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{{About|盎格鲁-撒克逊人的早期语言|莎士比亚的语言|近代英语|乔叟的语言|中古英语 (消歧义)}}

{{Infobox language
|name=古英语
|nativename= Ænglisc, Anglisc, Englisc
|region=[[英国]] （除了西南和东南边缘）， 南部和东部 [[苏格兰]]，和现代[[威尔士]]的南边。
|era= 大部分在13世纪进化为[[中古英语]]
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam1=日耳曼语
|fam2=西部日耳曼语
|fam3=北海日耳曼语
|fam4=盎格鲁-弗里西亚语
|fam5=盎格鲁
|script=鲁涅字母, 然后使用拉丁字母。
|iso2=ang
|iso3=ang
|dia1=肯蒂什语
|dia2=麦西亚语
|dia3=诺森布里亚语
|dia4=西撒克逊语
}}

'''古英语'''(英文：''Ænglisc, Anglisc, Englisc'') 或 '''盎格鲁-撒克逊语'''<ref>短语“盎格鲁-撒克逊”在 16 世纪以前是指早期英语的所有事物，包括语言、文化和人民。当这还是稍后两个部分的正常短语，盎格鲁-撒克逊语在 19 世纪末开始被称呼为古英语，作为在 1890 到 1900 年早期英文社会急速壮大的反日耳曼民族主义的结果。语言本身开始符合一些英语学者的胃口，他们对从盎格鲁-撒克逊语到中古英语再成为现代英语的发展感到压力。无论如何很多作者仍然使用盎格鲁-撒克逊语来表示语言。<br /> {{cite book |author=Crystal, David |title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-521-53033-4}}</ref> 是在 5 世纪中叶和 12 世纪中叶之间由[[盎格鲁-撒克逊人]]和他们后代，也是现在英国和苏格兰东部和南部居民所书写和表达的早期[[英语]]。这是一种接近[[en:Old Frisian|古弗里西亚语]]和 [[en:Old Saxon|古撒克逊语]]的[[en:West Germanic languages|西日耳曼语]] 。

语法上古英语和[[古典拉丁语]]有很多相似之处.  在大部分考虑中， 包括它的语法，它比现代英语更接近 [[德语]] 和 [[冰岛语]] 。 它是一种包含五个[[格]]（主格，宾格，属格，与格）和工具格，三个数（单数，双数，复数），三个性（阴性，阳性，中性）的完全屈折的 [[屈折语]]。 双数只在第一人称和第三人称和二人一组中出现。 

Adjectives, pronouns and (sometimes) participles agreed with their antecedent nouns in case, number and gender.  Finite verbs agreed with their subject in person and number.

[[Noun]]s came in numerous [[declension]]s (with deep parallels in [[Latin]], [[Ancient Greek]] and [[Sanskrit]]).  [[Verb]]s came in nine main [[Conjugation (grammar)|conjugation]]s (seven ''strong'' and two ''weak''), each with numerous subtypes, as well as a few additional smaller conjugations and a handful of irregular verbs.  The main difference from other ancient Indo-European languages, such as [[Latin]], is that verbs can be conjugated in only two tenses (vs. the six "tenses"&nbsp;– really tense/aspect combinations&nbsp;– of Latin), and have no synthetic passive voice (although it did still exist in [[Gothic language|Gothic]]).

Gender in [[noun]]s was [[grammatical gender|grammatical]], as opposed to the [[natural gender]] that prevails in modern English.  That is, the grammatical gender of a given noun did not necessarily correspond to its natural gender, even for nouns referring to people.  For example, ''sēo [[wikt:sunne|sunne]]'' (the [[Sun]]) was feminine, ''se [[wikt:mona#Old English|mōna]]'' (the [[Moon]]) was masculine, and ''þat [[wikt:wīf|wīf]]'' "the woman/wife" was neuter. (Compare [[German language|German]] cognates ''die Sonne'', ''der Mond'', ''das Weib''<!-- Frau is not _cognate_ with wīf -->.) Pronominal usage could reflect either natural or grammatical gender, when it conflicted.

From the 9th century, Old English experienced heavy influence from [[Old Norse language|Old Norse]], a member of the related [[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]] group of [[language]]s.

