Questions tagged [old-english]
Questions dealing with Old English, i.e. the language of the Anglo-Saxons up to about 1150.
162
questions
4
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2answers
809 views
What did they use in Old English or Middle English before 'of course'?
I'm writing a story that heavily uses archaic or unusual English words, with a focus of non-Latin, non-French and non-Anglo-Norman derived words and how English might work without them.
I found very ...
4
votes
1answer
123 views
Origin of describing emotions with adjectives associated with taste
You might have seen that most of the adjectives that are related to taste are used to describe emotions. It is very common. It exists in many other languages.
Salty, sour, sweet, bitter etc. We use ...
2
votes
1answer
71 views
Pronunciation of -wic in place names
In the TV series The Last Kingdom a number of place names appear. The series typically shows the Ænglisc spelling of place names, followed by the modern one. E.g. the name old name Wintanceaster ...
0
votes
0answers
27 views
Are there english/anglish words for raw meat?
Are there any words for raw meat?
This can mean raw fermented meat, raw cultured meat, raw fresh meat, raw high meat, raw spoiled meat.
And can include specific types of meat, such as poultry, pork, ...
0
votes
0answers
29 views
What is the word order in the founding documents of American history?
Apparently, the historical document passages in SAT tests have some sort of twisted word order. I wonder if there is a proper text on the grammatical word order rules for such documents.
P.S. I ...
0
votes
0answers
34 views
Difference in Negative forms( also Archaic English)
Imagine this, my baby brother was making annoying weird noise to irritate me, so I'd tell him
"Can you NOT do that!" {But here I can't say "CAN'T you do that!"}
Now,imagine my big brother was making ...
11
votes
1answer
186 views
What is the earliest written example of Old English?
What is the earliest written example of Old English?
0
votes
1answer
27 views
Is there a word for “the application of ointments/creams to oneself”?
I know there's a word for "the washing or cleaning of oneself, for personal hygiene, or the ritual washing or cleaning associated with religious observance" which is "ablution", and there's also "...
3
votes
1answer
89 views
How does this Old English text translate in Modern English?
The dedication of the book The White Horse King (Merkle, 2009) contains the following:
Hwa Þeos, Þe gesihÞ swa swa se morgen
Fæger swa se mona
Beorht swa se sunne
Torhtmod swa se scildweall.
...
3
votes
2answers
149 views
Etymology of “to trade”?
Concerning "to trade", I saw on Etymonline:
https://www.etymonline.com/word/trade
late 14c., "path, track, course of action," introduced by the Hanse
merchants, from Middle Dutch or Middle Low ...
7
votes
3answers
3k views
Origin of the word “delete”
What is the history of the word "delete".
It's from Latin "deletus", but I wonder how and why this word was borrowed in English.
Usually, words directly borrowed in English are from religious, ...
6
votes
1answer
209 views
Origin of old English word “offrian”
I know that Latin and old French are implicated, but where does the old English "offrian" come from?
I mean: what is the word evolution from the root? Which root exactly: why this "ian" ending?
...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
What does Ȝecyndbēc mean?
The only link on Google is to this Wikipedia page on a "Poetic Retelling of Genesis". I gather Lēoþ means "song", but there is no definition of the other word. Does is just say "In the beginning" or ...
0
votes
1answer
42 views
What punctuation did the original manuscript of Beowulf have?
I am trying to find information on the punctuation of the Beowulf Manuscript, but not getting much. I found an image online of what appears to be a front page of an old looking book, but I'm not sure ...
-1
votes
1answer
94 views
What is an archaic, rare noun or word for an archetypal, vengeant, past tensive male character who is of the past that many aspire to be like?
What I mean is "someone of old" that people could be drawn to. One who is stuck in the past and in his ways and dislikes the future.
Something like:
• an originator
• an innovator
• a predecessor
• ...
1
vote
0answers
66 views
How to determine Weak and Strong verbs in Old English (Anglo-Saxon)
How to determine whether a verb is a weak verb or a strong verb in Old English ?
9
votes
1answer
123 views
Was Old English “ēalās” equivalent to Modern English “hello”?
In a question in the Spanish Language site about the origin of Spanish hola 'hello', one of the answers states that Old English ēalās, written ēalā before a name, already sounded quite similar to hola,...
