Introduction to Old English and Old Norse-libre

8/9/2019 Introduction to Old English and Old Norse-libre

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Contents

1 Introdution 4

I History 4

2 The Germanic Language Family 6

3 Old English and Its Dialects 63.1 West Saxon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63.2 Kentish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73.3 Mercian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73.4 Northumbrian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

4 Old Norse and Its Dialects 84.1 Runic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.2 Icelandic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.3 Faroese . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84.4 Norn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94.5 Norwegian . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94.6 Danish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104.7 Swedish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104.8 Elfdalian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104.9 Gutnish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

II Phonology 115 The Phonological Systems 11

5.1 Old English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115.1.1 vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115.1.2 Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

5.2 Old Norse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135.2.1 Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135.2.2 Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145.2.3 Syllable Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

6 Sound Changes 156.1 Vowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

6.1.1 Primary Developments from PGmc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 156.1.2 Effects of Nasals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166.1.3 Compensatory Lengthening and Contraction . . . . . . . 176.1.4 Breaking . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186.1.5 i-Umlaut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186.1.6 u-Umlaut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

6.2 Semivowels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206.2.1 *w . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206.2.2 *j . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206.2.3 Holtzmanns Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

6.3 Consonants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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6.3.1 Germanic Consonant Shift. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

6.3.2 Primary Developments from PGmc. . . . . . . . . . . . . 216.3.3 West Germanic Gemination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226.3.4 Anglo-Frisian Palatalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226.3.5 Final Devoicing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226.3.6 Assimilation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226.3.7 Rhotacism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

III Morphology 23

7 Nouns 247.1 a-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

7.1.1 Masculine a-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

7.1.2 Neuter a-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257.1.3 ia-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257.1.4 ua-stems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

7.2 o-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267.2.1 Feminine o-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267.2.2 io-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277.2.3 uo-stems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

7.3 i-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287.3.1 Masculine i-stems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 287.3.2 Feminine i-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

7.4 u-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297.4.1 Masculine u-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297.4.2 Feminine u-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

7.5 n-stems (Weak Declension) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297.5.1 Masculine an-stems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297.5.2 Neuter on-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297.5.3 Feminine on-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307.5.4 Feminine n-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

7.6 Root Nouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307.7 r-stems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307.8 Old English s-stems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

8 Adjectives 318.1 Strong Declension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318.2 Weak Declension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

8.3 The Comparative Degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338.4 The Superlative Degree . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

9 Spatial Adverbs 35

10 Numerals 3510.1 Cardinal Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3510.2 Ordinal Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3610.3 Decades . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

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11 Pronouns 38

11.1 Personal Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3811.1.1 First and Second Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3811.1.2 Third Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3811.1.3 Possessive Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

11.2 Demonstrative Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3911.3 Old Norse Definite Article . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4011.4 Interrogative Pronouns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

12 Verbs 4112.1 Strong Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

12.1.1 Personal Endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4112.1.2 Verbal Classes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4212.1.3 Class I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

12.1.4 Class II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4412.1.5 Class III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4612.1.6 Class IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4812.1.7 Class V . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5012.1.8 Class VI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5112.1.9 Class VII . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

12.2 Weak Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5312.2.1 Personal Endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5312.2.2 Class I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5412.2.3 Class II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5712.2.4 Class III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

12.3 Preterite-Present Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

12.4 The Verb To Be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6112.5 Old Norse Reflexive Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

IV Syntax 62

13 Word Order 62

14 Use of the Cases 63

15 Verbal Syntax 6415.1 Old Norse Reflexive Verbs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6415.2 Passive and Impersonal Constructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

16 Negation 67

V Bibliography 67

17 Dictionaries 67

18 Introductions and Grammars 68

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1 Introdution

This compendium is designed to be a reference guide to students of Old Englishand Old Norse, and is based off the work of numerous scholars in the fieldsof Old English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic, and Indo-European. This guidedoes not contain the entirety of the body of knowledge in these fields, butis meant to serve as an introduction to the most important grammatical andhistorical features of these two langauges. It is furthermmore not intended tobe a scholarly publication to be cited.

I would like to thank a number of people for their help in my preparationfor this course, including Birgit Olsen, Guus Kroonen, Bjarne Hansen, AdamHyllested, and Peter Kerkhof.

Any mistakes in this guide have been made by the author.

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PartI

History

Prehistoric

450-650

EarlyOE

650-900

LateOE

900-1066

Ru

nicNorse

200-500

Syncope

500-700

VikingAge

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00-1050

Manuscripts

1050-1350

c. 98 - Tacitus writes Germania

c. 400 - Gallehus Horn

c. 650 - Cdmons Hymn

793 - Viking attack at Lindesfarne

874 - Inglfr Arnarson settles Iceland

1066 - Battle of Hastings

Wulfilac. 311-382

Alfred the Great849-899

Olaf Tryggvasonc. 960-1000

Snorri Sturluson1179-1241

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2 The Germanic Language Family

Proto-Germanic

West

Irminonic Old High German

Istvaeonic Old Franconian

Ingvaeonic(North Sea Germanic)

Old Saxon

Anglo-FrisianOld Frisian

Old English

North

Old West NorseOld Icelandic

Old Norwegain

Old East NorseOld Danish

Old SwedishOld Gutnish

East Gothic

3 Old English and Its Dialects

Pre-English

West Saxon South-WesternSouthern American Dialects

West County DialectsKentish South-Eastern

Anglian

Mercian

East Midland Standard English

East AnglianNew England Dialects

East Anglian

West Midland West Midland

Northumbrian Northern

Yorkshire

Appalachian Dialects

Scots

3.1 West Saxon

By far the most important dialect of Old English is West Saxon, thanks in partto Alfred the Great (r. 871-899) who was instrumental in bringing learningand the English language to England, and who commissioned the translation ofmany Latin texts into English. Most grammars and readers of Old English (thepresent compendium included) are primarily focused on West Saxon as it is thedialect with the largest corpus. Below is a sample text of Alfred the Greatsletter prefacing his translation ofCura Pastoralisby Gregory the Great.

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lfred kyning hate gretan Wrfer biscep his wordum lufce ond

freondlce; ond e cyan hate t me com swe oft on gemynd,hwelce wiotan iu wron giond Angelcynn, ger ge godcundra hadage woruldcundra; ond hu gesliglica tda a wron giond Angelcynn;ond hu a kyningas e one onwald hfdon s folces Gode ond hisrendwrecum bersumedon; ond hu he ger ge hiora sibbe ge hiorasiodu ge hiora onweald innanbordes geholdon, ond eac ut hiora eelrymdon.1

3.2 Kentish

The dialect of Kentish forms, together with West Saxon, the souther dialectgroup. The corpus of Kentish is much more limited in scope than that of WestSaxon, and consists largely of charters, such as the one below. The Kentish

dialect died out during the Middle English period.

+ is sindan geinga Ealhburge and Eadwealdes et em lande etBurnan, hwet man elce gere ob em lande to Crstes cirican emhwum agiban scel, for Ealhburge and for Ealdred and foreEadwealdand Ealawynne: xl ambra mealtes and xl and cc hlaba,i wege cesa,iwege speces, ieald hrer,iiiiweras,xgs,xxhenfugla,iiiiforaweada. And ic Ealhburg bebade Eadwealde mnem mege an Godesnaman and an ealra his haligra et he is wel healde his dei andsian for bebeode his erbum to healdenne a hwle e hit crstense. + And suelc mon se et lond hebbe eghwylce Sunnandege xxgesuflra hlafa to are cirican for Ealdredes saule and for Ealhburge.2

3.3 Mercian

Mercian and Northumbrian together form the Anglian dialects of Old English.While the amount of literature in the Mercian dialect is limited in the OldEnglish period, over time the dialect became more influential and is essentiallythe ancestor of Standard Modern English. Below is an interlinear translation ofa Latin hymn.