{{anchor|Early Old English}}{{anchor|Late Old English}}

==History==
{{further|History of the English language}}
[[File:Germanic dialects ca. AD 1.png|thumb|right|300px|The distribution of the primary [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] dialect groups in Europe in around AD 1:
{{legend|Blue|[[North Germanic languages|North Germanic]]}}
{{legend|Red|'''[[North Sea Germanic]]''', or '''Ingvaeonic'''}}
{{legend|Orange|[[Weser-Rhine Germanic]], or Istvaeonic}}
{{legend|Yellow|[[Elbe Germanic]], or Irminonic}}
{{legend|Green|[[East Germanic languages|East Germanic]]}}]]
Old English was not static, and its usage covered a period of 700 years, from the [[Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain]] in the 5th century to the late 11th century, some time after the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman invasion]].

Old English is a [[West Germanic language]], developing out of [[Ingvaeonic languages|Ingvaeonic]] (also known as North Sea Germanic) dialects from the 5th century.
Anglo-Saxon literacy developed after [[Christianisation of Anglo-Saxon England|Christianisation]] in the late 7th century. The oldest surviving text of [[Old English literature]] is ''[[Cædmon's Hymn]]'', composed between 658 and 680. There is a limited corpus of [[Anglo-Saxon runes|runic inscriptions]] from the 5th to 7th centuries, but the oldest coherent runic texts (notably [[Franks Casket]]) date to the 8th century.

The history of Old English can be subdivided into:
*Prehistoric Old English (c. 450 to 650); for this period, Old English is mostly a [[reconstructed language]] as no literary witnesses survive (with the exception of limited [[Anglo-Saxon runes|epigraphic evidence]]). This language, or bloc of languages, spoken by the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, and pre-dating documented Old English or Anglo-Saxon, has also been called Primitive Old English.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stumpf|first=John|title=An Outline of English Literature; Anglo-Saxon and Middle English Literature|year=1970|publisher=Forum House Publishing Company|location=London|page=7|quote=We do not know what languages the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons spoke, nor even whether they were sufficiently similar to make them mutually intelligible, but it is reasonable to assume that by the end of the sixth century there must have been a language that could be understood by all and this we call Primitive Old English.}}</ref> 
*Early Old English (c. 650 to 900), the period of the oldest manuscript traditions, with authors such as [[Cædmon]], [[Bede]], [[Cynewulf]] and [[Aldhelm]].
*Late Old English (c. 900 to 1066), the final stage of the language leading up to the [[Norman conquest of England]] and the subsequent transition to [[Early Middle English]].

The Old English period is followed by [[Middle English]] (12th to 15th century), [[Early Modern English]] (c. 1480 to 1650) and finally [[Modern English]] (after 1650).

==Influence of other languages==
In the course of the [[Early Middle Ages]], Old English assimilated some aspects of a few languages with which it came in contact, such as the two dialects of Old Norse from the contact with the [[Norsemen]] or "Danes" who by the late 9th century controlled large tracts of land in northern and eastern England, which came to be known as the [[Danelaw]].

===Latin influence===
{{further|Latin influence in English}}
A large percentage of the educated and literate population of the time were competent in [[Latin]], which was the scholarly and diplomatic ''[[lingua franca]]'' of Europe. It is sometimes possible to give approximate dates for the entry of individual Latin words into Old English based on which patterns of linguistic change they have undergone. There were at least three notable periods of Latin influence. The first occurred before the ancestral [[Angles]] and [[Saxon people|Saxons]] left continental Europe for Britain.{{when?|date=December 2013}} The second began when the Anglo-Saxons were converted to Christianity and Latin-speaking priests became widespread.{{when?|date=December 2013}} See [[Latin influence in English#Dark Ages|Latin influence in English: Dark Ages]] for details.

The third and largest single transfer of Latin-based words happened after the [[Norman conquest of England|Norman Conquest of 1066]], when an enormous number of [[Norman language|Norman]] (Old French) words began to influence the language. Most of these [[Oïl languages|Oïl language]] words were themselves derived from [[Old French]] and ultimately from [[classical Latin]], although a notable stock of Norse words were introduced or re-introduced in [[Normans|Norman]] form. The Norman Conquest approximately marks the end of Old English and the advent of [[Middle English]].

One of the ways the influence of Latin can be seen is that many Latin words for activities came to also be used to refer to the people engaged in those activities, an idiom carried over from Anglo-Saxon but using Latin words.{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}} This can be seen in words like ''militia'', ''assembly'', ''movement'', and ''service''.

