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antiquary and philologer, (and the conclusion seems to be highly probable,) that we must be content to seek for the groundwork of our language in a gradual coalescence of the leading dialects of all the provinces of England except those that lay furthest north.* The question, how the coalescence was brought about, opens a very interesting track of speculation.

5. The broad doctrine, that the English Language is the direct offspring of the Anglo-Saxon, cannot be too strongly impressed on our minds. That the fact is so, will be plain to every one who examines a few sentences from our ancient relics, with such previous knowledge, or such accompanying aid, as enables him to comprehend their meaning. We will translate an easy passage, before beginning to watch the process by which the one tongue was gradually transformed into the other.

The resemblance between the Vocabularies of the two is very strikingly shown in this passage. It contains four or five words, which our standard speech in modern times does not possess in any shape, but all of which occur in provincial dialects, and in books not older than Chaucer. It contains about as many others, which perhaps disappeared altogether by the fourteenth century. With these exceptions, all its words bear so near a likeness to some with which we are familiar, that the idea conveyed by each of them might be conjectured by a good English scholar, with little risk of serious error.

As to the Grammatical peculiarities, again, the verbs that occur are so like our own, (except in having the infinitive in -an, and plural forms different from the singular,) that the interlined translation is required rather on account of the uncouth spelling, than for any other reason. The student has to remember, however, that the substantives are declined by termination like the Latin, having all the cases except the vocative and ablative, and that the termination usually fixes the gender; and he must be warned, also, that the adjectives, pronouns, and articles, are similarly declined.

Our Extract is taken from Alfred's loose translation of Boethius "On the Consolation of Philosophy." It is a passage in which he has allowed himself very great scope; substituting, indeed, for one of the metrical pieces of the original, a prose story of his own.

"It seems unquestionable, that the dialects of the Western, Southern, and Midland Counties, contributed together to form the language of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and consequently to lay the foundation of Modern English." Sir Frederick Madden's Edition of Layamon's Brut; 1847.

He gives us the classical fable, the lying tale, as he calls it, of Orpheus and Eurydice.*

3

13

6. We' sculon get, of ealdum leasum spellum, the We will now, from old lying tales to-thee sum3 bíspells reccan.io Hit" gelampi gió, thætte án a-certain parable tell. It happened formerly, that α hearpere wæs, on there's theode 16 the17 Thracia hátte.18 harper was, in the nation which

Thrace was-called.

1 The First Personal Pronoun: retained in English: sing. nom. ic; gen. min; dat. acc. me; plur. nom. we (dual, wit); gen. úre (dual, unser, German); dat. us, úr, or uns; acc. us, úr (dual, uns). Here, and elsewhere, the long vowels are marked with an accent ('), in instances where our modern rules of pronunciation might incline us to suppose them short. 2 Scealan, to owe (the English shall, but differently used); imperf. ic sceolde, I should. English, yet. 4 Dat. plur. of adj. eald, whence English eld, elder.

3

Leas, false; whence old English leasing. Also, in composition, void; whence the English affix -less.

6 Dat. pl. of spell, neut. tale, history. In composition, bispell, by-tale, example (German, beispiel); godspell, good-history, gospel.

7 Second Personal Pronoun (with a dual which has long been lost); sing. nom. thú; gen. thin; dat. acc. the; plur. nom. ge; gen. eower; dat.

acc. eow.

• English, some.

9 See Note 6.

10 To reckon; meaning also, when conjugated differently, to reck or care for.

11 Third Personal Pronoun; Sing. Masc. nom. he (sometimes se); gen. his; dat. him; acc. hine; Fem. nom. heó, seó, sió; gen. dat. hire, hyre; acc. hi; Neut. nom. hit; gen. his (as in the English Bible); dat. him; acc. hit. Plural in all genders nom. hi, (sometimes hig, hed); gen. hira, heora; dat. him, heom; acc. hi, hig.

12 From gelimpan, now lost.

14 A'n or an, originally the numeral one.

13 A word now lost.

15 Dat. of Definite Article, which coincides in parts with the third personal pronoun masculine, and with the demonstrative pronoun that. Sing. Masc. nom. se; gen, thes; dat. thám; acc. thone; Fem. nom. seó ; gen. dat. thre; ace. thủ; Neut. nom. that ; gen. ths; dat. thảm; ace. that. Plural in all genders, nom. ace. thả ; gen. thára, thærd ; dat. thảm. 16 Dat. of theod (lost), a people or country.

