Just as Marc discussed in the previous post, although English uses the Latin alphabet, it is a Western Germanic Language. The form of english that was spoken during the time of the Anglo Saxons (5th-11th centuries) in England was called Old English. Old English started to appear in the Anglo Saxon's records and writing during the early 8th century. The majority of their texts were written in what is called West Saxon: one of the four main dialects. The other dialects were Mercian, Northumbrian and Kentish.Old English Alphabet:
Old English was first written in what is called "runes" (futhorc), which consist of many symbols that were written on stones and solid objects, but it shifted to a script of the Latin alphabet introduced by Irish Christian missionaries from around the 9th century. This form was replaced by insular script, a cursive and pointed version of the Latin script. Notice how the long vowels are marked with macrons. These originally weren't used in Old English but have been created more recently to distinguish between long and short vowels.The original forms of g and w (yogh and wynn/wen) were based on the letters used at the time of writing Old English. Even today they are still used for g and w in modern translations of Old English. As you can see, the form of Old English has evolved and transformed through the different centuries, mainly from the 5th-11th.
Old English Pronunciation:
Anglo Saxon Futhorc:
This was the runic alphabet used to write Old English before the Latin alphabet was introduced, it was brought to Britain by the Anglo-Saxons and used for writing until about the 11th century. Runic inscriptions are mostly found on jewellery, weapons, stones and other objects. There are very few examples of Runic writing on manuscripts that have survived and are available to see today.
The main theme to focus on in the Anglo-Saxon's progress in their written language is that it was constantly changing with the introduction of new pronunciations and alphabets such as the Latin Alphabet. The way they taught and learned the ever-changing written languages and forms of Old English will be addressed in my next post on Anglo-Saxon schooling and education systems. So tune in for next time to learn about how they actually taught the written languages addressed in this post!
It's interesting to think that a language can actually be separated from its written form. In other words, that you could be saying the same thing when you speak but recording it in different ways by using different alphabets/writing systems.
ReplyDeleteI'm really interested by Runic writing among the Anglo-Saxons. Since inscriptions of this kind of writing have been found on jewelry, weapons, and stones, I wonder if the letters actually symbolized more than just a sound that you would have to make in order to pronounce a certain word. I wonder if some of the symbols had religious connotations that they were associated with throughout Anglo-Saxon history. If they were associated with some religious or cultural meanings, I wonder if that made it even harder for the Anglo-Saxons to replace their writing system with the writing system of the Romans.
ReplyDeleteMarc, I did a little research on your question about religious symbols and the alphabet. Turns out that Latin and Greek have quite a bit of this. For example, "alpha and omega" is a name used for Christ; while they are also the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Check our some other examples here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/symbols/latin_greek.htm
Finally, a language that looks somewhat familiar, at least in your first picture! This post reminded me of the King James Bible exhibit that we viewed after class today. I really liked looking at the writings and trying to piece out what the words said. It was somewhat of a challenge, since the letter s looked like f and V was subbed for a U at times. And they used the letter I instead of a J because they didn't even have one! I don't think I would like that much today, I prefer writing my name Jenna as opposed to Ienna.
ReplyDeleteI think it's very helpful for all of us in modern times that the Romans spread their influence so far - not because they were necessarily any better than anyone else, but because of the standardization they brought to so many things, including the alphabet that almost every country with its base in Western Civilization uses. If not for them, we would all write in runes still, most likely. Which would be fine, except everyone would have conflicting runes. It would be interesting to see how alphabets have conformed in other areas without a major conqueror to unite them.
ReplyDelete@Jenna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMSK-wq3jlg
ReplyDelete