Script & Alphabet

ᚠ

ᚢ

ᚦ

ᚩ

ᚱ

ᚳ

ᚷ

ᚹ

ᚻ

ᚾ

ᛁ

ᛄ

ᛇ

ᛈ

ᛉ

ᛋ

ᛏ

ᛒ

ᛖ

ᛗ

ᛚ

ᛝ

ᛟ

ᛞ

ᚪ

ᚫ

ᚣ

ᛡ

ᛠ

f e o h

ū r

þ o r n

ō s

r ā d

c ē n

g y f u

w y n n

h æ g l

n ȳ d

ī s

g e r

ē o h

p e o r þ

e o l h

s i g e l

t ī r

b e o r c

e h

m a n n

l a g u

i n g

ē þ e l

d æ g

ā c

æ s c

ȳ r

ī o r

ē a r

A

Æ

B

C

D

E

F

G

Ȝ

H

I

L

M

N

O

P

R

S

T

Þ

Ð

U

Ƿ

Y

a

æ

b

c

d

e

f

g

ȝ

h

i

l

m

n

o

p

r

s

t

þ

ð

u

ƿ

y

A Fusional Language

m	singular	plural
Nom.	stān	stānas
Acc.	stān	stānas
Gen.	stānes	stāna
Dat.	stāne	stānum

Flexible Word Order

The servant	seeks	the king
The king	seeks	the servant

	Der Diener	sucht	den König
	Den König	sucht	der Diener
Dass	der Diener	den König	sucht
	Den König	der Diener	sucht
	Der König	sucht	den Diener

Flexible Word Order

Se þēow	sēceð	þone cyning
Þone cyning	sēceð	se þēow
Þone cyning	se þēow	sēceð
Se þēow	þone cyning	sēceð
Se cyning	sēceð	þone þēaw

German Parallels

Ic	geseo	minne	cyning
Ich	sehe	meinen	König

Him	wæs	þearf	micel
Ihm	war	Bedarf	großer

Þa	wæs	Sarran	sar	on	mode
Dann	war(’s)	Sara	schmerzhaft	am	Herzen

Þa	andswarode	se	Wisdom	ond	seo	Gesceadwisnes:	…
Dann	antwortete	die	Weisheit	und	der	Verstand:	…

Nan	mon	ne	seah	hire	wrað
Kein	Mann	<NEG>	sah	sie	verärgert

Nominals

Old English nominals inflect for:

• case: nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, (instrumental);
• number: singular, (dual,) plural;
• gender: masculine, neuter, feminine;
• pronouns also inflect for person: first, second, third.

Case

These are the basic uses of the cases:

Nominative	subject, subject complement, address
Accusative	direct object, object complement
Genitive	possession, description, adverbial uses (note the partitive genitive construction)
Dative	interest, possession, adverbial uses (e.g. time), comparison, (absolute)
Instrumental	means/manner, comparison, (accompaniment), time

Nominative	Se cyning is gōd Ælfred wæs Westseaxna cyning Lā ælmihtiga God and ealra cyninga cyning
Accusative	Ic gesēo mīnne cyning Þū hine ongēate unweorðne
Genitive	Æðelflǣd wæs þæs cyninges dohtor Angle sind swā fægeres hiwes menn Hē wunode on dūnum dæges and nihtes Fīftȳna sum sundwudu sōhte Se wæs þāra manna mōdgast ealra

Dative	Hē geaf his dohtor Burgrēde cyninge Þā wearð God þām werode wrāð Him wæs þearf micel Dægtīdum ic oft spǣte sperebrōgan Hīe wǣron englum gelice (Þām gedōnum andswarige eall chor)
Instrumental	Se palm þe drihten sylf sette his āgenum handum Þā wæs gāst ofer holm boren miclum spēdum Þȳ geare wæs senoð æt Heorotforde Barrabas wæs þǣr þȳ sīðe on bendum Man bið þȳ strengra þe hē bið micel on his lichoman Ic ðē mæg sum bispell secgan, þæt þū meaht þȳ sweotolor ongitan

Distal Demonstrative Pronoun se

	Masc. sg.	Neut. sg.	Fem. sg.	Plural
Nom.	se	þæt	sēo	þā
Acc.	þone	þæt	þā	þā
Gen.	þæs	þæs	þǣre	þāra
Dat.	þām	þām	þǣre	þām
Inst.	þȳ	þȳ