Lytel ic wes betweh brour mne, ond iungra in huse feadur mnes.Ic fdde scep feadur mnes. Honda mne dydun organan; fingrasmne wysctun hearpan. Ond hwelc segde Dryhtne mnum? HeDryhten, he allra geherde mec; he sende engel his, on nom mec of

scepum feadur mnes, on smirede mec in mildheartnisse smirenissehis. Brour mne gode ond micle, ond ne wes welgelcad in him Dry-htne. Ic uteode ongegn fremes cynnes men, ond wergcweodelademec in hergum heara; ic solce gebrogdnum from him his agnumsweorde ic acearf heafud his, ond on weg afirde edwt of bearnumIsraela.3

1Whitelock (1967:4-5)2Whitelock (1967:200-201)3Whitelock (1967:184-185)

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3.4 Northumbrian

The other Anglian dialect, Northumbrian, is the original language ofCdmonsHymn, found later in a West Saxon version. Northumbrian was the dialect spo-ken closest to the Danelaw (886-954) and was therefore most heavily influencedby Old Norse.

Fore them neidfaerae naenig uuiurthitthoncsnotturra than him tharf seto ymbhycggannae, aer his hiniongae,huaet his gastae godaes aeththa yflaesaefter deothdeage doemid uueorthae.4

4 Old Norse and Its Dialects

4.1 Runic

The runic inscriptions go back to the third century AD, written in a languagecalled "Runic Norse" or "Proto-Norse." The most famous of the runic inscrip-tions, the Gallehus Horn (c. 400), is prized by scholars for being the earliestpreservation of alliterative verse.

ekhlewagastiR:holtijaR:horna:tawido:

ekhlewagastiz:holtijaz:horna:tawido:

4.2 Icelandic

Modern Icelandic is known for being the most archaic of the languages descendedfrom Old Norse, preserving the case system almost entirely. The orthography ofIcelandic is also influenced by the system devised by the First Grammarian (late12th century), meaning although pronunciation has changed over the past 800years, Modern Icelandic and standardized Old West Norse are written nearlyidentical. Below is an excerpt from Sjlfsttt FlkIndependent People by theNobel laureate author Halldr Laxness, published in 1934-35.

essi jflokkur tri v a gu ljssins og gu myrkursins ttu sfeldum frii, og mnnum bri a styrkja ljssins gu barttunnime v a yrkja akra og vinna a jarabtum. a er einmitt ettasem bndurnir gera. eir eru a hjlpa gui, ef svo mtti a orikvea, vinna me gui ad uppeldi jurta, dra og manna. Gfugrastarf er ekki til jru hr.5

4.3 Faroese

Faroese is, together with Icelandic, an Insular Nordic language, and is nearly asarchaic as its northern neighbor. Although the language was not written downfor 300 years, the islanders preserve unique linguistic and literary material inthe form of ballads (calledkvi). Below is the beginning of a ballad (in total 85

4Whitelock (1967:183)5FromTmarit Morgunblasins, 25 January 1976, pg. 18. http://timarit.is/view_page_

init.jsp?pageId=3297404 accessed 18 August 2013.

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http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=3297404http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=3297404http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=3297404http://timarit.is/view_page_init.jsp?pageId=3297404


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verses long) recounting Olaf Tryggvasons voyages on the ship Ormurin Langi

(ONOrmrinn Langi).1. Vilja tr hoyra kvi mtt,vilja tr orum trgv,um hann lav Trgvason,higar skal rman sngva.

Niurlag: Glymur dansur hll,dans sli ring!Glair ria noregis menntil hildarting.

2. Kongurin letur snekju smahar slttumsandi;Ormurin Langi ststur var,Sum gjrdur Noregis landi.

3. Knrrur var gjrdur Noregisland,gott var honum evni:tjan alil og fjrutivar kjlurin millum stevni.6

4.4 Norn

The last of the insular varieties of Norse unfortunately went extinct in the nine-teenth century, although many small texts were recorded by various travellersto Shetland and Orkney. Below is an excerpt of the longest text preserved inNorn, the Ballad of Hildina, recorded in 1774:

Da vara Iarlian dOrkneyarFor frinda sin spir de roWhird ane skild meunOur glas buryon burtaga.

Or vanna ro eidnar fuoTega du meun our glas buryonKere friend min yamna meunEso vrildan stiende gede minvara to din.7

4.5 Norwegian

Old Norwegian is, like Old Icelandic, a West Norse language, and is attested inmanuscript form in the late twelfth century. In its earliest form Old Norwegianis very similar to Old Icelandic, and a number of manuscripts written in Norwaywere copied by Icelandic scribes. Below is an excerpt fromKonungs skuggsjThe Kings Mirror, a dialogue between a father and son. Here, the son wonderswhy one should use the pl rin reference to the king.

En f mar bir bnar sinnar til Gus, er allum er frmri ok hri,

eru infaldat hvrri bn oll au atkvi er til hans horfa, ok kvrsv at ori hvrr er sna bn flytr vi Gu: , Drttinn minn,allsvaldandi Gu, hyru bn mna ok miskunna mek betr en ek svrr. En ngan mann hyri ek sv taka til ors: r, Drttinnminn, hyri bn mna ok gri btr vi mik firi sakar miskunnaryarrar en ek s vrr.8

6From Ftatrak Dansfelagi. fotatradk.com/kv/ormurin-langi.pdf accessed 18 August2013.

7From Barnes, Michael The Study of Norn.8Barnes (2007b:338)

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http://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_7/fotatradk.com/kv/ormurin-langi.pdfhttp://localhost/var/www/apps/conversion/tmp/scratch_7/fotatradk.com/kv/ormurin-langi.pdf


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ula f kuok suo i buum. Men sj ig add ingga og int dugd ig lat

wr diem eld, t ig rekkt a diem storn og sykte, men d kyttdier, bruke an sai v.11

4.9 Gutnish

Old Gutnish is preserved in a handful of manuscripts and runic inscriptions.Often misconstrued as an East Norse variant, Old Gutnish shows a number ofarchaic features inherited directly from PGmc. Below is an excerpt from theGuta Saga, the 8,000-word semi-legendary history of Gotland.

Firi an tma oc lengi eptir san trou menn a hult oc a hauga,w oc stafgara, oc a haiin gu. Blotau air synum oc dydrumsnum, oc flei mi mati oc mungati. et gieru air eptir wantro

sinni. Land alt hafi sr hoystu blotan mi fulki, ellar hafi huerriiungr sr; en smeri ing hafu mindri blotan me flei, mati ocmungati, sum haitasunautar, at air suu allir saman.12

PartII

Phonology

5 The Phonological Systems

5.1 Old English

5.1.1 vowels

The vowel system of OE (West Saxon) consisted of seven monophthongs andthree diphthongs, all of which could be either long or short.

u

o

a

e

yi diphthongs:ea eo ie ioea eo e o

Furthermore, there was also likelyan eighth short monosyllable [O] asPGmc *ais often written beforea nasal in e.g. nama,nomaname.13

11Rdjrum (2005:7)12Gordon (1956:176-177)13Note that, in Modern English, forms with short aprevailed (name, land). The opposite

is true of long abefore a nasal: OE stan, ham> ModEn stone, home.

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Examples

Short Longa wacian inf to waken wacian inf to weakenO lond nsn land dl nsn valley, dale dl nsm share, deale here nsm army her adv herei wind nsm wind wn nsn wineo god nsm god god nsm goodu full nsm full ful nsm fouly fyrst nsm first fyr nsn fire

ea leax nsm salmon leas nsm falseeo deorc nsm dark deor nsn animalie ierfe nsn property eg-lond nsn island

5.1.2 Consonants

The consonantal system of OE was quite similar to that of Modern English,with the addition of the gutteral spirants /x/ and /G/, and the lack of theFrench-inherited sound /Z/. A few differences occur in spelling between OEand Modern English, which should be kept in mind:

The dental fricatives /T/ and // were written in the earliest manuscripts with, as in Modern English, although from an early period the use ofthe runic thorn and the letter eth came to be the standard.While in ON is generally used for the voiceless /T/ and for thevoiced //, OE does not make such a distinction, and varies widely fromauthor to author, so that and are no different.

Another runic letter wynn was used to represent /w/, which could alsobe represented by or . Most editions transcribe with .

