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Ecfrid him oft behte myel on lande and on fo, if h l ran mihte eldre his ebeddan t
One of them was bishop Wilfrid, who she greatly loved, and he told Bede that King Ecfrid often
promised him a great deal of land and money if he could persuade his wife, thelthryth, to
on ealdum dagum hwlon r etmode urh one ylcan God e fre urhwuna mid his
Now the holy Bede, who composed this book, said that the almighty God could easily do now, in
our days, that thelthryth remained a pure virgin, even if she had a husband, just as in old days
sometimes it formerly happened by means of the same God who always perseveres with his
[9] eldr wolde ealle woruldincg forltan, and bd eorne one cynincg t ho
Aethelthryth wished to abandon all worldly things, and asked the king eagerly that she could
serve Christ in a monastic way of life, as her spirit urged her to.
MORPHOLOGICAL ANALYSIS
[7]
o ws, anomalous verb, third person singular, past. Infinitive: wesan, bon.
o e, relative particle.
o lufode, weak verb, class 2, third person singular, past. Infinitive: lufian.
o and, conjunction.
o s de, weak verb, class 3, third person singular, past. Infinitive: secgan.
o t, conjunction.
o oft, adverb.
o behte, strong verb, class 7, third person singular, past. Infinitive: behtan.
o and conjunction.
o if, conjunction.
o his, personal pronoun, genitive, third person singular masculine. ACTING AS A POSSESSIVE
o t, conjunction.
[8]
o N, adverb.
o cw, strong verb, class 5, past, third person, singular. Infinitive: (ge)cwean.
o e, relative particle.
o esette, weak verb, class 1, past, third person, singular. Infinitive: gesettan.
o t, conjunction.
o mihte, preterit present verb, past, third person, singular. Infinitive: magan.
o ae, adverb.
o n, adverb.
o t, conjunction.
o urhwunode, weak verb class 2, past, third person singular. Infinitive: urhwunian.
o ah e, conjunction.
o hfde, weak verb, class 3, past, third person singular. Infinitive: habban.
o sw sw, conjunction.
o hwlon, adverb.
o r, adverb.
o etmode: weak verb, class 2, past, third person, singular. Infinitive: getmian.
o e, relative particle.
o fre, adverb.
o sw sw, conjunction.
o beht, strong verb, class 7, past, third person, singular. Infinitive: behtan.
[9]
o and, conjunction.
o bd, strong verb, class 5, past, third person, singular. Infinitive: biddan.
o eorne, adverb.
o t, conjunction.
o sw, conjunction.
o t, preposition.
o spon, strong verb, class 7, past, third person, singular. Infinitive: spanan.
PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS:
OE <n>
(A) OE [:n] > 1 ME n > 2 wn > 3 wn > 4 eModE wn > 5 pre 1640 wun > 6 1640 wn >
1. South.
3. Rounding influence of w.
5. Early shortening.
(B) OE [:n] > 1 ME n > 2 eModE n > 3 18th oun > 4 19th un > PdE [n] <alone>
<lonely> <only>
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1. South.
3. Diphthongization.
OE <ws>
OE <bisceop> <biscop>
OE ['biop] > 1 ME bip > EModE bip > PdE ['bp] <bishop>
OE <lufode> <lufian>
OE <and>
2. Fronting.
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OE <h>
OE <cyning>
1. Eastern development.
OE <him>
OE [him] > ME him > EModE him > PdE [hm] <him>
OE <myel>
OE ['mtel] > 1 ME mtl > 2 mt > 3 mut > EModE mut > 4 1640 mt > PdE [mt]
<much>
3. Western development.
OE <on>
OE <lande>
OE ['lnde] > 1,2 ME land > 3 1653 lnd > PdE [lnd] <land>
1. Loss of ending.
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by -nd.
3. Fronting.
1. Vocalization.
2. Assimilation.
B) OE [jf] > 1 ME jif> 2 iif > 3 f > 4 if > PdE [f] <if>
2. Vocalization.
3. Assimilation.
OE <mihte> <miht>
OE [mit]> 1 ME mijt > 2 miit > 3 mi:t> 4 eModE mait > 5 17th mait > PdE [mat]
<might>
1. H-gliding.
2. Vocalization.
3. Assimilation.
5. - + t >
OE <his>
OE <n>
OE <hlga> <hli>
OE ['h:lij] > 1 2 ME hlii > 3 hl > 4 hli > 5 eModE hli > 6 18th houli > 7 19th
1. South.
2. Vocalization.
3. Assimilation.
6. Diphthongization.
OE <bc>
OE [bo:k] > M.E bk > 1 EModE bk > 2 Post 1640 bk > PdE [bk] <book>
2. LATE Shortening.
OE <t>
2. Fronting.
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OE <lmightiga>
1) OE <ealle> <eall>
OE [ll] Late OE ll> 1 wll >2 wl > 3 ME aul > 4 18th l > PdE [:l] <all>
1. L-gliding
2. Simplification of geminates
3. Vocalization
4. Monophthongization
2) OE <mihte> <miht>
OE [mit]> 1 ME mijt > 2 miit > 3 mi:t> 4 eModE mait > 5 17th mait > PdE [mat]
<might>
1. H-gliding.
2. Vocalization.
3. Assimilation.
5. - + t >
OE <god>
OE [god] > ME god > eModE god > PdE [gd] <god>
OE <rum> <re>
OE ['u:re] > 1 ME u:r > 2 EModE aur > 3 18th aur > 4 20th a > PdE [a] <our>
3. r-gliding.
