1. Thomas Honegger t.m.honegger@gmx.de
From Caedmon to Caxton
Thomas Honegger

2. Tolkiens Weltbild(er)
Zweites Tolkien Seminar der DTG
FSU April 2005
Hörsaal 6, Carl-Zeiss-Strasse 3
Programm Homepage Anglistik oder unter

3. A (Literary) History of the English Language
‘Literary’ counterpart to Prof. H. Diessel’s lecture History of the English Language

4. Recommended Reading
Barber, Charles The English Language. A Historical Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Baugh, A.C. & Thomas Cable A History of the English Language. 5th edition. London: Routledge.
Blake, Norman A History of the English Language. London: Macmillan.

5. Recommended Reading
Freeborn, D From Old English to Standard English. 2nd edition. London: Macmillan.
Millward, C.M A Biography of the English Language. 2nd edition. Boston: Thomson/Heinle.
Pyles, Thomas and John Algeo The Origins and Development of the English Language. 4th edition. Fort Worth, Texas: Harcout Brace Jovanovich

6. Recommended Reading
The Cambridge History of the English Language. Vol. I-V Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

7. The father of English poetry
Caedmon
The father of English poetry

8. Bede’s account of Caedmon
Bede (Beda Venerabilis) *637, 735
Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum 731
A History of the English Church and People
Book IV, Chapter 24 (A.D. 680)

9. Caedmon’s Hymn
Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard Metodes mihte 7 his modgeπonc, weorc wuldorfaeder, swa he wundra gehwaes ece drihten, ord onstealde; He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard; ece dryhten aefter teode firum foldan, frea aelmyhtig.

10. Caedmon’s Hymn
Now we must praise heaven-kingdom’s Guardian Creator’s might and his mind-thought work Glory-father’s as he of-wonders each everlasting Lord, beginning established. He first shaped of-earth for-children heaven as roof, holy Creator; then middle-earth, mankind’s Guardian, everlasting Lord, after determined for-men homeland, Ruler almighty.

11. Caedmon’s poetic output
Creation of the world and of the human race (Genesis)
Israel’s exodus from Egypt (Exodus)
Entry into the Promised Land (Joshua)
Lord’s Incarnation
Passion, Resurrection, Ascension
Judgment Day

12. English?
Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard Metodes mihte 7 his modgeπonc, weorc wuldorfaeder, swa he wundra gehwaes ece drihten, ord onstealde; He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard; ece dryhten aefter teode firum foldan, frea aelmyhtig.

13. Old English - English / Germannu we
sculan
herian
heofon
rice
weard
now / nun
we / wir
shall / sollen
––– / hehr
heaven / (Himmel)
rich / Reich
warden / Wärter

14. Old English - English / German
mihte
weorc
wunder
aerest
gesceop
eorπan
hrof
middangeard
might / Macht
work / Werk
wonder / Wunder
ere/ erst
shaped / schuf
earth / Erde
roof / –––––
middle- / Midgart

15. English
Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard now we shall praise heavenkingdom’s warden
spelling & pronunciation?
more or less ‘phonetic’ spelling of Old English; ‘continental’ pronunciation

16. English
Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard now we shall praise heavenkingdom’s warden
inflections?
sculan – sollen – shall__
rices – des Reichs – of the kingdom

17. English He aerest gesceop bearnum heofon to hrofe syntax? subject: he
direct object (acc.): heofon
indirect object (dat.): bearnum

18. English
vocabulary?
He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard.
continuation: heofon – heaven, eorπe – earth
semantic change: scyppan – shape (=> replaced by ‘create’)
substitution: bearn – child

19. Literature?
Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard Metodes mihte 7 his modgeπonc, weorc wuldorfaeder, swa he wundra gehwaes ece drihten, ord onstealde; He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard; ece dryhten aefter teode firum foldan, frea aelmyhtig.

20. Literature? Criteria for literature? topic? diction? form?
informative - relational - expressive

21. Literature!
Nu we sculan herian heofonrices weard Metodes mihte 7 his modgeπonc, weorc wuldorfaeder, swa he wundra gehwaes ece drihten, ord onstealde; He aerest gesceop eorπan bearnum heofon to hrofe, halig scyppend, πa middangearde, moncynnes weard; ece dryhten aefter teode firum foldan, frea aelmyhtig.