The uncial letter yogh, introduced by Irish missionaries, was often usedinstead of . Either letter represented a number of sounds, including/g/, /G/, /j/, and in a digraph , /dZ/.

Many handbooks write and to distinguish the palatal sounds /tS/and /j/ from the gutteral /k/ and /g/ (spelled and ).

The sound /S/ was written (in many handbooks ).

Most of the consonants, apart from the voiced spirants, glides, and affricates,

could be geminated.

The consonants of OE, shown with their typical spelling, are as follows:Bilabial Dental Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Plosive p(p) b(b) t(t) d(d) c(c) cg c(c) g(g)Nasal m(m) n(n) [N]Fricative f(f) f () s(s) sc h(h) g hLiquid w l(l) r(r) j

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Examples

Short Longp(:) papa nsm pope ppel nsm appleb(:) binnan14 adv inside libban inf to livet(:) hatan inf to be called sittan inf to sitd(:) bdan inf to wait biddan inf to praytS(:) cirice nsf church stycce nsn piecedZ brycg nsf bridge

k(:) boc nsf book bucca nsm buckg(:) god nsm good frogga nsm frogm(:) sumor nsm summer swimman inf to swimn(:) man nsm one mann nsm manN lang nsm long

f(:) fot nsm foot offrung nsf offering

v giefan inf to giveT(:) mu nsm mouth moe nsf moth

moor nsf motherS scip nsn ship

x(:) dohtor nsf daughter hliehhan inf to laughG fugol nsm birdh habban inf to havew heawan inf to hew

l(:) healic nsm exhaulted heall nsf hallr(:) geara adv formerly ierre nsm angry

j gear nsn year

5.2 Old Norse5.2.1 Vowels

Around the time of the settlement of Iceland (ca. 874), the Old Norse vowelsystem contained nine monopthongs, all of which could be long, short, or nasal-ized. By the twelfth century, however, this system of 27 vowels had reducedto 16; the distinct vowels eand (i-umlaut ofa) had fallen together, while merged with(or if nasal). Finally, the distinct nasal vowels disappeared asa separate class, leaving classical Old Icelandic with eight short monophthongsand eight long, shown below in the standard orthography:

u

o

oa

()

e

yi

()

Furthermore, Old Icelandic had three diphthongs,ei,au, andey(pronounced[y] or [y]), which were long.

In unstressed vowels Old Norse distinguished only three vowels, a - i - u ,which may be writtena - e - o in older manuscripts.

14PGmc*b > v intervocalically

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Examples of the vowels and diphthongs are given below.

Examples Short Longa dagr nsm day sr nsf woundo dogum dpm days sr npf wounds dgi dsm day sra inf to wounde vegr nsm way v nsn sanctuary kmr 3s comes dma inf to judgeo koma inf to come dmr nsm judgementi bija inf to pray ba inf to waity yngri nsm younger kr nsf cowu ungr nsm young k asf cowei steinn nsm stone

au draumr nsm dream

ey dreyma inf to dream

5.2.2 Consonants

As in OE, the consonants in ON could be either short or long (geminate),with the exception of [v] (written ), [V] , [T] , [], [j], [h], and thegraphemes and which represented the consonant clusters [ks] and [ts],respectively. The approximate placement of the consonants is given in the chartbelow, with examples. Note that the voiced stopsb d goccur only as geminatesintervocalically, and are replaced by their fricative counterparts [v] [] [G] whennot geminate. Non-geminate falso voiced to [v] intervocalically, while a truegeminatefin the older language is rare at best.

Bilabial Dental A lveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Plosive p(p) b(b) t(t) d(d) k(k) g(g)Nasal m(m) n(n) [N]Fricative f(f) f s(s) [x] [G] hLiquid v l(l) r(r) j

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Examples

Short Longp(:) pa inf to shout heppinn nsm luckyb(:) baka inf to bake krabbi nsm crabt(:) sitr 3s sits gott nsn goodd(:) deyja inf to die rodd nsf voicek(:) taka inf to take akka inf to thankg(:) gra inf to do hyggr 3s thinksm(:) koma inf to come skamma inf to shamen(:) kona nsf woman unna inf to grantN songr nsm songf(:) fara inf to go af-fall nsn discount

eptir prepafterv hafa inf to haveT ungr nsm heavy skoa inf to views(:) kjsa inf to choose kyssa inf to kissx(:) inn-tekt nsf income dokkt nsn dark

glggt nsn clearG eiga inf to ownh hitta inf to meetV vi nsf age, eral(:) sklar npf bowls kalla inf to callr(:) vera inf to be verra nsn worse

j hlja inf to laughdegi dsm day

5.2.3 Syllable Structure

Stressed syllables in ON were one of three lengthsshort, long, or overlongdepending on the length of the vowel and following consonant. This three-way distinction is preserved today in Elfdalian, shown below. Note that a truediphthongONau,ei, andeyare long vowels, whereas the products of breakingON ja, jowere short. Stressed syllables of the type short vowel followed bynothing were impossible in ON; words such as thou,svso, thus, andheyhay scanned as long.

Short Long Overlong

Structure vc vcc vc vcc

Example hafato have bjornm bear heyrato hear hvttn whiteElfdalian v bynn ra waitt

6 Sound Changes

6.1 Vowels

6.1.1 Primary Developments from PGmc

The vowel systems of OE and ON are inherited from the twelve distinct vowelsin PGmc. These are the four short vowelsa e i u , four long vowels o u,three diphthongs ai au eu, and the vowel termed e2, of debated origin. The

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chart below shows the main developments from Late PIE to OE and ON via

PGmc: PIE a o e i u e (ia) ei a o u ai oi au ou euPGmc a e i u e o u ai au eu

OE a e i o u e o u a ea eo oON a e i o u ei au j j

Noteworthy in OE is the presence of the vowel


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In ON the opposite effect occurred when a nasal was assimilated to a following

homorganic stop, i.e. *iand*uwere lowered toeando, respectively: vetrwinter


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6.1.4 Breaking

Both OE and ON underwent a process called breakingor fracture, a processby which monophthongs are broken into diphthongs in certain environments.The processes are quite different in the two languages, however, and cannot beconsidered a common NWGmc process.

In OE front vowels were broken by the influence of following back consonants(namelyl r h). The results are not spread evenly across the dialects nor acrossall environments ofl r h. The outcomes of breaking in West Saxon are as follows:

Before lC rC h(C)

(a) > ea cealdcold < *kaldaz; bearn child < *barna-; seah[he] saw eo meolcan to milk < *melkan-; eoreearth eo) liornan,leornanto learn eo) weohidol


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Old English Old Norse PGmc

PGmc example example*a e settan a e setja *satjan- to seta ldra15 a e ellri *alizo olderO e menn a e menn *manniz menea ie ieldra16 a e ellri *alizo older

o o e dehter17 *duhtri daughtero kmr *kumi comes

u u y cynn u y kyn *kunja- kin grtr *grti crieso o e fet ftr *fotriz feetu u y mys ms *musiz miceai a dlan *dailjan- to

share

au ea e18 heran au ey heyra *hauzjan- to hear

eu eo,o

e ces j,j

ksir *keusi chooses

6.1.6 u-Umlaut

Both OE and ON underwent a back mutation of stressed vowels before a backvowel, but to a different extent. In OE the only vowels affected by back mutationwere a e i, and in different circumstances in the different dialects. OE backmutation can be divided intou-umlaut, caused by auin the following syllable,and o/a-umlaut, caused by the other back vowels. It can be summarized asfollows:

a > ea viau- ando/a-umlaut in Mercian: heafuchawk andfearanto go vs.hafocand faranin the other dialects. All dialects haveealuale eo via u-umlaut in all dialects. In West Saxon only before labials andliquids (eofurboar, butmedumead andbregoprince); in Kentish beforeall single consonants (eofor, meodu, breogo); in Anglian before all singleconsonants exceptcand g(eofor, meodu, brego).

e > eo via o/a-umlaut did not occur in West Saxon (beran to carry, spre-canto speak); in Kentish and Anglian this umlaut occurred under thesame conditions as u-umlaut (Kentish beoran, spreocan; Anglian beoran,sprecan).

i > io via u- and o/a-umlaut occurred under the same conditions as o/a-umlaut ofe: in West Saxon before labials and liquids (liofastthou livest,butwitanto know andsticianto prick); in Kentish before all single con-sonants (liofast, wiotan, stician); in Anglian before all single consonantsexceptcand g(liofast, wiotan, stician).