3
votes
1answer
107 views
Did Old English have a middle voice or mediopassive voice?
I've read that Icelandic and Old Norse have a middle voice, so I wanted to know if either or both of these distinct grammatical features existed in Old English.
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
9
votes
1answer
264 views
The “prickmouse” and the “butcher's broom”
I sometime go for walks in the wood near where I live, and in the undergrowth, beneath the oaks and pines, you'll find an evergreen prickly shrub which is called pungitopo in Italian. The word is ...
9
votes
2answers
929 views
Why is the origin of “threshold” uncertain?
The Barn, Church Hall Farm, Broxted, Essex (England)
See the YouTube video
(13.40) George Clarke: The architecture of threshing barns is absolutely driven by their function. With two opposing doors ...
3
votes
2answers
594 views
How is 'wl-' pronounced?
How is 'wl-' pronounced at the beginning of a word?
Of course, you just don't pronounce it at all, because there is no English word that begins that way and if there were, well, that's just not ...
0
votes
0answers
30 views
No Gender Nouns [duplicate]
Why do adjectives and some nouns in English not have gender?
Is there a history beyond that?
Don't this cause some ambiguity in the language itself?
7
votes
2answers
5k views
Etymology of 'black'
I saw a news article on ABC news that made the claim that "if you go back far enough in time", the word 'black' used to mean 'white' and has the same origins as the French blanc and English bleach.
...
3
votes
1answer
71 views
Is the edh ð always curved, or can it be straight?
I'm wondering about the orthography of the old english edh ð. It is always drawn (lowercase) as a curved d with the line through it. But I'm wondering if it would be acceptable to just have it be a ...
3
votes
1answer
210 views
How homogeneous was Old English spelling?
Are varying spellings available, or was Old English rather uniform, as far as the sources show?
Variant spelling may have indicated different verbal dialects, but written dialects, involuntary eye ...
5
votes
4answers
441 views
Why do ash (trees) and ash (burnt residue) have the same name?
I've often wondered why ash (trees) and ash (burnt residue) have the same name.
I've looked up the origin of both words, but I don't see anything that explains why the names are the same.
From the ...
1
vote
0answers
39 views
Continuous(Progressive) module in Old English
I'm curious as to the origins of the Continuous(progressive) module.
Whenever I meet texts emulating old speech, like in: video game RPGs, books like the Saxon Chronicles, Hollywood movies about the ...
0
votes
1answer
178 views
Looking for a list of hapax legomena that have lost their meanings over time [closed]
These are words that have lost their meanings over time and can't be reconstructed from context, as it only appeared in that context once and not in others. I've searched with Google but came up empty....
13
votes
2answers
5k views
Scottish, English, why not *Walish?
As the title question asks, and particularly in light of the Old English word wælisc apparently used to refer to "Welsh", when, why, and how did the English adjective meaning "of or relating to Wales" ...
0
votes
2answers
180 views
What is the grammatical name of prefixing a word by “A”?
I've noticed that in English, "some words" (I don't know if it could be used on all words) could be prefixed by the letter "a" to change the meaning,
here are a few examples:
Side and Aside
...
4
votes
1answer
376 views
Where did the word “brat” in reference to a spoiled child originate?
I've heard that the etymology is unknown as the original word refers to a garment and the old English word bratt a cloak. None of these seem to point to how it came to be used derogatorily.
5
votes
2answers
2k views
Shakespeare's “say sooth” vs. “tell truth”
The noun sooth, pronounced /suːθ/, is now archaic and means ‘fact’,‘reality’ and ‘truth’. Its legacy persists in the words soothe /suːð/, and soothsayer meaning someone who sees the truth, a synonym ...
3
votes
1answer
1k views
When do I use æ?
I've always seen this letter but didn't start learning about it until 10 minutes ago. What I was wondering most was when to use it. I have found some conflicting sources about it so if anyone could ...
0
votes
2answers
229 views
Has there been any theory on the vowel /o/ that was inserted into words like “arrow”?
Words like tomorrow, sorrow, arrow, follow, borough contain /o/, as in the diphthong /oʊ/, which was /wə(n)/ in Middle English which was weakened from Old English /x/ or /ɣ/ + some sort of vowel. ...