The language was further altered by the transition away from the [[runic alphabet]] (also known as ''[[Anglo-Saxon futhorc|futhorc]]'' or fuþorc) to the [[Latin alphabet]], which was also a significant factor in the developmental pressures brought to bear on the language. Old English words were spelled, more or less, as they were pronounced. Often, the Latin alphabet fell short of being able to adequately represent Anglo-Saxon phonetics. Spellings, therefore, can be thought of as best-attempt approximations of how the language actually sounded.

The "silent" letters in many Modern English words were pronounced in Old English: for example, the ''c'' and ''h'' in ''[[wikt:cniht|cniht]]'', the Old English ancestor of the modern ''knight'', were pronounced. Another side-effect of spelling Old English words phonetically using the Latin alphabet was that spelling was extremely variable. A word's spelling could also reflect differences in the phonetics of the writer's regional dialect. Words also endured idiosyncratic spelling choices of individual authors, some of whom varied spellings between works. Thus, for example, the word ''and'' could be spelt either ''and'' or ''ond''.

===Norse influence===
{{Old Norse language map}}

The second major source of loanwords to Old English were the Scandinavian words introduced during the Viking invasions of the 9th and 10th centuries. In addition to a great many [[toponym|place names]], these consist mainly of items of basic vocabulary, and words concerned with particular administrative aspects of the [[Danelaw]] (that is, the area of land under Viking control, which included extensive holdings all along the eastern coast of England and [[Scotland]]).

The Vikings spoke [[Old Norse]], a language related to Old English in that both derived from the same ancestral Proto-Germanic language. It is very common for the intermixing of speakers of different dialects, such as those that occur during times of political unrest, to result in a [[mixed language]], and one theory holds that exactly such a mixture of Old Norse and Old English helped accelerate the decline of case endings in Old English.<ref>{{cite book|last=Barber|first=Charles|title=The English Language: A Historical Introduction|year=2009|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-67001-2|page=137}}</ref>

Apparent confirmation of this is the fact that simplification of the case endings occurred earliest in the north and latest in the south-west, the area farthest away from Viking influence. Regardless of the truth of this theory, the [[List of English words of Old Norse origin|influence of Old Norse on the lexicon of the English language]] has been profound: responsible for such basic vocabulary items as ''[[wikt:sky|sky]]'', ''[[wikt:leg|leg]]'', the [[pronoun]] ''[[wikt:they|they]]'', the verb form ''[[wikt:are|are]]'', and hundreds of other words.<ref name="Shay2008">{{cite book|author=Scott Shay|title=The history of English: a linguistic introduction|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=1vj0-f_U1SQC&pg=PA86|accessdate=29 January 2012|date=30 January 2008|publisher=Wardja Press|isbn=978-0-615-16817-3|page=86}}</ref>

===Celtic influence===
{{main|Brittonicisms in English}}
Traditionally, and following the [[Anglo-Saxon]] preference prevalent in the 19th century, many maintain that the influence of [[Brythonic languages|Brythonic]] Celtic on English has been small, citing the small number of Celtic [[loanwords]] taken into the language. The number of Celtic loanwords is of a lower order than either Latin or [[Scandinavian language|Scandinavian]]. However, a more recent and still minority view is that distinctive Celtic traits can be discerned in syntax from the post-Old English period, such as the regular progressive construction and analytic word order in opposition to the Germanic languages.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rotary-munich.de/2005-2006/theo-vennemann.pdf |title=Rotary-munich.de |format=PDF |accessdate=20 June 2011}}</ref>

==Dialects==

Old English should not be regarded as a single monolithic entity just as [[Modern English]] is also not monolithic. It emerged over time out of the many dialects and languages of the colonising tribes, and it was not until the later Anglo-Saxon period that they fused together into Old English.<ref name=OriginOfAngloSaxon>{{Citation | first = Thomas William | last = Shore | author-link = :ru:Шор, Томас Уильям| title = [[commons:File:Shore T. W. - Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race.pdf|Origin of the Anglo-Saxon Race&nbsp;– A Study of the Settlement of England and the Tribal Origin of the Old English People]] | place = London | publisher = | series = | volume =  | edition = 1st | year = 1906 | pages = 3, 393| doi = | isbn =  | mr =  | zbl =  }}</ref> Even then, it continued to exhibit local language variation, remnants of which remain in Modern English dialects.<ref>[http://www.archive.org/details/originofanglosax00shoruoft Origin of the Anglo-Saxon race : a study of the settlement of England and the tribal origin of the Old English people; Author: William Thomas Shore; Editors TW and LE Shore; Publisher: Elliot Stock; published 1906] p. 3</ref>

Thus it is misleading, for example, to consider Old English as having a single sound system. Rather, there were multiple Old English sound systems. Old English has variation along regional lines as well as variation across different times.

