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Using OE to learn other Gmic languages

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limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4186 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"
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limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4186 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"
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limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4186 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

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limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4186 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"
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limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4186 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"
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limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4186 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"

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limey75
Senior Member
United Kingdom
germanic.eu/
Joined 4186 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 :)
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Volte
Tetraglot
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Switzerland
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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.


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