• Se cyning is dēad
• Ic sēo þone cyning
• Ic eom þæs cyninges sunu
• Ic hiere þām cyninge
• Þȳ sweorde ic hine ofslōh

Proximal Demonstrative Pronoun þes

	Masc. sg.	Neut. sg.	Fem. sg.	Plural
Nom.	þes	þis	þēos	þās
Acc.	þisne	þis	þās	þās
Gen.	þisses	þisses	þisse	þissa
Dat.	þissum	þissum	þisse	þissum
Inst.	þȳs	þȳs

Personal Pronouns

	1 sg.	1 dual	1 pl.
Nom.	ic	wit	wē
Acc.	mē	unc	ūs
Gen.	mīn	uncer	ūre
Dat.	mē	unc	ūs

	2 sg.	2 dual	2 pl.
Nom.	þū	git	gē
Acc.	þē	inc	ēow
Gen.	þīn	incer	ēower
Dat.	þē	inc	ēow

Personal and Interrogative Pronouns

	Masc. sg.	Neut. sg.	Fem. sg.	Plural
Nom.	hē	hit	hēo	hīe
Acc.	hine	hit	hīe	hīe
Gen.	his	his	hire	hira
Dat.	him	him	hire	him

	Masc./fem.	Neut.
Nom.	hwā	hwæt
Acc.	hwone	hwæt
Gen.	hwæs	hwæs
Dat.	hwām	hwām
Inst.	hwȳ	hwȳ

Weak Versus Strong

Nouns and adjectives:

• strong nouns/adjectives typically convey more grammatical information
  stān, stān, stānes, stāne
  stānas, stānas, stāna, stānum
• weak nouns have simplified inflection, thus have to be analyzed using their modifiers
  nama, naman, naman, naman
  naman, naman, namena, namum

Strong Nouns

m	singular	plural	singular	plural
Nom.	stān	stānas	dæg	dagas
Acc.	stān	stānas	dæg	dagas
Gen.	stānes	stāna	dæges	daga
Dat.	stāne	stānum	dæge	dagum

n	singular	plural	singular	plural
Nom.	word	word	scip	scipu
Acc.	word	word	scip	scipu
Gen.	wordes	worda	scipes	scipa
Dat.	worde	wordum	scipe	scipum

Length

	short	long
vowel	man, mann, ford, dweorh	mān, fōr, dēor
coda	man, hǣs, fōr, dēor	hǣst, ford, mann, dweorh
syllable	man, feoh	mann, mān, hǣst, fōr, ford, dweorh, dēor
stem	man, werod, fugol, cyning	mann, mān, hǣst, engel, īsern, hēafod, tungol

Length

• A syllable (stem) is long if either its vowel or its coda is
• Like all vowels, diphthongs (and digraphs) can be long or short

Thus a stem containing a long vowel is always long:

• long: gār, gāst, tīd, sōð, fȳr, sprǣc, ēa, fēond, hālga

A stem containing a short vowel is short unless followed by more than one consonant:

• short: man, wer, dæg, feoh, hige, bana, guma
• long: mann, grund, healf, weorð, gefeoht

Strong Nouns

f	singular	plural	singular	plural
Nom.	lār	lāra	giefu	giefa
Acc.	lāre	lāra	giefe	giefa
Gen.	lāre	lāra	giefe	giefa
Dat.	lāre	lārum	giefe	giefum

Weak Nouns

m/n	singular	plural	singular	plural
Nom.	nama	naman	ēage	ēagan
Acc.	naman	naman	ēage	ēagan
Gen.	naman	namena	ēagan	ēagena
Dat.	naman	namum	ēagan	ēagum

Se stan is ormætlice micel.

Hwilc fæder wile syllan his cylde stan?

Stephanus wæs stanum worpod.

Stanes gecynd is heard.

Hi druncon of ðam gastlican stane, and se stan wæs Crist.

Hi ne forlætað on þe stan ofer stane.

Heora mulas þa mihton gan sona, þe ær stodon astifode on stana gelicnysse.

Adam him eallum naman gesceop.

Ða sette Adam eft hire oðerne naman: Aeua.

On minum naman hi adræfað deoflu.

Hys nama wæs Symeon.