15Anglian form16West Saxon form17via , found in Northumbrian doehter18Later , y

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In ON u-umlaut is most apparent in the rounding ofa> o, as found in a

number of grammatical categories (pl of neut nouns, many fem nouns andadjectives,1 pl pres of many verbs). Other vowels were rounded as well dueto the influence of*uor *win the following syllable:

a > o londlands rumwe counsel skkvato sink y tryggrtrue ryew tree ey kveykvaor kveikjato ignite


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In West Germanic, however, the geminates were simplified to diphthongs

*-ij-and *-uw-, respectively:PGmc Gothic Old Norse Old English*trewwaz triggws tryggr treowe faithful, true*twajjo twaddje tveggja twegea19 two (gen)

6.3 Consonants

6.3.1 Germanic Consonant Shift

The characteristic shift of the stops from PIE into PGmc can be described infour parts, of debated chronological order:

(1) the spirantization of PIE*p *t *k *kw to*f * *h *hw;

(2) the devoicing of*b *d *g *gw

to*p *t *k *kw;(3) the deaspiration of*bh *dh *gh *gwh to*b *d *g *(g)wand their fricative

allophones*B* *G*(G)w; and

(4) the voicing of*f * *h *hw *sto *B* *G*(G)w *zvia Verners Law.

Verners Law applied to the voiceless spirants that were (1) word-internaland (2) not immediately following the PIE accent: *upri> *uberiover;*ph2t r> *faderfather.

When word-initial, or when preceded by the accent, Verners Law didnot apply: *bhrh2ter> broerbrother.

6.3.2 Primary Developments from PGmc

p t k kw remain in initial position and intervocalically in OE and ON. Initially:OEploh plough ON plgr< *ploga-; OEtacnsign, token ONteiknEru it. This same change occurredin the Mod Swedish ni you < ir(rin ir> rin nir).

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MASC PGmc*mna- PGmc*unkera- PGmc*unsera-

OE ON OE ON OE ONNom mn minn uncer okkarr ure vrrGen mnes mns uncres okkars ures vrsDet mnum mnum uncrum okkrum urum vrumAcc mne mna uncerne okkarn urne vr(a)nNom mne mnir uncre okkrir ure vrirGen mnra minna uncerra okkarra urra vrraDat mnum mnum uncrum okkrum urum vrumAcc mne mna uncre okkara ure vra

NEUTOE ON OE ON OE ON

N/A mn mitt uncer okkart ure vrt

Gen mnes mns uncres okkars ures vrsDat mnum mnu uncrum okkru urum vruN/A mn mn unceru okkur uru vrGen mnra minna uncerra okkarra urra vrraDat mnum mnum uncrum okkrum urum vrum

FEMOE ON OE ON OE ON

Nom mn mn unceru okkur ure vrGen mnre mnar uncerre okkrar urre vrrarDat mnre minni uncerre okkarri urre vrriAcc mne mna uncre okkara ure vra

N/A mna mnar uncra okkrar

ura vrarGen mnra minna uncerra okkarra urra vrra

Dat mnum mnum uncrum okkrum urum vrum

11.2 Demonstrative Pronouns

The demonstrative pronoun paradigm in OE and ON reflects the PIE*so,*seh2,*tod(Greek , , ):

DEM PIE*so m. PIE*todn. PIE*seh2 f.OE ON OE ON OE ON

Nom se, se s t at seo sGen s ess s ess re eirrar

Dat m eim m (v) re eirriInst y y, on (re)Acc one ann t at a

In OE thepl forms arenom acca,gen ara,datm, whereas in ONthe pl forms are identical to the pl of the personal pronoun eir, au, r.

Both languages also preserve compound demonstrative based on *so plus adeictic particle*-se, -si, with the meaning this one (closeby):

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DEM PIE*so m. PIE*todn. PIE*seh2 f.

OE ON OE ON OE ONNom es essi28 is etta eos essiGen isses essa isses essa isse essarDat issum essum issum essu isse essiInst ys ys (isse)Acc isne enna is etta as essa

Like in the personal pronouns, OE shows no gender distinction in the plforms:

PL all masc neut femO. Eng. Old Norse

Nom as essir essi essar

Gen issa essa essa ssaDat issum essum essum essumAcc as essa essi essar

11.3 Old Norse Definite Article

In ON, the paradigm of hinn that one, the other one is identical to that ofthe definite article inn. The latter can also be suffixed on the noun, as is stilldone in all the North Germanic languages.

ART ONhinnthat, the otherMASC NEUT FEM

sg Nom hinn hitt29 hin

Gen hins hins hinnarDat hinum hinu hinniAcc hinn hitt hina

pl Nom hinir hin hinarGen hinna hinna hinnaDat hinum hinum hinumAcc hina hinar hin

Suffixed to the nounsmarm. man,barnn. child, andkonaf. woman,the forms are:

ART *mannan-man *barna-child *kwenon-womanMASC NEUT FEM

sg Nom marinn barnit konanGen mannsins barnsins konunnarDat manninum barninu konunniAcc manninn barnit konuna

pl Nom mennirnir bornin konurnarGen mannanna barnanna konannaDat monnunum bornunum konunumAcc mennina bornin konurnar

28Commonly alsomasc fem sj29hit before an adjective; c.f. Modern Icelandic hitt vs. hi

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11.4 Interrogative Pronouns

The OE interrogative pronouns hwawho and hwtwhat decline in the sgonly, whereas ON hverrwho, what declines as a ia-stem adjective.

INT OE it hwa, hwt who, what ONhverr, hvatwho, whatM/F NEUT MASC NEUT FEM

Nom hwa hwt hverr hvat30 hverGen hws hws hvers hvers hverrarDat hwm hwm hverjum31 hverju, hverriInst hwy hvAcc hwone hwt hvern hvat hverja

In ON the pl forms are:

INT ONhverr, hvatwho, whatMASC NEUT FEM

pl Nom hverir hver hverjarGen hverra hverra hverraDat hverjum hverjum hverjumAcc hverja hver hverjar

12 Verbs

12.1 Strong Verbs

12.1.1 Personal Endings

The PGmc personal endings of the strong verbs were a mixture of PIE thematicand athematic endings, namely sg *-o *-isi *-ii, pl *-amaz *-i *-ani. InOE the 1 sg *-o is still found in early texts and Anglian as -o or -u (bero,beruI bear) although West Saxon took the ending-efrom the sub (bereIbear). The2 sg and 3 sg endings as a rule syncopated after long stems inOE, causing front mutation (helpest thou helpest > hilpst id), which wasthen often generalized after short stems as well (birst thou bearest). The plending-a was generalized from the 3 pl*-ani.

In ON the 1 sgending disappeared completely. The 2 sg-rfrom a rhota-cized*-izispread to the 3 sg(and to all persons today in Mainland Scandina-vian). This ending causes front mutation, which often spread to the1 sg(heldI hold, heldr thou holdest/he holds from halda to hold). Thepl forms

remain distinct in all persons.The personal endings of strong verbs are as follows:

30The form hvert also occurs31Or syncopated hveim

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12.1.3 Class I

This class derives from the PIE root structure *CeiC-, with the PGmc shiftfrom*ei> .

S I PIE*reidh-; PGmc*rdana- to ridePRES Old Englishrdan Old Norsera

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 rde rde r ra

2 rtst rde rr rir3 rt(t) rde rr ri

pl 1 rda rden rum rim2 rda rden ri ri3 rda rden ra ri

PRET

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 rad ride rei ria2 ride ride reitt riir3 rad ride rei rii

pl 1 ridon riden rium riim2 ridon riden riu rii3 ridon riden riu rii

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 rd rda r riPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTrdende riden randi riinn

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12.1.4 Class II

Class II verbs derive from the PIE root structure *CeuC-.

