1. BIRTH OF A LANGUAGE Old English

2. So, how old is Old English? As old as 449 AD – this is the year that many scholars commonly agree on as the birth year of the English language About the time that the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes came to England to protect the Celts after the Romans left

3. Important People Alfred the GreatKing Cnut

4. Important People, continued Edward the ConfessorWilliam of Normandy

5. Main Old English Dialects Mercian – evolved into Middle English West Saxon – language of King Alfred the Great; language of most Old English literature Northumbrian Kentish

6. Major Linguistic Influences Latin  Roman control from 55 BC to 410 AD Scandinavian/Germanic  Anglo-Saxon presence beginning in 449 AD  Viking invasions beginning in 850 AD French  William of Normandy in 1066 AD Some Celtic influence  Residual from Celts originally inhabiting Briton

7. The Power of the Church

8. Key Features of Old English Continental long vowels Sign system mixture of select runes and Roman (or Latin) alphabet Synthetic language – inflection (word endings) determined function Paratactic language – coordinating grammatical structure (connect simple sentences with conjunctions, such as “and”)

9. Sample of Old English Fæder úre, ðú ðe eart on heofonum, Sí ðín nama gehálgod. Tó becume ðín rice. Gewurde ðín willa On eorþan swá swá on heofonum. Urne dægwhamlícan hlaf syle ús tódæg. And forgyf ús úre gyltas, Swá swá wé forgyfaþ úrum gyltendum. And ne gelæd ðu ús on costnunge, Ac álýs ús of yfele. Sóþlice. Father our thou that art in heavens be thy name hallowed come thy kingdom be-done thy will on earth as in heavens our daily bread give us today and forgive us our sins as we forgive those-who- have-sinned-against-us and not lead thou us into temptation but deliver us from evil. truly