For example, the language attested in [[Wessex]] during the time of [[Æthelwold of Winchester]], which is named Late [[West Saxon dialect (Old English)|West Saxon]] (or Æthelwoldian Saxon), is considerably different from the language attested in Wessex during the time of [[Alfred the Great]]'s court, which is named Early West Saxon (or Classical West Saxon or Alfredian Saxon). Furthermore, the difference between Early West Saxon and Late West Saxon is of such a nature that Late West Saxon is not directly descended from Early West Saxon (despite what the similarity in name implies).

The four main [[dialectal]] forms of Old English were [[Mercian (Old English)|Mercian]], [[Northumbrian (Old English)|Northumbrian]], [[Kentish (Old English)|Kentish]], and [[West Saxon (Old English)|West Saxon]].<ref>{{cite book |author=Campbell, Alistair |authorlink=Alistair Campbell (academic)|title=Old English Grammar |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1959 |isbn=0-19-811943-7 |page=4}}</ref> Each of those dialects was associated with an independent kingdom on the island. Of these, all of [[Northumbria]] and most of [[Mercia]] were overrun by the Vikings during the 9th century. The portion of Mercia that was successfully defended and all of [[Kingdom of Kent|Kent]] were then integrated into Wessex.

After the process of unification of the diverse Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in 878 by Alfred the Great, there is a marked decline in the importance of regional dialects. This is not because they stopped existing, as evidenced both by the existence of Middle and later Modern English dialects.
[[File:Beowulf.firstpage.jpeg|thumb|The first page of the [[Beowulf]] manuscript]]

However, the bulk of the surviving documents from the Anglo-Saxon period are written in the dialect of Wessex, Alfred's kingdom. It seems likely that with consolidation of power, it became necessary to standardise the language of government to reduce the difficulty of administering the more remote areas of the kingdom. As a result, documents were written in the West Saxon dialect. Not only this, but Alfred was passionate about the spread of the [[vernacular]], and brought many scribes to his region from Mercia to record previously unwritten texts.<ref>Moore, Samuel, and Knott, Thomas A. ''The Elements of Old English''. 1919. Ed. James R. Hulbert. 10th ed. Ann Arbor, Michigan: George Wahr Publishing Co., 1958.</ref>

The [[Catholicism|Church]] was affected likewise, especially since Alfred initiated an ambitious programme to translate religious materials into English. To retain his patronage and ensure the widest circulation of the translated materials, the monks and priests engaged in the programme worked in his dialect. Alfred himself seems to have translated books out of Latin and into English, notably [[Pope Gregory I]]'s treatise on administration, ''[[Pastoral Care]]''.

Because of the centralisation of power and the Viking invasions, there is little or no written evidence for the development of non-Wessex dialects after Alfred's unification.

Thomas Spencer Baynes claimed in 1856 that, owing to its position at the heart of the Kingdom of Wessex, the relics of Anglo-Saxon accent, idiom and vocabulary were best preserved in the [[West Country dialects#History and origins|Somerset dialect]].<ref>[http://www.archive.org/details/somersetshiredi00bayngoog The Somersetshire dialect: its pronunciation, 2 papers (1861)] Thomas Spencer Baynes, first published 1855 & 1856</ref>

Even after the maximum Anglo-Saxon expansion, Old English was never spoken all over the Kingdom of England; not only was [[Cornish language#Middle Cornish|Medieval Cornish]] spoken all over Cornwall, it was also spoken in adjacent parts of Devon into the age of the Plantagenets, long after the Norman Conquest. [[Cumbric language|Cumbric]] may have survived into the 12th century in parts of Cumbria and Welsh may have been spoken on the English side of the [[England–Wales border|Anglo-Welsh border]]. In addition to the Celtic languages, Norse was spoken in some areas under Danish law.

