Old English Test 2 Study Guide

Front 1

Sir William Jones's contribution to modern linguistics...

Back 1

...comparative linguistics

Front 2

Sir William Jones is also called...

Back 2

...Oriental Jones

Front 3

What was the paper Sir Wm. Jones published and presented to the Asiatick Society of Bengal about?

Back 3

The relationship between the Sanskrit of India and the languages of western Europe and the Middle East. More specifically, the relationship similarities between the words of Sanskrit and those of Latin, Greek, and English.

Front 4

Why was Sir Wm. Jones sent to India by the British?

Back 4

To be a judge in Calcutta, which was under the rule of the British at the time.

Front 5

Name the Romance languages.

Back 5

Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Galacian, Walloon, Catalan, and Romansch

Front 6

What was the first sound shift?

Back 6

Grimm's Law

Front 7

What was the second sound shift?

Back 7

Verner's Law

Front 8

What was Grimm's Law of 1822 about?

Back 8

Jacob Grimm describes a series of phonological generalizations derived from a comparison of the Germanic languages with classical Latin and Greek. It describes a series of mutations in Proto-IE consonants which probably began about 500BC and continued over the course of several centuries. Grimm's Law describes the major way in which Germanic languages deviated from early Classicl languages.

Front 9

In Grimm's Law, what does bh, dh, gh mutate into to?

Back 9

b, d, g

Front 10

In Grimm's Law, what does b, d, g mutate into to?

Back 10

p, t, k

Front 11

In Grimm's Law, what type of spelling change does k mutate into?

Back 11

spelled c, with a hard k pronunication

Front 12

In Grimm's Law, what does p, t, k mutate into to?

Back 12

f, th (theta symbol), h (x)

Front 13

Make a memory sentence to remember bh>b>p>f

Back 13

BeHind Betty's Pink Fingernails

Front 14

Make a memory sentence to remember dh>d>t>th(theta symbol)

Back 14

During Hattie's Dinner Tom Thought

Front 15

Make a memory sentence to remember gh>g>k>h(x)

Back 15

GHosts Got Katie's House

Front 16

What was known as the Second Sound Shift?

Back 16

Verner's Law

Front 17

What is Verner's Law about?

Back 17

Karl Verner (1875) devised a law to explain the irregularities of Grimm's Law. Verner explained that the lack of change in medial syllables is due to the shift in accent and in stress that occurred in words between the PIE and Proto-Germanic periods. Verner explains that the stress mutates from the central syllable to the first syllable in most Germanic words.

Front 18

In Verner's Law, what language is described?

Back 18

Primitive Germanic

Front 19

In Verner's Law, the stress started on what syllable and shifted to what syllable?

Back 19

The medial or middle of central syllable then it shifted to the first syllable.

Front 20

In Verner's Law, the voiceless fricatives are what three phonemes?

Back 20

f, theta (th), h (x)

Front 21

In Verner's Law, the voiceless fricatives mutate into what?

Back 21

voiced bh, dh, gh

Front 22

In Verner's Law, what happens to the voiced bh, dh, gh?

Back 22

Grimm's Law takes effect with bh, dh, gh becoming b, d, g

Front 23

Apply Verner's Law to IE "peter"

Back 23

OE faeder

Front 24

Apply Verner's Law to IE "kaput"

Back 24

OE heafod

Front 25

Apply Verner's Law to IE "kluto:"

Back 25

OE hlud

Front 26

Apply Verner's Law to IE "mekr(-)"

Back 26

OE mahar

Front 27

Apply Verner's Law to IE "konk"

Back 27

OE hong

Front 28

Apply Verner's Law to "plo:t"

Back 28

OE floda

Front 29

Apply Verner's Law to IE "duka:"

Back 29

OE togian

Front 30

Who are the Celts?

Back 30

The Celts were the first to leave their linguistic mark on Great Britain and Ireland (the British Isles). They were bronze and iron workers that created superior weapons compared to the native stone age workers. The Celts were a group of loosely connected tribal societies. Due the Celtic inability to unite against the Romans they were at a loss against their invasions. They were battle hungry and formed clans with central villages. Their homes were thatch-roofed structures, but they built stronger hilltop fortresses of timber and earth.