S II PIE*gus-; PGmc*keusana-to choosePRES Old Englishceosan Old Norsekjsa

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 ceose ceose ks kjsa

2 cest ceose ksr kjsir3 cest ceose ksr kjsi

pl 1 ceosa ceosen kjsum kjsim2 ceosa ceosen kjsi kjsi3 ceosa ceosen kjsa kjsi

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 ceas cure kaus kyra2 cure cure kaust kyrir3 ceas cure kaus kyri

pl 1 curon curen kurum kyrim2 curon curen kuru kyri3 curon curen kuru kyri

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 ceos ceosa kjs kjsiPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTceosende curon kjsandi kjorinn,

kosinn

A number of verbs in this class show a present stem of*-u-instead of*-eu-:

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S II PIE*leug-; PGmc*leukana-,*lukana-to close, to lockPRES Old Englishlucan Old Norselka

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 luce luce lk lka

2 lycst luce lkr lkir3 lyc luce lkr lki

pl 1 luca lucen lkum lkim2 luca lucen lki lki3 luca lucen lka lki

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 leac luce lauk lyka2 luce luce laukt lykir3 leac luce lauk lyki

pl 1 lucon lucen lukum lykim2 lucon lucen luku lyki3 lucon lucen luku lyki

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 luc luca lk lkiPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTlucende locen lkandi lokinn

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12.1.5 Class III

The third class of strong verbs derives from PIE roots with the structure*CeRC,and can be divided into three subgroups. The first group includes roots with anasal, which raised*e> *i, i.e. *CiNC.

S III PIE*dhrengh-; PGmcdrinkana-to drinkPRES Old Englishdrinkan Old Norsedrekka

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 drince drince drekk drekka

2 drincst drince drekkr drekkir3 drinc drince drekkr drekki

pl 1 drinca drincen drekkum drekkim2 drinca drincen drekki drekki3 drinca drincen drekka drekki

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 dranc drunce drakk drykka2 drunce drunce drakkt drykkir3 dranc drunce drakk drykki

pl 1 druncon druncen drukkum drykkim2 druncon druncen drukku drykki3 druncon druncen drukku drykki

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 drinc drinca drekk drekkiPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTdrincende druncen drekkandi drukkinn

The second subgroup in this class is made of the root structure*CelC, exceptforlk(OE lc).

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S III PGmc*helpana-to helpPRES Old Englishhelpan Old Norsehjalpa

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 helpe helpe help hialpa

2 hilpst helpe helpr hialpir3 hilp helpe helpr hialpi

pl 1 helpa helpen hjolpum hialpim2 helpa helpen hjalpi hjalpi3 helpa helpen hjalpa hjalpi

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 healp hulpe halp hylpa2 hulpe hulpe halpt hylpir3 healp hulpe halp hylpi

pl 1 hulpon hulpen hulpum hylpim2 hulpon hulpen hulpu hylpi3 hulpon hulpen hulpu hylpi

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 help helpa hjalp hjalpiPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASThelpende holpen hjalpandi holpinn

The final subgroup consists of OE verbs with-rC,-hC, andlc.

S III PIE*uert-; PGmc*werana-to becomePRES Old Englishweoran Old NorseveraIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 weore weore ver vera2 wierst weore verr verir3 wier weore verr veri

pl 1 weora weoren verum verim2 weora weoren veri veri3 weora weoren vera veri

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 wear wure var yra2 wure wure vart yrir

3 wear wure var yripl 1 wuron wuren urum yrim

2 wuron wuren uru yri3 wuron wuren uru yri

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 weor weora ver veriPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTweorende woren verandi orinn

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12.1.6 Class IV

The fourth class of strong verbs derives from PIE roots of the structure *CeR.The PGmc*uin the fourth principle part (i.e. the past participle) was raised to*oin both OE and ON, unless the final resonant was a nasal (OE borenborn,numentaken; ONborinn,numinn).

S III PGmc*stelana-to stealPRES Old Englishstelan Old Norsestela

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 stele stele stel stela

2 stilst stele stelr stelir3 stil stele stelr steli

pl 1 stela stelen stelum stelim2 stela stelen steli steli

3 stela stelen stela steliPRET

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 stl stle stal stla

2 stle stle stalt stlir3 stl stle stal stli

pl 1 stlon stlen stlum stlim2 stlon stlen stlu stli3 stlon stlen stlu stli

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 stel stela stel steli

PTC PRES PAST PRES PASTstelende stolen stelandi stolinn

The conjugation of OEcumanto come, ONkomaid shows irregularitiesdue to sound changes:

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S III PGmc*kwemana-to comePRES Old Englishcuman Old Norsekoma

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 cume cume km koma

2 cymst cume kmr komir3 cym cume kmr komi

pl 1 cuma cumen komum komim2 cuma cumen komi komi3 cuma cumen koma komi

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 c(w)om c(w)ome kom kvma32

2 c(w)ome c(w)ome komt kvmir3 c(w)om c(w)ome kom kvmi

pl 1 c(w)omon c(w)omen kvmum33 kvmim2 c(w)omon c(w)omen kvmu kvmi3 c(w)omon c(w)omen kvmu kvmi

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 cum cuma kom komiPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTcumende cumen komandi kominn

32or kma throughout pret subj33late kvmum, kmum

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12.1.7 Class V

The fifth class of strong verbs had the root structure *CeC, where the secondconsonant was neither liquid nor nasal. This class also contained a number of

ja-verbs, e.g. OEbiddanto pray ON bijaid, which show-i-in the presentstem due toi-umlaut.

S III PGmc*kweana-to say, tellPRES Old Englishcwean Old Norsekvea

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 cwee cwee kve kvea

2 cwist cwee kver kveir3 cwi cwee kver kvei

pl 1 cwea cween kveum kveim2 cwea cween kvei kvei

3 cwea cween kvea kveiPRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 cw cwde kva kva2 cwde cwde kvatt kvir3 cw cwde kva kvi

pl 1 cwdon cwden kvum kvim2 cwdon cwden kvu kvi3 cwdon cwden kvu kvi

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 cwe cwea kve kveiPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTcweende cweden kveandi kveinn

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12.1.8 Class VI

The sixth ablauting class derives from the stem *CoC. In the past participle,OE shows either-a- or --, with the former being reanalyzed from the presentstem. In ON,-e- often appears before gor kas in sleginn slain and tekinntaken.

S III PGmc*farana-to go, to travelPRES Old Englishfaran Old Norsefara

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 fare fare fer fara

2 frest fare ferr farir3 fre fare ferr fari

pl 1 fara faren forum farim2 fara faren fari fari

3 fara faren fara fariPRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 for fore fr fra2 fore f ore frt frir3 for fore fr fri

pl 1 foron f oren frum frim2 foron f oren fru fri3 foron f oren fru fri

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 far fara far fariPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTfarende faren farandi farinn

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12.1.9 Class VII

The final class of strong verbs can only be considered a class historically, asthey initially were the reduplicating preterites like Gothic haihaitwas calledfrom haitanto be called. True reduplication no longer existed in OE or ON,so this once homogenous group went several different directions. Here, I willdistinguish six different subgroups of Class VII.

