The_Story_of_English_Part2

Part 2. “THE MOTHER TONGUE”

Questions:

PART 2.2.

1. In 793 the second great invasion took place.

2. What was Alfred the Great famous for?

His victory over the Danes.

He united his people.

He began the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and encouraged the use of English for writing as well as speech.

3. What is the Danelaw?

A line agreed by treaty in the Danelaw (border between the Vikings and Saxon south)

4. What do the words Thorpe and Beck mean?

Thorpe – settlement(Gowthorpe); Beck - stream

5. Listen to Yorkshire English. Note its peculiarities.

Full of “Viking” words.

In almost every cases -o- is pronounced like [o] (about, town etc)

-u- is pronounced as [u] instead of [˄] in a words like must, jump etc

6. What are typical Saxon endings and words?

-ton-, -ham-, -stead-, -stow-, -wick-, -ing-, -ford-, -boro-, -wold-

Place names

7. What does the ending “-ton” mean?

Enclosure

8. In 1066 the Norman invasion took place.

9. Who is the Duke of Normandy?

The title of William the Conqueror

10. Who is King Harold?

The last English speaking king for nearly 300 years.

11. Government, law and administration were conducted in French.

12. In 1155 English monks abandoned writing the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles.

13. Compare the Lord’s prayer in English before and after the Norman invasion. What are the differences?

The word gehalgod has changed. The word order is quite different.

14. The invaders didn’t touch the structure of the language but they had a great impact on its vocabulary.

15. The Norman Conquest was a blessing in disguise. Name some of the French borrowings (about 10, 000) into English.

Royal, regel, sovereign, felony, assault, perjury, judge, jury, turnip, plaintiff, defendant.

16. Who is Geoffrey Chaucer?

The first great writer in English literature

17. In what language was the inscription on Chaucer’s thumb made?

Latin

18. Pay attention to the reading of Canterbury tales.

19. Who was William Caxton?

England’s first printer