Questions tagged [old-english]
Questions dealing with Old English, i.e. the language of the Anglo-Saxons up to about 1150.
194
questions
0
votes
0answers
30 views
Is there a difference between the adverbs “Melancholily” and “Melancholically”?
Melancholia is an old and quite beautiful word which describes a depressed state. It was used as a noun in the same way that “depression” is currently used - and in the medical field was a diagnosis ...
0
votes
1answer
32 views
OE hacele "cloak" vs English hackle?
What is the semantic connection between OE hacele "cloak" and modern English hackle "An instrument with steel pins used to comb out flax or hemp"?
1
vote
0answers
36 views
"every" + possessive + noun
I naively asked a question about the use of "every" with possessives on the ELL thinking there will be a very simple answer. I was pretty sure that saying either
Every your thought is ...
0
votes
0answers
32 views
What does Old English "-gean" mean?
What does Old English "-gean" mean?
axian and axigean both mean "to ask". Does the suffix -gean have a particular meaning, or is it actually an infix -ge- (and what does that mean)?...
3
votes
0answers
50 views
"lift/raise all up to" or "lift/raise up all to"
I know the rule with phrasal verbs and pronouns is that
If the object is a personal pronoun (me, you, him, us, etc.), we always put the pronoun before the particle:
Oh, I can’t lift you up any more. ...
2
votes
2answers
108 views
Is there a word category for a certain kind of words beginning with 'a-'? [duplicate]
A few words beginning with an a came up to my mind recently because their structure is similar in the way they convey their meaning.
Those words are like: atop, alight; afloat, afresh, anew, asleep, ...
3
votes
1answer
146 views
Original / old English word for Metal or Metalcraft
I would like to write my story in Anglish, which is basically, to my understanding, English without borrowed words from other languages. I like it because it sounds familiar and strange at the same ...
0
votes
1answer
42 views
The meaning of word "FOR" at the beginning of sentence [duplicate]
I met some odd usage of preposition "for". I guess it's old style, or high style. I give examples for better understanding:
About this time legend among the Hobbits first becomes history ...
1
vote
0answers
157 views
Why are "said" and "paid"/"laid" pronounced differently?
The words say, pay, lay are phonemically /seɪ/, /peɪ/ and /leɪ/ respectively (with the diphthong /eɪ/). Their past and past participles are respectively: /sɛd/ (or /sed/), /peɪd/ and /leɪd/. The past/...
3
votes
1answer
84 views
Why did "it" lose its initial 'h' but other pronouns such as "him" and "her" didn't?
The pronouns it, him, her had an initial h in the older forms of English which has been retained in her, him, but lost in it (formerly hit).
Etymology of it (Wikitionary):
From Middle English it, hit ...
0
votes
1answer
69 views
About Lovecraft's style to start a sentence with 'For' [duplicate]
I'm reading my first ever novel in English (French is my mother tongue): Tales of Horror by H.P Lovecraft.
Surprisingly, reading this book is fine for me, however there's a sentence construction I don'...
0
votes
0answers
37 views
What did Lord Byron mean by "Away with this cant about nature!"?
In Oscar Wilde's A Sentimental Journey Through Literature, he suggests that the literary critic 'Mr Noel' thought Lord Byron was a "true nature worshipper and Pantheist".
Wilde provides ...
1
vote
1answer
51 views
0
votes
1answer
140 views
How did willa compound with cuma, to signify 'it's well you have come' and 'one who arrives at the pleasure of another'?
I based the subject line on Etymonline, but the other quotations purport different etymons. Regardless which etymons are correct, I don't understand how they begot the meanings of "it's well you ...
-1
votes
1answer
63 views
What did "on by out, over, up" mean?
What did "on by out", "on by up", "on by over" mean?
Why did Old English tack and jam these different prepositions together? E.g. didn't ufan alone mean "above&...
1
vote
2answers
171 views
Identifying Compound words in Modern English
Compound words like SNOWMAN etc, are obvious compound words in Modern English, as both words that make up the compound word exist as words in Modern English.
However, words like SHEPHERD aren't words ...
0
votes
1answer
161 views
Why does "broad" not rhyme with "boat"?