The first subgroup consists of a fairly homogenous ablauting pattern: OEea - eo - eo - eaalongside ONa - e - e - a. Two examples are PGmc *fallana-to fall and*haldana-to hold:

inf past sg past pl past ptcfeallan f eoll f eollon feallenfalla fell fellu fallinn

healdan heold heoldon healdenhalda helt heldu haldinn

The second subgroup is somewhat similar, consisting of a long vowel orPGmc diphthong in the inf. Here the ablauting pattern in both languages isV: - e - e - V:. Examples of this subgroup are PGmc*haitana- to be calledand PGmcl tana-to let:

inf past sg past pl past ptchatan het heton hatenheita ht htu heitinn

latan let letu latenlta lt ltu ltinn

The third subgroup consists of verbs with the consonant sequence -*nh-andits Verner variant-ng-. The peculiarities of this group can be explained by theloss of the sequence*-nh-with compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel.Examples are PGmc*fanhana-to get, to seize and PGmc*hanhana-to hang:

inf past sg past pl past ptcfon feng f engon fangenf fekk fingu, fengu fenginn

hon heng hengon hangenhanga hekk hengu hanginn

The fourth subgroup shows the reflex of PGmc *eu in the pret, likely

through contraction. Examples are PGmc *hlaupana- to leap, to run andPGmc*hawwana-to hew:

inf past sg past pl past ptchleapan hleop hleopon hleapenhlaupa hljp hljpu hlaupinn

heawan heow heowon heawenhoggva hj hjggum hoggvinn

The final subgroup consists of the ON rhotacizing preterites. It is thoughtthis group arose mainly from two verbs, ONsto sow andrato row, where

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the reduplicated preterites*se-zoand *re-ro> ONsera,reraprovided a basis

of analogy for other verbs. In OE these verbs inflect like the second subclass.Examples are PGmc*sawana-to sow and PGmc*groana-to grow:inf past sg past pl past ptcsawan seow seowon sawens sera seru sinn

grawan greow greowen grawengra grera greru grinn

12.2 Weak Verbs

Uniquely Gmc is the formation of a preterite with the dental suffix *-d-, ofobscure origin. While in Gothic there are more classes, in WGmc and NGmc it

is possible to divide the weak verbs into three classes, based on their formationswith a medial vowel*-i,*-o, or*-e.

12.2.1 Personal Endings

The personal endings of the weak verbs are as follows. Note that the pretsuffixOE-d- ON -- changes to -t- after voiceless stops.

PRES Old English Old NorseIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 -e -e -, -i, -a -a2 -(e)st -e -r, -ir, -ar -ir3 -(e) -e -r, -ir, -ar -i

pl 1 -a -en -um -im2 -a -en -i -i3 -a -en -a -i

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 -de -de -a -a2 -dest -de -ir -ir3 -de -de -a -i

pl 1 -don -den -um -im2 -don -den -u -i3 -don -den -u -i

IMPV

SG PL SG PL2 - -a - -i

PTCPRES PAST PRES PAST-ende -ed -andi -r

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12.2.2 Class I

In both OE and ON it is important to separate this class of weak verbs intolong stems and short stems. The long stems show i-umlaut throughout theparadigm, and form the pretwith the suffix OE-de, ON-a.

S III PGmc*hauzjana-to hearPRES Old Englishheran Old Norseheyra

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 here here heyri heyra

2 herst here heyrir heyrir3 her here heyrir heyri

pl 1 hera heren heyrum heyrim2 hera heren heyri heyri

3 hera heren heyra heyriPRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 herde herde heyra heyra2 herdest herde heyrir heyrir3 herde herde heyri heyri

pl 1 herdon herden heyrum heyrim2 herdon herden heyru heyri3 herdon herden heyru heyri

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 her hera heyr heyriPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTherende hered heyrandi heyrr

In short stems, OE displays i-umlaut throughout the paradigm, with thepretsuffix -ede. ON forms the pretwith the suffix -aand rckumlaut, i.e.a reversal of the i-umlaut found in the pres.

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S III PGmc*framjana-to further, to performPRES Old Englishfremman Old Norsefremja

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 fremme fremme frem fremja

2 fremmest fremme fremr fremir3 fremme fremme fremr fremi

pl 1 fremma fremmen fremjum fremim2 fremma fremmen fremi fremi3 fremma fremmen fremja fremi

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 fremmede fremmede frama frema2 fremmedest fremmede framir fremir3 fremmede fremmede framir fremi

pl 1 fremmedon fremmeden fromum fremim2 fremmedon fremmeden fromu fremi3 fremmedon fremmeden fromu fremi

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 freme fremma frem fremiPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTfremmende fremmed fremjandi fram(i)r

Note that verbs with original *-wj-in PGmc behave as short stems in OE(gierwanto prepare, pret gierede) but as long stems in ON (grva, gra

to do, to make, pret gra).A special subclass of weak -i-verbs shows no connecting vowel in the pret,and therefore no umlaut.

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S III PGmc*sokjana-to seekPRES Old Englishsecan Old Norseskja

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 sece sece ski skja

2 secest sece skir skir3 sece sece skir ski

pl 1 seca secen skjum skim2 seca secen ski ski3 seca secen skja ski

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 sohte sohte stti skta2 sohtest sohte sttir sktir3 sohte sohte stti skti

pl 1 sohton sohten sttum sktim2 sohton sohten sttu skti3 sohton sohten sttu skti

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 sec seca sk skiPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASTsecende soht skjandi sttr

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12.2.3 Class II

The class of weak verbs with a PGmc*-o-or*-oj-shows noi-umlaut anywherein the OE or ON paradigm. The OEpretsuffix for this class was -ode-, whilein ON the suffix was -aa-. Note that a number of ON verbs moved to thisclass, including the inchoative verbs ending in -na (vakna to waken, pretvaknaa) and monosyllabic verbs in - (spto prophesy, pretspa).

Wk PGmc*lubona-to praisePRES Old Englishlofian Old Norselofa

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 lofie lofie lofa lofa

2 lofast lofie lofar lofir3 lofa lofie lofar lofi

pl 1 lofia lofien lofum lofim

2 lofia lofien lofi lofi3 lofia lofienn lofa lofi

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 lofode lofode lofaa lofaa2 lofodest lofode lofair lofair3 lofode lofode lofai lofai

pl 1 lofodon lofoden lofuum lofaim2 lofodon lofoden lofuu lofai3 lofodon lofoden lofuu lofai

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 lofa lofia lofa lofiPTCPRES PAST PRES PASTlofiende lofod lofandi lofar

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12.2.4 Class III

This class of weak verbs had the PGmc suffix *-e-which did not causei-umlautanywhere in the paradigm. Note that the ON pres sghas a later fronting after*e> i in unstressed position. This class formed the pret with the suffix OE-deand ON-a.

Wk III PGmc*habena- to seekPRES Old Englishhabban Old Norsehafa

IND SUB IND SUBsg 1 hbbe hbbe hefi hafa

2 hfst hbbe hefir hefir3 hf hbbe hefir hefi

pl 1 habba hbben hofum hafim2 habba hbben hafi hafi

3 habba hbben hafa hafiPRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 hfde hfde hafa hafa2 hfdest hfde hafir hafir3 hfde hfde hafi hafi

pl 1 hfdon hfden hofum hafim2 hfdon hfden hofu hafi3 hfdon hfden hofu hafi

IMPVSG PL SG PL

2 hafa habba haf hafiPTC

PRES PAST PRES PASThbbende hfd hafandi hafr

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12.3 Preterite-Present Verbs

A number of common verbs fall into the Preterite-Present class, meaning thepres of the verb is conjugated like the pret of strong verbs. All six of theablaut series are represented, although Class 2 contains only OE dugan toavail. Verbs from the other five ablaut series are given below:

PP I PGmc*witana-to knowIND Old Englishwitan Old Norsevita

PRES PAST PRES PASTsg 1 wat wiste veit vissi

2 wast wistest veizt vissir3 wat wiste veit vissi

pl 1 witon wiston vitum vissum2 witon wiston viti vissu

3 witon wiston vita vissuPTCPRES PAST PRES PASTwitende witen vitandi vitar

PP III PGmc*kunnana-to knowIND Old Englishcunnan Old Norsekunna

PRES PAST PRES PASTsg 1 cann cue kann kunni

2 canst cuest kannt kunnir3 cann cue kann kunni

pl 1 cunnon cuon kunnum kunnum2 cunnon cuon kunni kunnu3 cunnon cuon kunna kunnu

PTCPRES PAST PRES PASTcunnende cu kunnandi kunnar

PP IV PGmc*skulana-shallIND Old Englishsculan Old Norseskulu

PRES PAST PRES PASTsg 1 sceal sceolde skal skyldi

2 scealt sceolde skalt skyldir3 sceal sceolde skal skyldi

pl 1 sculon sceoldon skulum skyldum

2 sculon sceoldon skulu skyldu3 sculon sceoldon skulu skyldu

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PP V PGmc*magana-mayIND Old Englishmagan Old Norsemega

PRES PAST PRES PASTsg 1 mg meaht m mtti

2 meaht meaht mtt mttir3 mg meaht m mtti

pl 1 magon meahton megum mttum2 magon meahton megu mttu3 magon meahton megu mttu

PP VI PGmc*aigana-to ownIND Old English agan Old Norseeiga

PRES PAST PRES PASTsg 1 ah ahte tti

2 ahst ahte tt ttir3 ah ahte tti

pl 1 agon ahton eigum ttum2 agon ahton eigu ttu3 agon ahton eigu ttu

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12.4 The Verb To Be

The copula is suppletive in all of Gmc, taking the pres forms from the PIEcopula*h1es-to be and thepretfrom PIE*h2ues-to stay.