17 Relative Pronoun undeclined; substituted in later Anglo-Saxon for the definite article masculine se: and thus producing our definite article. A declined relative pronoun is hwile or hwyle (old Scottish, whilk), compounded of hwd-lic, what-like. It passed gradually into the English which. 18 Hatan, to have for a name, whence old English hight, named, or is named.

Thorpe's "Analecta Saxonica" (with Glossary), 1834: Text and Translation compared with Cardale's “ Anglo-Saxon Boethius," 1829.

Thæs19 náma was Orfeus. He hæfde20 án swithe21

His

wíf 23.

name was Orpheus. He had

Sió was

wife. She was

háten 24

called

ænlic2

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Eurydice.

Eurydice.

a very incomparable Thá25 ongann25 Then began

33 and wilde deor

monn27 secgan28 be29 thám hearpere, that he mihte31 hearpian people to-say regarding the harper, that he could harp that se wudu wagode 32 for thám swege, that the wood moved for the sound, thær woldon 35 to-irnan 36 and there would to-run and hí menn40 oththe wæron, swá stille, theáh were, so still, though them men

standan 37
stand.

39

and wild beasts swilce38 hí táme as-if they tame hundes42 with 41 ΟΥ hounds against

19 Gen. of definite article, used as third personal pronoun.

20 Habban, to have; he hæfth, he hath.

43

21 Swithe, swithor, swithost, much, more, most; adv. from swith, strong. 22 One-like, unique, singular,

23 Wif, wife, woman; neuter by termination.

24 See Note 18.

25 Then, when, as.

26 Inf. onginnan; pret. ongan; partic. ongunnen. The root is retained in our word begin (from beginnan).

27 Man or mon; the same as the French on; English, one (as, "one would think "); German, man. In Anglo-Saxon, man, or rather mann, signifies also a man; gen. mannes; plur. nom. menn (regularly mannas); gen. manna; dat. mannum.

28 Infinitive: having in the pret. sing. sagde, sæde; pl. sædon.
29 Be, bi, preposition with dat.: signifying by, beside, of, for.
30 Irregular spelling; see another spelling of the word above.
31 Or meahte, might; from magan (whence may) to be able.
82 Pret. from wagian, to wag.

33 Hence Old English swough (Chaucer); Scottish, sough.

34 Hardly ever meaning deer, except in composition; German, thier. "Rats and mice, and such small deer."-SHAKSPEARE.

35 Willan, wyllan, to will; ic wille, I will; thú wilt, thou wilt. Pret. Ic wold or wolde; thú woldest; he wold or wolde; we, ge, hi, woldon.

36 Example of a compound form, greatly more common in Anglo-Saxon than in modern English; from yrnan or irnan, otherwise rennan (German, rennen), to run.

37 Inf. standan; pres. ic stande, thú stenst or standest, he stent or stynt ; pret. ic stod, we stodon; partic. gestanden.

38 Adv. from swile or swyle (from swa, so; and ylc, same), such.
90 Pl. from tám, tame.
40 See Note 27.

41 Either, or; whence the English other and (by contraction) or. 42 Sing. nom. acc. hund; gen. hundes; dat. hunde; plur. nom. acc. hundas; gen. hunda; dat. hundum. The -es in the plur. nom. and acc. (which confounds those cases with the sing. gen.) is an irregular form, which became more and more frequent as the language decayed, and was one of the steps towards the English.

43 Against or towards, retained in English, but with a meaning not usual in Auglo-Saxon: the Anglo-Saxon preposition signifying with is mid.

44

eódon, thæt hí hí ná ne15

went, that

they them not not

onscunedon.46 Thá sædon" shunned. Then said

hí that thæs they that the

hearperes48 wíf sceolde" acwelan,50 and hire harper's wife should

die,

and her

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55

*

57

should lead to Hades.

on

7. Thá thám hearpere thá thúhte, that hine nónes56 When to-the harper then it-seemed, that him of-no` thinges ne lyste58 thisse59 worulde, thà thóhte 60 he thing not it-listed in this world, then thought he that he wolde gangan, and biddan1 thæt hí him ageafon that he would go, and beg that they to-him give

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62

Thá he

When he

hearpode, thá clypode se cyning,65 and
harped, then called
the king, and

44 Inf. gán or gangan; pres. ic gá or gange, he gath; pret. ic eóde, we eódon; partic. gán, agan, agán, gangen (Scottish, gang, gae, gaen). 45 Repetition of negatives; very common in Anglo-Saxon.

