Old English and Old Norse

Term Paper , 2012 , 11 Pages , Grade: 1,7

English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics

This paper intends to give an insight into the processes that formed Old English under the influence of Old Norse. Noticeably, languages are constantly changing, but in the case of Old English the situation has been particular different from that of other languages. Old English came only into contact with other languages via invasion, raids or traders by ships that sailed to England. Furthermore, due to that fact that some of the Scandinavians finally settled on the island a long lasting language exchange was made possible. In addition to that this it is interesting to state that, again due to the isolation of the island, the impact of Old Norse could remain until today.

The paper tries to answer the question: To which extent did Old Norse influence Old English? It provides information on the historical aspects: How did the two languages encounter and what syntactical, semantic, lexical, and loanword changes were introduced. The paper deals with the very rare topic of one language, changing another one’s grammar by language contact.
Additionally,it tries to explain why certain words where introduced to English language and how the loss of inflection came about.
Furthermore, it provides information on the particular circumstance in the case of Old English and Old Norse supported a vivid language contact.

Index of contents

2. Introduction

3. Scandinavian intrusion and incursion from the eigth to the eleventh century and their final settlement

4. The relation of Old Norse and Old English
4.1 Palatalization
4.2 Grammatical influence

5. Scandinavian loanwords and their character

6.Why did these changes occur?

7. Conclusion

8. Bibliography

• College: Free University of Berlin
• Grade: 1,7
• Author: Otto Möller (Author)
• Publication Year: 2012
• Pages: 11
• Catalog Number: V459775
• ISBN (eBook): 9783668883284
• ISBN (Book): 9783668883291
• Language: English
• Tags: Old Norse, Old English, Language Chance