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What if we spoke Old English? | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| christian Senior Member United States Joined 5042 days ago 111 posts - 135 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, German | Message 1 of 18 26 February 2011 at 11:33pm | IP Logged | ||
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While currently using Assimil for German I find some of the German structure and words to fit more perfectly with
what I would call Shakespearean English. For instance "I mag es nicht" or "I don't like it" fits the Shakespearean poetic grammar of say "I like it not". There are so many words and phrases in German where it relates a lot to Old English. Of course English is Germanic based, but would our lives be easier in the language learning sector had we still spoken Old English. I know that English once had a stronger declension system, and the formal "you". So to future German learners, I give the advice of "think in terms of Old-English". 5 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| jdmoncada Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 4826 days ago 470 posts - 741 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Finnish Studies: Russian, Japanese | Message 2 of 18 27 February 2011 at 12:16am | IP Logged | ||
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It's an interesting analogy, but I would like to be pedantic and point out that Shakespearean English is not "Old English". It is very much considered Modern English. So yes, sometimes the flowery alternative helps, but not because it is Old.
The more exacting term would perhaps be "Early Modern English." Food for thought. 7 persons have voted this message useful | |||
| yawn Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5218 days ago 141 posts - 209 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, FrenchC2, SpanishC2 Studies: GermanB1 | Message 3 of 18 27 February 2011 at 3:30am | IP Logged | ||
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Yes, Shakespearean English is not Old English - that description would more accurately reflect works by Chaucer, or
whoever wrote "Beowulf". But English and German still belong to the same language family, so it isn't surprising that they have such similarities. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| ellasevia Super Polyglot Winner TAC 2011 Senior Member Germany Joined 5934 days ago 2150 posts - 3229 votes Speaks: English*, German, Croatian, Greek, French, Spanish, Russian, Swedish, Portuguese, Turkish, Italian Studies: Catalan, Persian, Mandarin, Japanese, Romanian, Ukrainian | Message 4 of 18 27 February 2011 at 3:59am | IP Logged | ||
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Precisely. Old English is almost unrecognizable as English from the perspective of a modern speaker. Here's a sample of something about Europe written in Old English (from Wikipedia):
Europe is worulddǣl, se westdǣl in Eurasian. Europe hæfþ 800 millionen lēoda. Man nemneþ hīe worulddǣl be þēawe, ac þis wǣre þēawlicore þonne landlicore scēadung. Hēo bebyrdaþ norþ þone Arctiscne Gārsecg, west þone Atlantiscne Gārsecg, sūþ þone Wendelsǣ, and ēast þæt gemǣre, þe is þēawlīce gemearcod and nis sweotol. 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Spanky Senior Member Canada Joined 5748 days ago 1021 posts - 1714 votes Studies: French | Message 5 of 18 27 February 2011 at 4:26am | IP Logged | ||
Chaucer actually wrote in Middle English, which reflected a significant change from Old English: Whan that aprill with his shoures soote The droghte of march hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licour Of which vertu engendred is the flour; Whan zephirus eek with his sweete breeth Inspired hath in every holt and heeth Tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne Hath in the ram his halve cours yronne, And smale foweles maken melodye, That slepen al the nyght with open ye (so priketh hem nature in hir corages); Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages, And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes, To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes; And specially from every shires ende Of engelond to caunterbury they wende, The hooly blisful martir for to seke, That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke. Edited by Spanky on 27 February 2011 at 4:28am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| christian Senior Member United States Joined 5042 days ago 111 posts - 135 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Japanese, German | Message 6 of 18 27 February 2011 at 7:47am | IP Logged | ||
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What I MEANT was Middle English. The English after the Latin alphabet shift, and before Modern English.
1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| yawn Bilingual Tetraglot Senior Member United States Joined 5218 days ago 141 posts - 209 votes Speaks: English*, Mandarin*, FrenchC2, SpanishC2 Studies: GermanB1 | Message 7 of 18 27 February 2011 at 8:58am | IP Logged | ||
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@ Spanky: Ah, my mistake. "Beowulf" was definitely written in Old English though, right?
1 person has voted this message useful |
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