Front 31

What was the greatest contribution to the British language made by the Celts?

Back 31

Place names, such as "London" and "Thames"

Front 32

How did the re-Christianization of England affect national literacy?

Back 32

Re-Christianization of England increased national literacy. The literacy rates grew. Prior to Christianity's influence, most knowledge was transmitted orally by "scops", who memorized the history, learning, and poetry of their people. Now, though more people become literate, it is not across the whole island. Estimates hover around 10% of Britain being literate during the Old English period.

Front 33

The Anglo-Saxon word "Tuesday" is based on what?

Back 33

Tiu, the god of war

Front 34

The Anglo-Saxon word "Wednesday" is based on what?

Back 34

Woden, chief of the Teutonic gods

Front 35

The Anglo-Saxon word "Thursday" is based on what?

Back 35

Thor, the thunderer

Front 36

The Anglo-Saxon word "Friday" is based on what?

Back 36

Freya, the goddess of love

Front 37

What were the three major periods of Latin influence on Old English?

Back 37

1. The Continental Period- before the Anglo-Saxon invasion of the British Isles, when tribes were living on the European continent.

2. The Period of Celtic Influence

3. The Re-Christianization Period

Front 38

How can we date a Latin word that was borrowed into the English?

Back 38

Compare the Latin word's Classical or Vulgar Latin form with the Old English cognate, looking for a series of vowel mutations (changes) which occurred regularly in the Germanic languages at specific periods in history. If the vowels mutating between the Latin form and the Old English form then we know that the Latin word made it into English before the mutations occurred. If the vowels did not change, then the Latin word was borrowed in after the changes were completed in words accepted as English words.

Front 39

What three regular vowel changes that occurred during the Re-Christianization period on the British Isles?

Back 39

1. breaking

2. diphthongization by initial palatals

3. I-umlaut

Front 40

What are some OE derivational morphemes that are suffixes?

Back 40

Suffixes to make adverbs out of adjectives, include:

-lic (-ly)

To make adjectives out of nouns:

-ig (-y)

-sum (-some)

-wis (-eous)

-ful (-full)

-leas (-less)

To make new nouns from old nouns, or to change adjectives and verbs into nouns:

-dom (-dom)

-end (-end)

-ere (-er)

Front 41

OE also had numerous prefixes to create new meanings from a single verb or derivational morphemes, name a few:

Back 41

a-

be-

fore-

for-

ge-

mis-

of-

ofer-

on-

to-

un-

under-

wip-

Front 42

The influence of Latin on OE included the (1) Continental Period, what was going on with the Anglo-Saxons and Romans then?

Back 42

The Continental Period runs from the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Frisians' first contacts with the Romans up to the point where they departed for the British Isles and became relatively isolated from Roman culture. During the Continental Period, the Germanic tribes borrowed Roman words related to military life, such as "camp", "weall" (wall), "straet (street), etc.

Front 43

The influence of Latin on OE included the (2) the Celtic Period, what was going on then?

Back 43

The Celts were either fleeing or melding in with the Anglo-Saxon culture. The Celtic places names attributed to Celtic Latin borrowing are the morphemes -caster, -chester, and -cester. These three morphemes were derived from Latin word -castra, meaning military encampment or fort, and these denote a place that was once a Roman military fort.

Front 44

The Latin influence on OE that has to do with (3) the Re-Christianization Period was...

Back 44

...relates almost completely to church functions, though early on there were some Latin influence over household language, and later on in the 10th century, church reform. There became increased educational opportunities that led to a number of scholastic and scientific words being borrowed in to the language. Along with three regular sound changes which occurred during the Re-Christianization of the British Isles: breaking, diphthongization of initial palatals, and I-umlaut.

Front 45

What is vowel quality in OE?

Back 45

That there is a sound difference between two different phonemes, such as /a/ and /e/.

Front 46

What is vowel quantity in OE?

Back 46

For certain words there was a difference in the amount of time that one held a vowel. For example, there were long and short versions of the vowels. A long vowel in OE was voiced for an extra half beat longer than that of a short vowel.