==Phonology==
{{Main|Old English phonology}}
The inventory of classical Old English (i.e. Late West Saxon) surface [[phone (phonetics)|phones]], as usually reconstructed, is as follows.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|- style="font-size: 90%;"
|+Consonant phonemes
!
! colspan=2 width="10%" | [[bilabial consonant|Bilabial]]
! colspan=2 width="10%" | [[labiodental consonant|Labio-<br>dental]]
! colspan=2 width="10%" | [[dental consonant|Dental]]
! colspan=2 width="10%" | [[alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! colspan=2 width="10%" | [[postalveolar consonant|Post-<br>alveolar]]
! colspan=2 width="10%" | [[palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! colspan=2 width="10%" | [[velar consonant|Velar]]
! colspan=2 width="10%" | [[glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|m}}
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|n}}
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|({{IPA link|ŋ}})
| colspan=2 |
|-
! [[Stop consonant|Stop]]
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|p}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|b}}
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|t}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|d}}
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|k}}||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|ɡ}}
| colspan=2 |
|-
! [[affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|tʃ}}||style="border-left: 0;"|({{IPA link|dʒ}})
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|-
! [[fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|f}}||style="border-left: 0;"|({{IPA link|v}})
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|θ}}||style="border-left: 0;"|({{IPA link|ð}})
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|s}}||style="border-left: 0;"|({{IPA link|z}})
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|ʃ}}||style="border-left: 0;"|
|style="border-right: 0;"|({{IPA link|ç}})||style="border-left: 0;"|
|style="border-right: 0;"|({{IPA link|x}})||style="border-left: 0;"|({{IPA link|ɣ}})
|style="border-right: 0;"|{{IPA link|h}}||style="border-left: 0;"|
|-
! [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA|r}}
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|j}}
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|w}}
| colspan=2 |
|-
! [[lateral consonant|Lateral]]
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|style="border-right: 0;"| ||style="border-left: 0;"|{{IPA link|l}}
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
| colspan=2 |
|}

The sounds marked in [[Bracket#Parentheses ( )|parentheses]] in the chart above are [[allophone]]s:
*{{IPA|[dʒ]}} is an allophone of {{IPA|/j/}} occurring after {{IPA|/n/}} and when [[gemination|geminated]]
*{{IPA|[ŋ]}} is an allophone of {{IPA|/n/}} occurring before {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}
*{{IPA|[v, ð, z]}} are allophones of {{IPA|/f, θ, s/}} respectively, occurring between [[vowel]]s or [[voiced consonant]]s
*{{IPA|[ç, x]}} are allophones of {{IPA|/h/}} occurring in [[syllable coda|coda]] position after front and back vowels respectively
*{{IPA|[ɣ]}} is an allophone of {{IPA|/ɡ/}} occurring after a vowel, and, at an earlier stage of the language, in the syllable onset.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[Monophthong]]s
! colspan=2 | [[Vowel length|Short]]
! colspan=2 | Long
|-
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
! Front
! Back
|-
| '''[[Close vowel|Close]]'''
| align=center | {{IPA|i&nbsp;&nbsp;y}}
| align=center | {{IPA|u}}
| align=center | {{IPA|iː&nbsp;&nbsp;yː}}
| align=center | {{IPA|uː}}
|-
| '''[[Mid vowel|Mid]]'''
| align=center | {{IPA|e&nbsp;&nbsp;(ø)}}
| align=center | {{IPA|o}}
| align=center | {{IPA|eː&nbsp;&nbsp;(øː)}}
| align=center | {{IPA|oː}}
|-
| '''[[Open vowel|Open]]'''
| align=center | {{IPA|æ}}
| align=center | {{IPA|ɑ}}
| align=center | {{IPA|æː}}
| align=center | {{IPA|ɑː}}
|}

The [[front vowel|front]] [[mid vowel|mid]] [[rounded vowel]]s {{IPA|/ø(ː)/}} occur in some [[dialect]]s of Old English, but not in the best attested [[Late West Saxon]] dialect.