In ON the original form of the verb was vesa, with a number of forms in-s:es(t), vas(t), etc. In the table below the rhotacized forms are given.

OE also had a paradigm from a third PIE source, namely*bhuH-to grow,strikingly similar in form and function to Welsh bydd, the habitual present (he)is as opposed toyw, the copular (he) is. The OE forms are inf beon; pressgbeo, bist, bi; pres pl beo; subj sg beo; and subj pl beon.

PGmc*wesana-to bePRES Old Englishwesan Old Norsevera

IND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 eom se em s2 eart se ert sr3 is se er s

pl 1 sind(on) sen erum sum2 sind(on) sen eru su3 sind(on) sen eru su

PRETIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 ws wre var vra2 wre wre vart vrir3 ws wre var vri

pl 1 wron wren vrum vrim2 wron wren vru vri

3 wron wren vru vriIMPV

SG PL SG PL2 wes wesa ver veri

PTCPRES PAST PRES PASTwesende verandi verit

12.5 Old Norse Reflexive Verbs

The verbal paradigm in ON was expanded by the possibility of conjugationwith the suffixed reflexive pronoun sik. Because of the multiple uses of this

conjugation (explained below under Syntax), it is called reflexive, reciprocal,middle, ormedio-passive(Modern Icelandicmimyndmiddle).

pres pretIND SUB IND SUB

sg 1 -umk -umk -umk -umk2 -(a)sk -isk -isk -isk3 -(a)sk -isk -isk -isk

pl 1 -um(s)k -im(s)k -um(s)k -im(s)k2 -izk -izk -uzk -izk3 -ask -isk -usk -isk

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PartIV

Syntax

13 Word Order

Both OE and ON show a word order which was much more variable than ModernEnglish and Modern Danish, for example, largely because of the use of casesto distinguish agent from patient. It is furthermore important to rememberthat both languages come down to us in writing, which can often be freer thanspoken language for stylistic purposes. Finally, it is important to remember thata large amount of the corpora in both languages are translations of e.g. Latin,with a different word order.

The basic, unmarked word order of OE and ON is, like the Germanic lan-guages today, [subject] [verb] [object]. In ON, however, the order [verb][subject] [object] is just as common, and also unmarked:

OE lfrc munuc grett elweard ealdormann ea-m odlce34 The monk lfricgreets the aldorman elweard humbly.

ON eir fundu konungor Fundu eir konung35 They met the king.

Other elements of the sentence could hold the first position of the sentencein marked word order (called fronting). In many Gmc languages, the finite verbmust hold the second position of the sentence (calledV2-constraint), and whilein ON this is mostly the case (except when the verb is in the first position), inOE this was only a tendency, not a requirement:

OE a becom he t o Westseaxan36 Then he came to the West Saxons.

fter issum wordum he ge-wende to m rendracan37 After these wordshe returned to the messenger.

ON Er jarl heyri etta, var hann reir mjok38 When the earl heard this, hebecame very angry.

As in Modern English, OE fronted the verb in yes/no-questions as in Canstu temian hg?39 Can you tame them? In ON, however, such a word ordercould also be a declarative sentence, and so the question markerhvrtwhetherwas often used to introduce a question as in Hvrt er Gunnarr heima?40 IsGunnarr home?

In subordinate clauses, OE tended to remove the finite verb to the end of theclause, as in Modern German. In ON the finite verb followed the subordinatingconjunction and another sentence element (of whatever kind):

OE ...t he woruldhad anforlete41 ...that he should forsake worldliness.34From Davis (1974:79)35From Barnes (2008a:224)36From Hogg (2002:88)37From Davis (1974:83)38From Barnes (2008a:227)39From Hogg (2002:89)40From Barnes (2008b:367)41From Hogg (2002:91)

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ON ...er vr kollum sa ttir, er byggt hafa sgar ok au rki, er ar liggja

til42

...which we call the clann of the sir, who have built sgarr andthe kingdoms which belong to it.

Non-finite verbs were even more mobile in OE and ON than finite verbs.In OE non-finite forms were commonly found at the end of the clause, as inGerman, or attached to the finite verb, as in Modern English. In ON non-finiteforms could also be fronted, as shown above. A few examples are given:

OE Ic lfric wolde as lytlan boc a-wendan to Engliscum43 I, lfric, wishedto translate this little book to English.

Nu habba ge gehyred a Halgan rynesse44 Now ye have heard the HolyTrinity.

ON ...at hefr gert hr annnan kappa ar er Hottr er45

...that you have madeanother champion here where Hottr is.

Ekki skulu mnir menn fltta hyggja46 My men shall not think of fleeing.

Direct and indirect objects could appear in either order in OE and ON, astheir function was clearly visible by the accand dat case markings, respec-tively:

OE Cdmon, sing me hwthwugu47 Cdmon, sing me something.

...t he forgeafe godne willan am seocan henan48 ...that he granted thesick heathen good will.

ON Ok n gaf konungr honum silfr mjok mikit49

And now the king gave himmuch silver.

segir Hjorvarr rendi sitt konungi50 Then Hjorvarr tells the king hismission.

14 Use of the Cases

Primary Functions

The primary functions of the four cases are nom as the subject, gen as thepossessor,datas the indirect object, and acc as the direct object:

OE Englalands cyning geaf him ff beagas.ON Konungr Englands gaf honum fimm bauga.

The king of England gave him five rings.42From Barnes (2008a:225)43From Davis (1974:78)44From Hogg (2002:92)45From Barnes (2008b:14)46From Barnes (2008b:65)47Whitelock (1975:46)48lfrics Homilies I.31.474.33 qtd. in Fischer et.al. (2004:51)49From Barnes (2008b:206)50Hervarar saga ok Heireks 2

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Place

Thedatis used to indicate location: OEin issum landeON essu landiinthis land.

The acc is used for motion towards: OE Heo c omon on t landON eirkvmu at landThey came to that land.

The datis used for motion away from: OE fram m landeON fr landinufrom the land.

Time

Theacc is used for a duration of time: OEealne dgON allan dagall day.

The acc is also used for one point in time: OE on one dgON ann dag

on that day.

The datis used for a span of time: OE on hiera dagumON eirra dogumin their days.

Numbers

The numbers hundred and thousand, which derived from nouns, take thegen: OE feower usend weraON fjrar sundir manna four thousandmen.

The gen is also used with time: OE fiftig wintraON fimmtigir vetra fiftywinters (i.e. fifty years).

The genis sometimes used in the partitive sense: OE hwelc hieraON hvrreirrawhich of them.

15 Verbal Syntax

15.1 Old Norse Reflexive Verbs

As shown above under morphology, ON possessed a verbal conjugation withthe suffixed pronounsik, called thereflexiveormiddle. This conjugation servedfour major functions:

Lexical Some reflexive verbs were fully lexicalized. This included verbs withno non-reflexive counterpart, such as grnask to become green, fromtheadj grnngreen. Other verbs had a non-reflexive counterpart, butwith little or no immediate semantic connection, such as andaskto die,from the verb andato breathe.

