nairi Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Practicing Old English can be loads of fun, but sometimes I wonder what my neighbors must think, if only because I utter the same sounds over and over to myself HERE'S an idea of what it looks and sounds like. And HERE'S a word list of Modern English to Old English. And for those among you who may be eager to learn some basics, HERE'S King Alfred's Grammar. Have fun! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Nairi jan, is that really fun? Who can you talk to in that language? But it sounds like a cool German sounding language. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nairi Posted October 31, 2003 Author Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Who can you talk to in that language? To everyone who speaks it It's mainly learned for reading Old English texts, which are generally repetitive and boring, but I'm trying to find some fun in learning the language anyway. It's a compulsory part of my course. I'm not planning on specializing, don't worry Just thought I'd introduce it to those who have never seen it before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted October 31, 2003 Report Share Posted October 31, 2003 Oh I see, so you are a linguistics student?. I thought its a hobby of yours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bellthecat Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 Actually, although Old English is now very distant from modern English, it is not that distant from modern Scots. I can read the wonderful "The Dream of the Rood" and understand a lot of it. Glancing at that Modern English to Old English word list I spotted quite a few words that are still in use in Scotland. For example (English - old English - modern Scots): bridge - bricg - brig church - cirice - kirk go - gan, gongan - gang headland - næss - ness house - hus - hoose night - niht - nicht town - burg, burig - burgh weep - greotan - greet And there are probably a lot more that are pronounced similarly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nairi Posted November 1, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 Brilliant observation Steve! It's very true. Scots retained a lot of Old English words. The pronunciation seems to be slightly different though, and in many cases closer to modern English than anything else, all in speculation of course but with some fairly well-grounded evidence/theory. cg = dg = bridge c = ch = chiriche (with stress on first syllable) u = oo g = g or y, for instance gear is pronounced year. h = ch in lochness. y = ü as in German fünf This is mostly the written West-Saxon dialect though. Northumbrian retained many of its own features, as did many of the other dialects. It's a little more complex than this, and since I'm not specialized ic eom afraid to say too micel about it yet, butan I can give away that there were a few "mutations" in the phonetics. Sasun, please don't insult my professors It's philology I'm studying English language and literature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THOTH Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 Not sure if its quite "old" English...but I did read the Canturbury tales once - a ways back...and it cetainly seemed a bit archaic to me...LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 Nairi jan, sorry... didn't imagine that philologists could also study that stuff. But philology? humm... interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nairi Posted November 1, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 Not sure if its quite "old" English...but I did read the Canturbury tales once - a ways back...and it cetainly seemed a bit archaic to me...LOLLol. The Canterbury Tales were actually written in Middle English, 14th Century. Old English was used in Anglo-Saxon England before 1100 AD. By the time Chaucer wrote his Tales, English was already beginning to look and sound much more like the English we know today. Although even with the Canterbury Tales, unless you're experienced, you can't read it without a glossary and some help, but it certainly is more recognizable than Old English. I love the Canterbury Tales btw, if only because an Armenian city is mentioned in the General Prologue j/k Seriously, one of my favorite Tales is The Miller's Tale. If you find the time, HERE'S the original with interlinear translation of this tale. It's definitely worth a read, especially for Azat and Sip and their like :) The rest of the Tales are brilliant as well, not to mention very funny. Sasun jan, yes, philology also involves the changes in a language. So on the one hand we're learning to read and pronouce Old English, and on the other we're learning how English developed into what it is today. Although philology and linguistics are interchangeable terms now, to avoid confusion we (at my school) use linguistics for specific features in a language like phonetics, semantics, morphology etc., and philology for the development and changes of a language in both historical and social context. But the two are of course very much related and show many parallels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormig Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 Ah, Nairi, how I wish I was in your place. Instead I ended up studying engineering. :where's that hair-pulling emoticon?: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accelerated Posted November 1, 2003 Report Share Posted November 1, 2003 (edited) Ah, Nairi, how I wish I was in your place. Instead I ended up studying engineering. :where's that hair-pulling emoticon?: Im also sorry I chose eng as one of my majors, mainly because its too much hard work for little reward, but it does give you a shart/flexible mind IMO. Edited November 1, 2003 by Accelerated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vava Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 A 'Shart' Mind, huh Juggs? No, Eng. school has it's benefits - but it's pretty narrow track, and to those who are generalists, as opposed to specialists it can be quite limiting... I respect engineers - they're in such a noble profession... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormig Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 What do you mean, one of your majors?I had a minor beside my major, but I dropped it - decided I didn't like it after all (courses I could choose from were not appropriate for someone who is working on a minor!) and it wasn't going to get me anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Accelerated Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 What do you mean, one of your majors? Im a double majors (degree) student, the other being Finance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sip Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 I can't believe you two are complaining about engineering ... what other type of major can you go through an entire degree system without having to read through a single book? If you have common sense, creativity, and a systematic approach to problem solving (which is a learned trait I think) then it's like a walk in the park. Sure you'll have sleepless nights doing projects and homeworks and stressing about tests and what not ... but at least you don't spend your years staring at books and writing endless pages of crap. With history and most liberal arts stuff you are forced to go and learn what was, has been, is, will be, etc by reading and reading and reading the endless stream of "stuff" produced by others. With biology and chemistry you are memorizing "stuff" and learning a bit about how things work. With math and physics you are going DEEP into theory and the abstract and you have to put a lot of effort and train your body to start to think theoretically. With most engineering type majors, you only get enough of the theory to give you a framework to think and analyze things ... after that, it's all fun and games of DOING stuff!!!! Gotta love the science of doing things as opposed to learning things!!!!! Oh and especially in "CS + E", I loved the fact that I had a chance of getting good grades on a test without having to know everything a-priori. You have to appreciate questions that you can figure out the answer to without specific prior knowledge!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormig Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Sip, true to a point. I'm not "complaining" that I opted for engineering. I just don't think I was tailored best for it, that's all. Yeah, if you are the ultimate survivor, you can tease an engineering degree silly, but this has just meant that other than the times I had to do all-nighters and cram stuff up, I've ended up reading into things I like, things maybe I could've pursued a major after and loved it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nairi Posted November 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Non merita nome di creatore, se non Iddio ed il Poeta. (No one merits the name of creator, except God and the Poet) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Non merita nome di creatore, se non Iddio ed il Poeta. (No one merits the name of creator, except God and the Poet) So true! I would add composers also. BTW, who has said that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sasun Posted November 2, 2003 Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 Oh and especially in "CS + E", I loved the fact that I had a chance of getting good grades on a test without having to know everything a-priori. You have to appreciate questions that you can figure out the answer to without specific prior knowledge!!!! Once I had to take a test in philosophy like that. I didn't attend the classes, only 1 or 2 maybe. When I was answering the question the professor said that I had read a lot of things. I didn't read anything for that course, not even lecture notes. But he gave me a tricky question which I couldn't answer and got a 4 (. He gave me as much time as I needed to think, and whatever I tried came out wrong. At last I gave up. Guess what was the right answer - quantum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nairi Posted November 2, 2003 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2003 So true! I would add composers also. BTW, who has said that?Mister Tasso. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nairi Posted December 30, 2003 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 Nairi jan, is that really fun? Who can you talk to in that language? For whoever thought Old English was a dead language Here's the Chronicles of 2003 AD in Old English http://www.buckrogers.demon.co.uk/nasc2003.htm#Y03APR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormig Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 And then there was the "Legende of Longue Azat Liste"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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