{|class="wikitable"
|-
! [[Diphthong]]s
! Short ([[mora (linguistics)|monomoraic]])
! Long (bimoraic)
|-
| '''First element is close'''
| align=center | {{IPA|iy}}<ref>It is uncertain whether the [[diphthong]]s spelt ''ie''/''īe'' were pronounced {{IPA|[i(ː)y]}} or {{IPA|[i(ː)e]}}. The fact that this diphthong was merged with {{IPA|/y(ː)/}} in many dialects suggests the former.</ref>
| align=center | {{IPA|iːy}}
|-
| '''Both elements are mid'''
| align=center | {{IPA|eo}}
| align=center | {{IPA|eːo}}
|-
| '''Both elements are open'''
| align=center | {{IPA|æɑ}}
| align=center | {{IPA|æːɑ}}
|}

Vowels were not the only letters and sounds different from Modern English. In Old English, c always sounded like the modern k, never that of s. G sounded like the y in yes when it was before or after a palatal vowel or any diphthong, but it sounded approximately like the g in go when it was before or after a guttural vowel or a mixed vowel.<ref>{{cite book|last=Anderson, Williams|first=Marjorie, Blanche|title=Old English Handbook|year=1935|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|pages=11–12}}</ref>

Letters that are present in Modern English but are completely absent from Old English include j, q, v, and z. The letter k was used, but only rarely.<ref>{{cite book|last=Anderson, Williams|first=Marjorie, Blanche|title=Old English Handbook|year=1935|publisher=Houghton Mifflin|page=10}}</ref>

==Sound changes==

{{Main|Old English phonology#Phonological processes}}

{{English sound change examples}}

==Grammar==
{{Main|Old English grammar}}

===Morphology===
Unlike Modern English, Old English is a [[language]] rich with [[morphology (linguistics)|morphological]] diversity. It maintains several distinct cases: the [[nominative case|nominative]], [[accusative case|accusative]], [[genitive case|genitive]], [[dative case|dative]] and (vestigially) [[instrumental case|instrumental]].  The only remnants of this system in Modern English are in a few pronouns (the meanings of ''I'' (nominative) ''my'' (genitive) and ''me'' (accusative/dative) in the first person provide an example) and in the possessive ending "-'s", which derives from the genitive ending "-es".

The verb identifies person, number, tense, and mood. Verbs have three moods (Indicative, Subjunctive, and Imperative). They have two numbers (Singular and Plural), three genders (Masculine, Feminine, and Neuter), and only two synthetic tenses (simple present and simple past). Old English grammar also does not contain a synthetic passive.<ref name="Continuum">{{cite web|title=Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature|url=http://www.credoreference.com/entry/britlit/old_english|publisher=Continuum}}</ref> However, Old English does occasionally use compound constructions to express other verbal aspects, the future and the passive voice; in these we see the beginnings of the compound tenses of Modern English.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Bruce|last=Robinson|first=Fred C|title=A Guide to Old English|year=2002|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|location=Oxford|pages=109–12}}</ref>

Old English verbs are separated into two categories according to how they form tenses. Strong verbs change tense by altering the root vowel (like irregular verbs in Modern English) and weak verbs change tense by adding a suffix to the end of the verb (like the –ed or -s in regular verbs in Modern English).<ref name="Continuum"/> Throughout time, however, most of the strong verbs of Old English had either shifted into regular verbs in Modern English or disappeared from the English language altogether. According to linguist Edward Finegan, the number of strong verbs in English has dropped from 333, including "burn" and "help", to 68 irregular verbs today, though conversely, there are also a few weak verbs that have shifted into irregular form, such as "dive" and "wear", and there are also some verbs which have debatable regularity status, such as "sneaked" and "snuck" for "sneak".<ref>{{cite book|last=Finegan|first=Edward|title=Language: It's Structure and Use|year=2012|publisher=Wadsworth, Cengage Learning|location=Boston|pages=488}}</ref> In comparison to Modern English, Old English had far more irregularity in verb conjugation.