5
votes
1answer
578 views
Is the “blue” in “blue moon” a reference to betrayal?
There are some previous questions on this site about the etymology of the phrase "blue moon" (What is the origin of the phrase "blue moon"? Any alternate phrase for it?, Why do we call some ...
1
vote
2answers
524 views
Pronunciation and syllables of pre-Modern English “belewe”?
I know the word "belewe" from traditional astronomy as a precursor to the phrase "blue moon", also known as the "betrayer" thirteenth moon in one of every three years that would disrupt a lunar ...
6
votes
1answer
306 views
Can anyone translate this text from the Wessex Gospels of 1175, please?
I would be grateful if someone could translate the following text as I am doing some research on Luke 1:35 and the various historical readings of the text in English :
for þan þt halig þe of þe ...
92
votes
3answers
10k views
How did English retain its non-Christian names of the week?
It amazes me that despite centuries of religion dominating almost every aspect of life in Britain or at the very least exerting a great deal of influence on the public and private sphere, the English ...
16
votes
3answers
2k views
Did Old English (Anglo-Saxon) use contractions?
German uses contractions a lot, including im (in+dem) and zum (zu+dem) to name a few. As an Old English learner, I wanted to know if there were any attested similarities. My research hereto has ...
29
votes
2answers
2k views
Irregular verbs: the history of the suffix “-en” used in past participles
Recently I've been helping my home students learn the past participles of some irregular verbs, in a "new" way. Basically, I show that sometimes the suffix -(e)n is added to the PRESENT stem. For ...
7
votes
1answer
325 views
How did “stroke” become the verb “strike” to mean “deal a blow”?
I've just been looking up the etymology of the word "strike," as in “The pedestrian was struck by a vehicle.” (I was curious about why we always seem to use "struck" in this situation).
A quick ...
10
votes
1answer
217 views
Are there any Germanic cognates to “lithe”?
When winter first begins to bite
and stones crack in the frosty night,
when pools are black and trees are bare,
’tis evil in the Wild to fare.
In this time of ...
12
votes
5answers
2k views
Crush the spearhead leek
I've often wondered why the pungent plant called garlic is a mass noun. If I look at its etymology, I see it is derived from Old English.
Old English gārlēac, from gār ‘spear’ (because the shape of ...
9
votes
2answers
982 views
Why does the past tense form of sleep have a weak suffix?
Meaning: to sleep is a strong verb in the Germanic languages. While I'm quite aware that strong vs weak anything has very little bearing on modern English, this is still something that puzzles me.
...
19
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2answers
2k views
Construction of “woe is me”
The expression “woe is me” (meaning) looks strange. On the surface, it seems to mean “an unhappy event is me”. Sure, it's an old idiom, undoubtedly reflecting vocabulary or grammar that is no longer ...
asked Oct 29 '17 at 19:02
Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
5,0786 gold badges31 silver badges58 bronze badges
5
votes
1answer
899 views
When did all-caps formatting come to indicate shouting?
A question on the History stack discusses when all-caps formatting came to indicate shouting in digital text, the answer being that such formatting has been interpreted to indicate shouting long ...
3
votes
1answer
98 views
“So clean it was fallen away”… what?
This quote is from the Very Bloody History of Britain by John Farman. I have a soft spot for it as the first history book I ever read, almost twenty-five years ago.
I have always wondered what the ...
1
vote
1answer
140 views
Did Old English have /uw/?
Old English had the unstressed syllable rhyme /ij/, spelled as ⟨iġ⟩; which became the Modern English sound /i/, spelled as ⟨y⟩ (or ⟨ie⟩ in plurals). This sound was found in the suffix ⟨-iġ⟩ of "...
1
vote
1answer
217 views
Mixed saying / witty remark about remarks
I need to mix
To err is human, to persist [...] is diabolical
with a joke about too much remarking.
The result should be
To err is human, to persist in remarking is diabolical.
Should I ...
1
vote
1answer
211 views
Use of 'here' for an army in Modern English
I came upon that here used to be utilised for an army (more likely enemy) in Old English (also shown in Wiktionary). The same page also shows that there is a modern form of the word as here and that ...