22. Alliteration / Stabreim
Examples from the OE poem Beowulf (try to find the alliterating sounds)
on fagne flor feond treddode,
ligge gelicost leoht unfæger
recedes muπan. Raπe æfter πon
eode yrremod; him of eagum stod

23. Alliteration / Stabreim
on fagne flor feond treddode,
a a // a x
ligge gelicost leoht unfæger a a //a x
recedes muπan. Raπe æfter πon a x // a x
eode yrremod; him of eagum stod a a //x a

24. Alliteration / Stabreim
Basic rule for alliterative long line:
at least one (and at most two) of the stressed syllables of the first half-line alliterate(s) with one (usually the first) stressed syllable of the second half-line:
a (a) // a x
identical consonants alliterate
all vowels alliterate
glottal stop

25. Before Caedmon ca. A.D. 680 Caedmon
A.D. 597 Re-christianisation of England through missionaries from Rome (Augustine of Kent and his followers)
A.D. 449 Anglo-Saxon invasion
A.D. 409/10 Rome calls back the last remaining legions in Britain
A.D. 43 Roman army conquers Britannia
ca. 500 BC Celtic settlement of Britain

26. Before Caedmon
ca. 500 BC Celtic settlement of Britain => Britain with a Celtic speaking population
A.D. 43 Roman invasion => Celtic speaking population with Latin speaking upper class / administration
4th cent. A.D. Christianisation of Roman Britain

27. Before Caedmon
A.D. 409/410 retreat of the Roman occupation/protection force => Celtic speaking population, Latin among educated people
A.D. 449 onwards: Anglo-Saxon invasion => conquest of Britain goes hand in hand with the loss of Roman culture (towns, roads, literary culture, administration)

28. Before Caedmon
Anglo-Saxon invasion => ‘oral’ culture (cf. Tacitus’ Germania A.D. 98)
pagan culture

33. Map of the Germanic tribes according to Tacitus’ Germania (98 A.D.)

34. English and Indo-European
English is a Germanic language
the Germanic language group is part of the Indo-European language family

39. Evidence for IE languages
700 English
500 Armenian
400 Gothic
200 Latin
400 Classical Sanskrit
800 Greek
1200 Hittite
1500 Vedic Sanskrit
3000 Proto Indo-European

40. Theories about a common source
correspondences across languages:
Engl. two - Goth. twai - Latin duo - Greek duo - Sanskrit dva
Engl. fish - Goth. fisks – Latin piscis – Greek ikhthys
Engl. father - Latin pater - Greek pater – Sanskrit pitar

41. Theories about a common source
James Parson, 1767, The Remains of Japhet, being historical enquiries into the affinity and origins of the European languages
languages of Europe, Iran and India derived from a common ancestor
the language of Japhet and his offspring, who had migrated out of Armenia, the final resting place of the Ark.

43. Isidore of Seville, Mappa Mundi 12th century

46. Mappa Mundi North on top

47. Theories about a common source
Sir William Jones (1796):
The Sanskrit language [bears to both Greek and Latin] a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could have been produced by accident; [...] no philologer could examine all three without believing them to have sprung from some common source

48. Reconstructing the Common Source
Avis, jasmin varna na a ast, dadarka akvams, tam vagham garum vaghantam, tam, bharam magham, tam manum aku bharantam. (Schleicher 1868)
Owis, jesmin wel´na ne est, dedok’e ek’wons, tom, woghom gwerum weghontom, tom, bhorom megam, tom, gh’emonm ok’u bhertontm. (Hirt 1939)

49. Reconstructing the Common Source
owis, kwesyo wlhna ne est, ekwons espeket, oinom ghe gwrum woghom weghontm, oinomkwe megam bhorom, oinomkwe ghmenm oku bherontm. (Lehmann and Zgusta 1975)
A sheep, on which wool not was, saw horses, one, a wagon heavy pulling, one, a load great, one a man swiftly carrying.

50. In search of the IE homeland
Linguistic evidence:
common words for: cold, winter, snow, honey, wolf, beech, pine
no common words for: ocean, palm, elephant, camel

51. IE Homeland

52. Early historical distribution of the major IE linguistic groups

53. simplified depiction of the development of the Germanic languages
Protogermanic
Northgermanic Westgermanic Eastgermanic
Anglo-Frisian Gothic (†)
Old Norse Old English Old High German
Anglo-Norman
Old Frisian Middle English Middle High German
Old Dutch
Frisian English German Yiddish
Scandinavian languages Flemish Dutch Afrikaans