Abutan Engliscgereorde: Everyday Speech

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The discussion centers on the use of Old English in everyday speech, particularly referencing Bede's Story of Caedmon, which was translated into a West Saxon dialect. Participants express skepticism about the prevalence of Old English among commoners, noting that most were illiterate and may not have understood the literary vocabulary. The conversation also touches on the existence of a learned dialect that could have sounded foreign to peasants, suggesting that the oral Germanic bardic tradition influenced the development of a more ornate literary language. Additionally, the transition from Old English to Middle English is highlighted, with the Peterborough Chronicle serving as a key resource for understanding this linguistic evolution. Overall, the thread explores the complexities of language use in historical contexts.
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Any links to how this was used in every day speech ?
 
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Say what? What is the title of your thread about?
 
It's Old English "about English Language".

Bede's Story of Caedmon here, is a translation from latin into a West Saxon dialect of Old English.

"swetnisse ond inbryrdnisse geglængde ond in Engliscgereorde wel geworht"

http://137.122.151.29/ENG3316B/story_of_caedmon.htm

This is an easier side by side translation

http://www.heorot.dk/bede-caedmon.html

I don't know that this was used in everyday speech by commoners, as most were illiterate. maybe SA knows, I'm going to make some coffee and look it up. Good way to start my day. :smile:
 
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God dogor mine frond Evo, is there a way to use OE on script on pc?
 
Evo said:
It's Old English "about English Language".

Bede's Story of Caedmon here, is a translation from latin into a West Saxon dialect of Old English.

"swetnisse ond inbryrdnisse geglængde ond in Engliscgereorde wel geworht"

http://137.122.151.29/ENG3316B/story_of_caedmon.htm

This is an easier side by side translation

http://www.heorot.dk/bede-caedmon.html

I don't know that this was used in everyday speech by commoners, as most were illiterate. maybe SA knows, I'm going to make some coffee and look it up. Good way to start my day. :smile:

Well I don't know either, but turn the question around, was there sufficient depth of literary tradition in Bede's and Caedmon's time to have developed a learned dialect that would have sounded alien to the peasants' ears if it were read out to them by a scholar? I don't really think so, though there may have been some purely literary words in Bede's vocabulary.
 
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selfAdjoint said:
Well I don't know either, but turn the question around, was there sufficient depth of literary tradition in Bede's and Caedmon's time to have developed a learned dialect that would have sounded alien to the peasants' ears if it were read out to them by a scholar?.
Very probably, I'd say!

If you look at the oral Germanic bardic tradition, the vocabulary here is extremely ornate, and far removed from day-to-day speech.
Such court language can perfectly well have been the model for the development of a literary vocabulary.
 
Maybe so, although I don't know enough about the conditions in the north of England (where I believe Bede's monastery lay) to say for sure. Is there any scholary work on this available online?
 
This Wiki article skims the topic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English

Middle English was one of the three languages current in England. Though never the language of the Catholic Church, which was always Latin, it lost status as a language of courtly life, literature and documentation, being largely supplanted by Anglo-Norman. It remained, though, the spoken language of the majority, and may be regarded as the only true vernacular language after about the mid-12th century, with Anglo-Norman becoming, like Latin, a learned tongue of the court.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peterborough_Chronicle

It is also a valuable source of information about the early Middle English language itself. The first continuation, for example, is written in late Old English, but the second continuation begins to show mixed forms, until the conclusion of the second continuation, which switches into an early form of distinctly Middle English. The linguistic novelties recorded in the second continuation are plentiful, including at least one true innovation: the feminine pronoun "she" (as "scæ") is first recorded in the Peterborough Chronicle (Bennett).
 
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