The word "broad" is pronounced /brɔːd/ (some US accents: /brɑːd/) instead of */brəʊd/. The spelling -OA- somehow suggests that these words are closely related and/or were pronounced the same ...
3
votes
2answers
257 views
Was there a /t͡ʃ/ to /k/ sound change from Old English?
I stumbled upon a strange thing while looking up the etymology of words ending in "le". I looked up "kettle" and saw that it was pronounced with /t͡ʃ/ in Old English and also in ...
0
votes
1answer
119 views
Why did the vowel in "Christ" become long in moving from Old English to Middle English?
I have read the following question and all the answers, and they do not answer my question, so it is not a duplicate:
Why are the vowels in Christ and Christmas different? (and other strange diphthong ...
6
votes
2answers
234 views
Why did some English verbs lose nasal endings?
I saw this ending in many words of Old English origin where a word has -an in Old English but then lost in Modern English.
Examples: habban, climban, sceþþan, singan, offrian etc.
I noticed another ...
7
votes
1answer
2k views
What does the phrase "or euer" mean in Middle English from the 1500s?
What does the phrase "or euer" mean in Middle English from the 1500s?
It's often translated as "before", but I'm trying to find out specifically the cultural connotation of what ...
4
votes
1answer
375 views
Was there a D to TH sound change in English?
I looked up the etymology of "father" and see what Etymology Dictionary says:
Old English fæder "he who begets a child, nearest male ancestor;"
It clearly says "fæder" ...
0
votes
1answer
61 views
Is or was "too young for to marry" valid English, now or in the past?
I made a very serious effort to locate the name of this song, and to find more info on it. Sadly, I was unable to. All I have is this YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWTF6nRqNvU
It ...
23
votes
4answers
5k views
Why did the F of "sneeze" and "snore" change to an S in English history?
The etymologies of "sneeze" and "snore" suggest that they were once pronounced with /f/. Here is what Wiktionary (from which all the following information also comes) says:
From ...
1
vote
4answers
1k views
Detailed explanation: what is "dayspring"?
I am looking for information about the beautiful english word dayspring.
Exact meaning, with a link to the meaning in a dictionary. I know dayspring means "dawn or first ray of light" but I ...
16
votes
2answers
4k views
Why did the Old English word "līċ" get displaced by "corpse"?
While checking the etymology of the English word corpse, wikitionary says it had been līċ in Old English. Wikitionary also gives /liːt͡ʃ/ as its pronunciation, which apparently is completely different ...
2
votes
3answers
683 views
How to pronounce IPA "/rɑːp/"? (Old English)
I'm making a video which includes some information about the ancient Saxon and Norman political organization of the English county of Sussex. One thing I am stuck on is the Old English pronunciation ...
1
vote
0answers
40 views
Why does Distal of "yon" got no Source, Goal, Time, Manner, Reason?
I know yon is old-fashioned and bygone. But why blanks in red rectangle? Why it had no Pro-adverb for Source, Goal, Time, Manner, Reason?
4
votes
4answers
179 views
Is there an Old English-derived word for change/alter/modify?
Why is there no word for change / alter / modify that is historically Germanic (that is, existed in Old English)? All of these are historically Latin of latin derivation.
The nearest from Old English ...
2
votes
1answer
214 views
What does "stat 1. c.18" mean?
I'm reading Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations and I keep seeing these chronologic references to reigns of kings and queens in England:
By the 12th of Queen Anne, too, stat. 1, c. 18
What do "...
4
votes
2answers
1k 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
2answers
231 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
197 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
51 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
35 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
2answers
266 views
Why is slain a past participle of slay? [duplicate]
Past participles in the English language usually end with -ed, but slain is one exception. Why can't we have just slayed rather than that and slain, too? And why can't slain be its very own verb?
0
votes
0answers
58 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
673 views
What is the earliest written example of Old English?
What is the earliest written example of Old English?
0
votes
1answer
30 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
139 views
How does this Old English text (from the dedication of the book “The White Horse King”) 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
309 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
273 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
79 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
141 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
1answer
118 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 ?
10
votes
1answer
305 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
277 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/...
10
votes
2answers
411 views
The “prickmouse” and the “butcher's broom”
I sometimes 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 ...
