(450-1150)

TheevolutionofEnglishinEnglandhasbeenan
unbrokenone,withthisdevelopmenthoweverit is
possibletorecognisethreemainperiods.Theperiod
450to1150isknownasthe-OLDENGLISH
PERIOD.TheAnglosaxonconquestmarksthe
beginningoftheoldEnglish periodandNorman
conquestitsend.
 There were a number of kingdoms in the old
english period .Hence there were a number
of dialects in old English ,out of these the
four prominent dialects were KENTISH,
WESTSAXON ,MERICAN, NORTHUMBRAIN.
During the old English period the
westsaxon dialects gained
supremacy .There are many
reasons for the popularity of the
west saxon dialects.
Wessex being the most
civilised kingdom among the
rest.
Most of the library works were
written in the west saxon dialect.
Riddles and treaties were writtenin
the west saxon dialect.
The Germanic people in the early
times used a special alphabet known as
the Runic alphabet.
Old English had seven vowels- a,e,I,o,u
andoe which was the combination of
two symbols called the ‘Ash’ symbols.
Old English had 16 consonants
Old was phonetic in character
In oldengilsh there were certain
symbols which stood for more than one
sound.
Old English was highly inflected language
and so the old English period is called the
period of full inflection. Old English was a
synthetic language ie, one which indicates
the relation of words in a sentence by means
of inflections.Old English noun s had 2
numbers singular and plural. All noun had
grammatical gender.There were two forms of
adjectives in old English There were two
tenses in old English single present tense and
single past tense .
In the course of first 700years of its
existence, English was brought into
contact with three other language.
The language of the celts, the
romans and the scandinavian . Each
of these contacts resulted in
additions to its vocabulary.
 Celtic the orginal Language of Britian has left
a few marks on the spoken language . The
anglo saxons preserved the celtic names of
cities ,towns ,rivers, and mountains. Some
words reffering to natural features of
landscape. The celtic influence is mainly
seen in the area of place names
There were three distinct occasions on which
borrowing from latin occurred before the end
of the old English period.
Continental Borrowing
Latin through celtic transmission
Christanization of Britain
 Near the end of the old Engilsh period ,
English underwent a third foreign influence
the result of contact with another important
languagescandinavian –the language of
swedes,norwegiaang and the danes. They are
commonly called as VIKINGS. The periodof
their activity extended from the middle of
the 8th century to the beginning of the 11th
century is popularly known as viking age. The
scandinavian influence upon old English was
due to their attacks ,settlements and
ultimate conquest of britain .
THANK YOU….