Register  Login  Active Topics  Maps  

Using OE to learn other Gmic languages

 Language Learning Forum : Philological Room Post Reply
9 messages over 2 pages: 1 2  Next >>
limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4405 days ago

119 posts - 182 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Norwegian, Old English

 
 Message 1 of 9
09 December 2012 at 11:19pm | IP Logged 
Or maybe vice-versa, using other Germanic languages to learn Old English. There are masses of parallels, words which no longer exist in modern English, or whose meaning has changed significantly.

Here are some OE words compared with German and Norwegian. These are just off the top of my head - there are many more. Can you come up with more examples?

fretan "devour" - fressen "eat" (used mainly of animals)
weaxan "grow" (preserved in "wax and wane") - wachsen "grow", vokse "grow"
cwelan "die" - quälen "torment"
ârian "honour" - ehren "honour", ære "honour"
bêodan "offer" - bieten "offer"
brûcan "enjoy; use" - brauchen "need; use", bruke "use"
gêotan "pour" - gießen "pour"
wunian "dwell" - wohnen "live, reside"
scêawian "inspect" - schauen "look"
spyrian "ask" - spørre "ask"
mære "renowned" - Märchen "fairy tale, story"
earm "poor" - arm "poor"
wênan "hope" - vona "hope, expect"
rîce "kingdom" - Reich "empire", rike "kingdom, empire"
bearn "child" - barn "child"
here "army" - Heer "army", hær "army"
sidu "custom" - Sitte "custom, practice"
weald "forest" - Wald "forest"
stîgan "climb" - steigen "climb", stige "climb, rise"
wrecan "avenge" - rächen "avenge"
dêor "animal" - Tier "animal", dyr "animal"
lêod "folk, people" - Leute "people"
helið "hero" - Held "hero", helt "hero"
lîk(hamo) "body" - Leiche, Leichnam "corpse", lik "corpse"
ward "protector" - Wärter "guard"
cweþan "say" (archaic "quoth") - kvede "chant, sing"
frignan "ask" - fragen "ask"
steorfan "die" (modern "starve") - sterben "die"
friþ "peace" - Friede "peace", fred "peace"
1 person has voted this message useful



limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4405 days ago

119 posts - 182 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Norwegian, Old English

 
 Message 2 of 9
10 December 2012 at 12:16am | IP Logged 
2 more:

hýd "skin" (modern "hide") - Haut "skin"
æðele "noble" - edel "noble, precious"
1 person has voted this message useful



limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4405 days ago

119 posts - 182 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Norwegian, Old English

 
 Message 3 of 9
10 December 2012 at 5:51am | IP Logged 
Some more:

hærfest "autumn" - Herbst "autumn", høst "autumn"
hêah-môd "proud, haughty" - Hochmut "pride, arrogance"
ofermôd "pride, arrogance" - Übermut "arrogance", overmot "arrogance"
heahtîd "festival, solemnity" - Hochzeit "wedding"
hleow "shelter, protection" - ly "cover, shelter"
burh "fortress, castle" - Burg "castle"
geac "cuckoo" - Gauch "cuckoo"
cempa "warrior, soldier" - Kämpfer "warrior"
camp "war, battle" - Kampf "battle, fight"
fugel "bird" (modern "fowl") - Vogel "bird", fugl "bird"
sige "victory" - Sieg "victory", seier "victory"
mere "sea; lake" (modern "mere") - Meer "sea"
hengest "horse, steed" - Hengst "stallion"
þweán "wash" - två "wash"

Edited by limey75 on 10 December 2012 at 5:52am

1 person has voted this message useful



limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4405 days ago

119 posts - 182 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Norwegian, Old English

 
 Message 4 of 9
10 December 2012 at 5:51am | IP Logged 
And 2 from Dutch:

gebûr "farmer, dweller" - boer "farmer" (Bauer "farmer, peasant")
bifian "tremble" - beven "tremble"
1 person has voted this message useful



limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4405 days ago

119 posts - 182 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Norwegian, Old English

 
 Message 5 of 9
10 December 2012 at 6:04am | IP Logged 
hægtesse "witch" - Hexe "witch", hekse "witch"
1 person has voted this message useful



limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4405 days ago

119 posts - 182 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Norwegian, Old English

 
 Message 6 of 9
10 December 2012 at 6:46am | IP Logged 
spic "bacon, lard" - Speck "bacon"
leac "leek; onion" - løk "onion"
swamm "fungus, mushroom" - svamp "mushroom" (Swedish)
leax "salmon" - Lachs "salmon", lax "salmon"
grafan "dig" - graben "dig", grave "dig"
flôd "running water, river" - Fluß "river", flod "river" (arch.)
dæl "valley" (modern "dale") - Tal "valley"

1 person has voted this message useful



limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4405 days ago

119 posts - 182 votes 
Speaks: English*
Studies: German, Norwegian, Old English

 
 Message 7 of 9
10 December 2012 at 11:28pm | IP Logged 
greotan "weep" - gråte "cry, weep"


Not long ago I watched a Scottish film. One of the characters told another to "stop all that greeting" (i.e. crying).

So greotan survives in Scots English :)
1 person has voted this message useful



Volte
Tetraglot
Senior Member
Switzerland
Joined 6445 days ago

4474 posts - 6726 votes 
Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian
Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese

 
 Message 8 of 9
11 December 2012 at 2:47pm | IP Logged 
You'll find a fair few old Germanic words in Scots; child is 'bairn', for instance. This list of Scots, Old Scots, and English words may interest you.


2 persons have voted this message useful



This discussion contains 9 messages over 2 pages: 2  Next >>


Post ReplyPost New Topic Printable version Printable version

You cannot post new topics in this forum - You cannot reply to topics in this forum - You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum - You cannot create polls in this forum - You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page was generated in 1.1426 seconds.


DHTML Menu By Milonic JavaScript
Copyright 2024 FX Micheloud - All rights reserved
No part of this website may be copied by any means without my written authorization.