Alphabets

The first Old English written records are considered to be the runic inscriptions.To make these inscriptions people used the Runes/the Runic Alphabet – the first original Germanic Alphabet.

Runes/Runic Alphabet:

· appeared in the 3^rd – 4^th c. A.D.;

· the word “rune” meant “secret, mystery”;

· each symbol indicated a separate sound (one symbol = one sound);

· the symbols were angular due to the fact that they had to be carved on hard materials;

· the number of symbols: GB – 28-33; on the continent – 16-24).

Best known Runic Inscriptions:

1. Franks Casket – a box with 4 sides made of whale bone, each side contained a picture in the centre and runic inscriptions around the picture that told the story of the whale bone in alliterative verse.

2. Ruthwell Cross –was found near thevillage of Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire, it is a 15 feet tall stone cross ornamented in all sides with runic inscriptions that are actually a passage from a religious poem “The Dream of the Rood”.

Old English Alphabet

The Old English Alphabet was borrowed from Latin, but there were also some letters that were borrowed from the Runic Alphabet: (“thorn”) = [q] and [ð];(“wynn”) = [w]; (“mann”) = stood for OE word “man”; (“dæζ”) = stood for OE word “day”. Some new letters were introduced:

ζ = [g] and [j]; ð/þ/Đ/đ = [q] and [ð]; æ = a ligature of [a] and [e]; œ = a ligature of [o] and [e].

Rules of Reading:

They resemble the modern rules, with several exceptions though:

1.f = [v] s = [z] 1. between vowels;2. between a vowel and a voiced consonant ( [r, m, n, l, d, etc.] ). ð/þ = [ð]

2.– [j] – before and after front vowels (y, e, i, æ] );

ζ (yough) – [g] – before back vowels ( [a, o, u] ) and consonants at the beg of words, after n

- [г бел] – between 2 back vowels (a,o,u) and after l. r

cζ = [г’] .

3. –[k’] before and after front vowels (y, e, i, æ)

c - [k]

4. –[x’]after front vowels (y, e, i, æ)

h - [x] after back vowels ( [a, o, u] ) and consonants at the beg of words, after l,r

- [h] before vowels at the beg of words

Old English Manuscripts

Most of the Old English manuscripts were written in Latin letters (some letters were changed and some new letters were added). The Old English manuscripts that give us the examples of the language of that period are:

· personal documents containing names and place names;

· legal documents (charters);

· religious texts

· textual insertions (pieces of poetry).

· Anglo-Saxon chronics

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The old alphabets. Major written records.

<== попередня сторінка	\|	наступна сторінка ==>
The formation of the national E language. The London dialect.	\|	Old English Poetry

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