Anaphoric The conjugation had a true reflexive or anaphoric function as inaustrmarinn kvezk at vst vilja51 the eastman said (that) he trulywanted it. The same reflexivity could be expressed with a separate pro-nounsik, as inSvasi [...]kva sikvera ann Finninn52 Svasi said (that)he was that Finn. The same-sksuffix, though originally from the acc,

51Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu3.7 qtd. in Faarlund (2004:124)52HeimskringlaI.133.6 qtd. in Faarlund (2004:124)

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could be used with verbs which normally take dat: hlfaskprotect (one-

self) has no difference in meaning as hlfa sr. Finally, some impersonalverbs (seeImpersonal Constructionsbelow) could be made reflexivewith no difference in meaning, such thathonum ttiit seemed to him,he thought means the same as hann ttisk.

Reciprocal With plural subjects the conjugation could take a reciprocal mean-ing each other. This is often found in phrases such as eir mttuskthey met each other, or the common Modern Icelandic expression visjumstwe (will) see each other.

Medio-Passive With some verbs a true medio-passive reading is possible, suchas hann fddisk upp he was raised alongside the active meaning inhon fddi barnshe bore/raised a child. The verbgraskis often found

with the meaning to become, to happen as in gerisk hann sv harr okfrekr53 He became so hard and strict or the common phrase grisk svtil, at... it came to pass, that...

15.2 Passive and Impersonal Constructions

Both OE and ON contained a number of possible sentence structures if thesubject of the sentence was not the agent. Apart from a true passive constructionwhich is still common in Modern Gmc languages, remnants of the other typessurvive in the Englishmethinksand the Danishdrmte mig en drm i nat.

The passive was formed in OE with the verbs beon/wesanor weoranand the past ptc, in ON with vera(occasionally vera) and the past ptc.In both languages the subject was nom if the verb took an accobject in the

active, whereas the subject remained datif the verb took a datobject.Nomsubjects:

OE r wurdon gehled t re halgan byrgene eahta untrume men54

Eight infirm men were healed there at that holy tomb.

onne wron ealle a dura betyneda55 then all the doors were closed.

ON Var s hoggvinn fyrr, er sar gekk56 He who walked behind wasslain first.

Fjrir hleifar braus eru honum frir hvern dag57 Four loaves of breadare brought to him every day.

Datsubjects:OE Forgyfa, and eow bi forgyfen. Sylla, and eow bi geseald58 For-

give, and ye will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you.

ON Honum var heitit bana59 He was threatened with death.53HeimskringlaII.52.10 qtd. in Faarlund (2004:127)54lfrics Lives of Saints I.21.132 qtd. in Fryd (2009:277)55Orosius 59.10 qtd. in Fryd (2009:278)56From Barnes (2008a:251)57From Barnes (2008a:252)58From Bosworth-Toller lmesse59From Barnes (2008a:235)

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Var honum sagt at Arinbjorn sat yfir matbori60 He was then told

that Arinbjorn was sitting at the table.Finally, ON possessed another construction with nonom or dat, but a prepo-

sitional phrase:

ON var lagt at jarlskipinu61 Then there was an attack at the jarlsship (literally: then was attacked at jarls ship).

Impersonal verbal constructions, like passives, were used when the subjectof the sentence was not the agent. The subject could be the experiencer as indrmte mig en drm i nat, which was either in the accor dat, or the subjectwas a semantically void filler as in it is raining. In OE and ON, three suchconstructions are distinguished:

Null subject or semantically empty subject, common for weather verbs or nar-rative setting:

OE a cwom r micel snaw [and] swa miclum sniwde swelce micel flysfeolle62 And it snowed so heavily, as if a lot of fleece was falling.

Swa hit her beforan sg63 As said here before.

ON Frost var veurs, en r hafi snjfat nokkut64 The weather wasfrosty, and it had snowed a bit before.

at var einn dag/morgin... It was one day/morning...

The subject is an experiencer in the acc (more common in ON than OE):

OE Hit gelamp t hine mtte...65

It happened that he dreamed...ON Ragnhildi drttning dreymi drauma stra66 Queen Ragnhildr dreamed

big dreams.

skal hana engan hlut skorta67 Then she shall lack nothing.

The subject is an experiencer in the dat:

OE Him ofhreow s mannes68 He felt pity for the man.

him uhte, t...69 he thought that...

ON Hvat er r, Hjalmarr?70 What is wrong, Hjalmarr?

mr er kalt hondunum71 My hands are cold.60Egils Saga Skallagrmssonarqtd. in Gordon (1956:107)61From Barnes (2008a:232)62Alexanders Letter to Aristotle qtd. in Fischer et.al. (2004:39)63Orosius qtd. in Fischer et.al. (2004:24)64From Barnes (2004:230)65Genesis 37:5 qtd. in Bosworth-Toller mtan66From Barnes (2008a:263)67From Barnes (2004:233)68lfrics Homilies I.13.192.16 qtd. in Fischer et.al. (2004:23)69Bede 28.362.32 qtd. in Fischer et.al. (2004:46)70Hervarar Saga371Orkneyingarsaga qtd. in Cleasby-Vigfsson kaldr

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16 Negation

The basic negative particle OE neONneor nnot was normally place imme-diately before the verb being negated:

OE Ic ne dyde72 I did not.

OE Sl at n vissi, mni at n vissi, stjornur at n vissu73 The sun did notknow it, the moon did not know it, the stars did not know it.

The same particle could be doubled ne...neto mean neither...nor. In ONthe firstncould be replaced withhvrgineither (hvrkiid if there are threeor more negatives) or another negative pronoun:

OE Ne ic ne herige ne ic ne tle74 I neither praise nor blame.

ON hvrki gott n illt75 neither good nor bad.

In OE the particle ne combined with verbs and pronouns beginning in avowel (nan none < ne an), h (nabban have not < ne habban), or w(noldedidnt want


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Orel, Vladimir (2003)A handbook of Germanic Etymology. Leiden: Brill.

Old English

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Old Norse

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18 Introductions and Grammars

PIE and PGmc

Beekes, Robert S.P. (1995)Comparative Indo-European Linguistics: An Intro-duction. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Davis, Norman (1974) Sweets Anglo-Saxon Primer. Ninth edition. Oxford:Clarendon.

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Old English

Barber, Charles, Joan C. Beal, and Philip A. Shaw (2009) The English Lan-guage: A Historical Introduction. Cambridge: University Press.

Campbell, Alistair (1959)Old English Grammar. Oxford: Clarendon.

Fischer, Olga, Ans van Kemenade, Willem Koopman, and Wim van der Wurff

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Hogg, Richard (2002)An Introduction to Old English. Edinburgh: UniversityPress.

Mitchell, Bruce (1995)An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England.Cambridge: Blackwell.

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Singh, Ishtla (2005)The History of English. London: Hodder.

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Whitelock, Dorothy (1975) Sweets Anglo-Saxon Reader in Verse and Prose.Oxford: University Press.

Wright, Joseph and Elizabeth Mary Wright (1914)Old English GrammarSec-ond edition. Oxford: University Press.

Old Norse

Barnes, Michael (2008a)A New Introduction to Old Norse. Part I: Grammar.London: Viking Society for Northern Research.

Barnes, Michael (2008b) A New Introduction to Old Norse. Part II: Reader.London: Viking Society for Northern Research.

Faarlund, Jan Terje (2004)The Syntax of Old Norse. Oxford: University Press.

Gordon, E.V. (1956)An Introduction to Old Norse. Second Edition revised byA.R. Taylor. Oxford: Clarendon.

Karlsson, Stfan (2004)The Icelandic Language. Translated by Rory McTurk.London: Viking Society for Northern Research.

Larsen, Erling Georg (1969)Norrn Grammatik. Oslo: Universitetsforlaget.

Noreen, Adolf (1904) Altschwedische Grammatik: mit Einschluss des Altgut-nischen. Halle: Max Niemeyer.

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Wessn, Elias (1958)Islndsk Grammatik. Andra upplagan. Lund: Norstedts.

Introduction to Old English and Old Norse-libre

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