46 Inf. onscunian, from scunian; whence the English shun.

47 See Note 28.

48 Gen. of hearpere, used above.

4o See Note 2. Here, as often in Anglo-Saxon and Old English, scealan is used, like the German sollen, to indicate a reported or indirect recital. 50 Verb neut. from the act. cwellan or acwellan, to kill (quell).

51 Scottish.

52 See Note 27.

53 Inf. lædan or gelædan; pret. ic lædde, gelædde; part. gelæded, gelæd, læded, læd.

54 Dat. of hell; from Hela, the goddess of death in the Norse mythology.

55 Inf. thincan; prot. thúhte; partic. gethúht; an impersonal verb, signifying, it seems (whence the English methinks). 50 Gen. of nán. 57 Gen. of thing; an example of the origin of our English possessive in 's.

53 Inf. lystan; pret. lyste; to desire, be pleased with. Generally used impersonally, as here. English, list, lust.

59

Nom. masc. thes; fem. theos; neut. this, thys; plur. nom. in all

genders, thás. Oblique cases very various.

60 Inf. thencan (also bethencan, gethencan), to think; pret. thóhte; partic. gethöht. Compare Note 55.

61 Inf. biddan; pret. bad; partic. beden; to beg, to bid; hence English beadsman.

02 Or geafon; subj. pret. plur. from inf. gifan (or agifan); pret. ic geaf, gaf, gaf; we geafon; partic. gifen.

69 Back, again, after.

64 Pret. from inf. clypian or cleopian; partic. geclypod; to call, to cry whence Old English yclept, iclept, named.

6s Otherwise written cynig, cyneg, and cyng.

cwæth:66 "Uton

said:

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he

69

72

agifan thám esnes his wíf, forthám he give to-the fellow his wife, because he hí hæfth geearnod:70 and sæde: gif" he hine underbæc her hath earned: and said: if besawe, that he sceolde forlætan' that looked, that he should lose mæg76 swithe uneathe" forbeódan78. Wei la wei!79 Hwæt!

may very difficultly forbid:

*

beseáh

81

*

backward .../

wíf. Ac lufe mon

the woman. But love one

Alas! What!

*

so thá

83

Tha he forth on that leoht com,8 When he forth into the light came, then he hine underbæc, with82 thæs wifes: thá losede backward, towards the woman then was-lost sona.8 Thas spell lærath gehwylcne man she to-him straightway. This

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66 Inf. cwethan; pret. cwath; whence Old English quoth.

man,

67 Said to be used for giving an imperative power to the infinitive of the verb. An Adverb, meaning without or beyond, from the adverb ut, out. 68 A serf. See the manumission of Gurth in Ivanhoe.

69 For-that; an example of a common kind of Anglo-Saxon adverbs, of which we retain some; as, nohwar, tharon, thærin; while we have formed many others on the same principle.

70 Inf. earnian (or geearnian); part. geearnod. When ge- is a prefixed augment of derivative parts of the verb (as it still is usually in German participles) it has often been retained by the Old English in the softened form of y- or i-.

7 Originally the imperative of gifan, to give.

72 The preposition under, and bac, a back; behind backs.

73 Inf. beseón (from seón, to see); pret. ic beseáh, thu besawe, he besawe or beseáh; hine beseón, to look (literally, to be-see himself, as in the phrase "to bethink himself.")

74 Commonly, to permit, or forsake; from for (prep.) and lætan, to let.

75 Lost in this shape and meaning; but supposed really the same with ac, dc, or éc (also), which was originally the imperative écan, to eke or add.

76 See Note 31.

77 Adv. from uneath (literally, un-easy); from un primitive (German ohne, without), and eath, easy.

78 From for (here negative, as the German ver-) and beódan, to bid or command; pret. bead, bude, bod; partic. boden.

79 Etymology and spelling doubtful; Old English, well-away!

so Inf. cuman; pres. ic cume, he cymth; pret. com; partic. cumen.
81 See Note 73.
82 See Note 43.

The Anglo

83 Losian, to lose; also, as here, to be lost, or to perish. 84 English, soon. The Anglo-Saxon, sunu, means son. Saxon, Sunne, sun: it is feminine because of Norse mythology: as mona moon, is, for the same reason, masculine.

85 Used for this. See Note 59.

86 Inf. læran; substantive lære, lore (Scottish, lair, lear).

87 Accusative, in the indefinite form, of gehwyle, every, whatever,

from hwyle, what, which.

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