4. Loss of final r
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OE <dagum> <dg>
OE [dj] > 1, 2, 3 ME dai > d > 4 EModE d > 17th d > 18th d > 5 19th dei > PdE [de]
<day>
1. Free change.
2. Vocalization.
5. Diphthongization.
OE <wer>
A) OE <werum>
OE ['werum] > 1 ME wrum > 2 wr > 3 eModE wr > wr > 4 18th wr > 5 wir > 6 20th wi > PdE
[w] <wer->
2. Loss of endings.
4.- r gliding.
5. Shortening.
6. r >
B) OE <wer>
OE [w3:] > ME wer > 1 18 wr > w3:r > 2 20 w3: > PdE [w3:] <wer>
consonant.
2. r >
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OE <hfde> <habban>
OE ['haan] > 1 late OE haan > 2 ME ha > 3 hav > 4 1653 hv > PdE [hv] <have>
1. Simplification of geminates.
2. Loss of endings.
3. > v
4. Fronting.
OE <sw>
OE [sw:] > 1 ME sw > 2 s > 3 eModE s > 4 18th sou > 5 19th s > PdE [s] <so>
1. South.
4. Diphthongization.
OE <ealdum> <eald>
OE ['ald] > late OE ald > 1 ld > 2 ME ld > 3 ld > 4 18th ould > 5 19th uld > PdE [ld]
<old>
2. South.
4. Diphthongization.
OE < fre>
OE [':vre] > 1 ME vr > 2 vr > 3 evr > 4 20th ev > PdE [ev] <ever>
1. Free change and loss of final vowel due to the lack of stress.
2. Epenthetic .
4. Loss of final r.
OE ['willn] > 1 lOE wiln > 2 ME wil > PdE [wil] <will>
1. Simplification of geminates.
2. Loss of endings.
OE <woruldincg>
1) OE <world>
OE [world] > ME world > 1 18th wrld > 2 w:rld > 3 19th w:ld > PdE [w:ld] <world>
consonant.
3. Loss of r + consonant.
2) OE <yng>
1. Easter development.
16
OE <Crste>
OE <t>
B) OE [to:] > ME t > 1 eModE t > 2 Post 1640 tu > PdE [t] <to> PREPOSITION
GRAPHICAL ANALYSIS
By ANC, ME long open [:] is represented by means of the digraph <ea> or by means of <e +
consonant +e>.
In ME by ANC, [i] began to be represented by means of the letter <i> when it was in mid-word
position and by <y> in word final position. Only if the word is of classical origin could ME [i]
o Examples: his, willan, hit, if. EITHER THE P.E. SPELLING OR THE OLD
ENGLISH SPELLING
Law of Minims: In ME, because of the Law of Minims, when [u] was followed by the
downstroke letters <m>, <n>, <u>, <v>, or preceded by <w>, it came to be represented by
By ANC, OE long [u:] came to be represented by means of <ou> in mid-word position and by
o Example: n. BE CONSISTENT
In OE, the letters <> thorn and <> eth, which represented // and // indistinctively, were
replaced by <th> by ANC. In PdE, <th> represents both [] and []. REDUNDANT
o Example: eall.
In OE, the diagraph <sc> could represent two different sounds: // and /sk/. The first one is
normally found when <sc> is followed by a front or palatal vowel /, e, i/. The second one will
typically occur when followed by a back or velar vowel /, o, u/. In ME, by ANC, // came to be
represented by means of the letters <sh> and /sk/ is represented nowadays by means of the
OE [k] was represented by means of the letter <c> in word initial position when followed by a back
vowel. In PdE, it is represented by means of the letter <k> in word initial position when followed by
a front vowel by ANC and by means of the letters <ck> in final position or in mid-word position (as
part of the word root), and by means of <k> in word final position preceded by a consonant, also by
ANC. RE-WRITE
In ME, by ANC, the voiceless palatal affricate /t/ was represented by means of the letters <ch>.
SEMANTIC ANALYSIS
<To/too>: they both derive from the OE <t>. Whereas PdE <too> is the result of the
paradigmatic development of OE <t>, PdE <to> experienced a late shortening that took place
after 1640.
<maiden>: In OE it meant girl, young woman, virgin or female servant while nowadays, it
means girl, or young woman, especially a virgin. Nowadays, it is also used to refer to an
unmarried older woman. <maid> nowadays is used to refer to a female employed in domestic
service. RE-WRITE.
<wer>: In OE it meant man and also husband. Nowadays, this word can refer to an adult
human male, to a human, to a human being or in the word werewolf, meaning person
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transformed or capable to transforming himself into a wolf. The meaning of husband has
been lost.
<r> in OE it meant before (in time), usually with dative, sometimes with accusative.
<n> in OE it meant one, a, a certain or only. Nowadays <n> only means one.
<sw> in OE it meant as. In present day English <sw sw> means as, just as and as far
as.