => conquest of Britain goes hand in hand with the loss of Roman culture (towns, roads, literary culture, administration)

28 Before Caedmon Anglo-Saxon invasion => ‘oral’ culture (cf. Tacitus’ Germania A.D. 98) pagan culture

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33 Map of the Germanic tribes according to Tacitus’ Germania (98 A.D.)

34 English and Indo-European
English is a Germanic language the Germanic language group is part of the Indo-European language family

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39 Evidence for IE languages
700 English 500 Armenian 400 Gothic 200 Latin 400 Classical Sanskrit 800 Greek 1200 Hittite 1500 Vedic Sanskrit 3000 Proto Indo-European

40 Theories about a common source
correspondences across languages: Engl. two - Goth. twai - Latin duo - Greek duo - Sanskrit dva Engl. fish - Goth. fisks – Latin piscis – Greek ikhthys Engl. father - Latin pater - Greek pater – Sanskrit pitar

41 Theories about a common source
James Parson, 1767, The Remains of Japhet, being historical enquiries into the affinity and origins of the European languages languages of Europe, Iran and India derived from a common ancestor the language of Japhet and his offspring, who had migrated out of Armenia, the final resting place of the Ark.

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43 Isidore of Seville, Mappa Mundi 12th century

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46 Mappa Mundi North on top

47 Theories about a common source
Sir William Jones (1796): The Sanskrit language [bears to both Greek and Latin] a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could have been produced by accident; [...] no philologer could examine all three without believing them to have sprung from some common source

48 Reconstructing the Common Source
Avis, jasmin varna na a ast, dadarka akvams, tam vagham garum vaghantam, tam, bharam magham, tam manum aku bharantam. (Schleicher 1868) Owis, jesmin wel´na ne est, dedok’e ek’wons, tom, woghom gwerum weghontom, tom, bhorom megam, tom, gh’emonm ok’u bhertontm. (Hirt 1939)

49 Reconstructing the Common Source
owis, kwesyo wlhna ne est, ekwons espeket, oinom ghe gwrum woghom weghontm, oinomkwe megam bhorom, oinomkwe ghmenm oku bherontm. (Lehmann and Zgusta 1975) A sheep, on which wool not was, saw horses, one, a wagon heavy pulling, one, a load great, one a man swiftly carrying.

50 In search of the IE homeland
Linguistic evidence: common words for: cold, winter, snow, honey, wolf, beech, pine no common words for: ocean, palm, elephant, camel

51 IE Homeland

52 Early historical distribution of the major IE linguistic groups

53 simplified depiction of the development of the Germanic languages
Protogermanic Northgermanic Westgermanic Eastgermanic Anglo-Frisian Gothic (†) Old Norse Old English Old High German Anglo-Norman Old Frisian Middle English Middle High German Old Dutch Frisian English German Yiddish Scandinavian languages Flemish Dutch Afrikaans


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