===Syntax===
Old English syntax was similar in many ways to that of modern English.  However, there were some important differences.  Some were simply consequences of the greater level of nominal and verbal inflection&nbsp;– e.g., word order was generally freer.  In addition:
*The default [[word order]] was [[verb-second]] and more like modern [[German language|German]] than modern English.
*There was no [[do-support|''do''-support]] in questions and negatives.
*Multiple negatives could stack up in a sentence, and intensified each other ([[negative concord]]), which is not always the case in modern English.
*Sentences with subordinate clauses of the type "when X, Y" (e.g. "When I got home, I ate dinner") did not use a ''wh-''type conjunction, but rather used a ''th-''type [[correlative conjunction]] (e.g. ''þā X, þā Y'' in place of "when X, Y").  The ''wh-''type conjunctions were used only as [[interrogative pronoun]]s and [[indefinite pronouns]].
*Similarly, ''wh-'' forms were not used as [[relative pronoun]]s (as in "the man who saw me" or "the car that I bought").  Instead, an indeclinable word ''þe'' was used, often in conjunction with the [[definite article]] (which was declined for case, number and gender).

==Orthography==
{{Main|Anglo-Saxon runes|Old English Latin alphabet}}
[[File:Anglosaxonrunes.svg|250px|thumb|The [[runic alphabet]] used to write Old English before the introduction of the [[Latin alphabet]].]]

Old English was first written in [[runic alphabet|runes]] (''[[Anglo-Saxon runes|futhorc]]'') but shifted to a (minuscule) [[half-uncial]] script of the [[Latin alphabet]] introduced by Irish Christian missionaries<ref name="Cambridge">{{cite book|last=Crystal|first=David|title=The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language|year=1987|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=0-521-26438-3|page=203}}</ref> from around the 9th century. This was replaced by [[insular script]], a cursive and pointed version of the half-uncial script. This was used until the end of the 12th century when continental [[Carolingian minuscule]] (also known as ''Caroline'') replaced the insular.

The letter [[eth (letter)|ðæt]] {{angle bracket|ð}} (called ''eth'' or ''edh'' in modern English) was an alteration of Latin {{angle bracket|d}}, and the runic letters [[thorn (letter)|thorn]] {{angle bracket|þ}} and [[wynn]] {{angle bracket|ƿ}} are borrowings from futhorc. Also used was a symbol for the [[Grammatical conjunction|conjunction]] ''and'', a character similar to the number seven ({{angle bracket|{{unicode|⁊}}}}, called a [[Tironian note]]), and a symbol for the [[relative pronoun]] ''þæt'', a thorn with a crossbar through the ascender ({{angle bracket|{{unicode|[[Ꝥ|ꝥ]]}}}}). [[Macron]]s {{angle bracket|{{unicode|¯}}}} over vowels were rarely used to indicate long vowels. Also used occasionally were abbreviations for a following ''m'' or ''n''. All of the sound descriptions below are given using [[help:IPA|IPA]] symbols.

===Conventions of modern editions===

A number of changes are traditionally made in published modern editions of the original Old English manuscripts. Some of these conventions include the introduction of punctuation and the substitutions of symbols. The symbols {{angle bracket|e}}, {{angle bracket|f}}, {{angle bracket|g}}, {{angle bracket|r}}, {{angle bracket|s}} are used in modern editions, although their shapes in the insular script are considerably different. The [[long s]] {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ſ}}}} is substituted by its modern counterpart {{angle bracket|s}}. [[insular G|Insular {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ᵹ}}}}]] is usually substituted with its modern counterpart {{angle bracket|g}} (which is ultimately a Carolingian symbol).

Additionally, modern editions often distinguish between a [[velar consonant|velar]] and [[palatal consonant|palatal]] {{angle bracket|c}} and {{angle bracket|g}} with diacritic dots above the putative palatals: {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ċ}}}}, {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ġ}}}}. The ''wynn'' symbol {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ƿ}}}} is usually replaced with {{angle bracket|w}}. Macrons are usually found in modern editions to indicate putative long vowels, while they are usually lacking in the originals. In older printed editions of Old English works, an [[acute accent]] mark was used to maintain cohesion between Old English and Old Norse printing.

The alphabetical symbols found in Old English writings and their substitute symbols found in modern editions are listed below:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Symbol !! Description and notes
|-
! a
| Short {{IPA|/ɑ/}}. Spelling variations like {{angle bracket|land}} ~ {{angle bracket|lond}} "land" suggest it may have had a rounded [[allophone]] {{IPA|[ɒ]}} before {{IPA|[n]}} in some cases
|-
! ā
| Long {{IPA|/ɑː/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|a}} in modern editions.
|-
! æ
| Short {{IPA|/æ/}}. Before 800 the digraph {{angle bracket|ae}} is often found instead of {{angle bracket|æ}}. During the 8th century {{angle bracket|æ}} began to be used more frequently. It was standard after 800. In 9th-century Kentish manuscripts, a form of {{angle bracket|æ}} that was missing the upper hook of the {{angle bracket|a}} part was used. Kentish {{angle bracket|æ}} may be either {{IPA|/æ/}} or {{IPA|/e/}} although this is difficult to determine.
|-
! {{Unicode|ǣ}}
| Long {{IPA|/æː/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|æ}} in modern editions.
|-
! b
| Represented {{IPA|/b/}}. Also represented {{IPA|[v]}} in early texts before 800. For example, the word "sheaves" is spelled {{angle bracket|scēabas}} in an early text but later (and more commonly) as {{angle bracket|scēafas}}.
|-
! c
| Except in the [[digraph (orthography)|digraphs]] {{angle bracket|sc}}, {{angle bracket|cg}}, either {{IPA|/tʃ/}} or {{IPA|/k/}}. The {{IPA|/tʃ/}} pronunciation is sometimes written with a [[diacritic]] by modern editors: most commonly {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ċ}}}}, sometimes {{angle bracket|č}} or {{angle bracket|ç}}. Before a consonant letter the pronunciation is always {{IPA|/k/}}; word-finally after {{angle bracket|i}} it is always {{IPA|/tʃ/}}. Otherwise, a knowledge of the [[historical linguistics]] of the word is needed to predict which pronunciation is needed. (See [[Old English phonology#The distribution of velars and palatals|The distribution of velars and palatals in Old English]] for details.)
|-
! cg
| {{IPA|[ddʒ]}} (the surface pronunciation of [[geminate]] {{IPA|/jj/}}); occasionally also for {{IPA|/ɡɡ/}}
|-
! d
| Represented {{IPA|/d/}}. In the earliest texts, it also represented {{IPA|/θ/}} but was soon replaced by {{angle bracket|ð}} and {{angle bracket|þ}}. For example, the word meaning "thought" (lit. mood-i-think, with -i- as in "handiwork") was written {{angle bracket|mōdgidanc}} in a Northumbrian text dated 737, but later as {{angle bracket|mōdgeþanc}} in a 10th-century West Saxon text.
|-
! ð
| Represented {{IPA|/θ/}} and its allophone {{IPA|[ð]}}. Called ''ðæt'' in Old English (now called [[eth (letter)|eth]] in Modern English), {{angle bracket|ð}} is found in alternation with [[thorn (letter)|thorn]] {{angle bracket|þ}} (both representing the same sound) although it is more common in texts dating before Alfred. Together with {{angle bracket|þ}} it replaced earlier {{angle bracket|d}} and {{angle bracket|th}}. First attested (in definitely dated materials) in the 7th century. After the beginning of [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]]'s time, {{angle bracket|ð}} was used more frequently for medial and final positions while {{angle bracket|þ}} became increasingly used in initial positions, although both still varied. Some modern editions attempt to regularise the variation between {{angle bracket|þ}} and {{angle bracket|ð}} by using only {{angle bracket|þ}}.<ref>See also [[Pronunciation of English th]].</ref>
|-
! e
| Short {{IPA|/e/}}.
|-
! {{unicode|ę}}
| Either Kentish {{IPA|/æ/}} or {{IPA|/e/}} although this is difficult to determine. A modern editorial substitution for a form of {{angle bracket|æ}} missing the upper hook of the {{angle bracket|a}} found in 9th-century texts. (See also: [[e caudata]])
|-
! ē
| Long {{IPA|/eː/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|e}} in modern editions.
|-
! ea
| Short {{IPA|/æɑ/}}; after {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ċ}}}}, {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ġ}}}}, sometimes {{IPA|/æ/}} or {{IPA|/ɑ/}}.
|-
! ēa
| Long {{IPA|/æːɑ/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|ea}} in modern editions. After {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ċ}}}}, {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ġ}}}}, sometimes {{IPA|/æː/}}.
|-
! eo
| Short {{IPA|/eo/}}; after {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ċ}}}}, {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ġ}}}}, sometimes {{IPA|/o/}}
|-
! ēo
| Long {{IPA|/eːo/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|eo}} in modern editions.
|-
! f
| {{IPA|/f/}} and its allophone {{IPA|[v]}}
|-
! g
| {{IPA|/ɡ/}} and its allophone {{IPA|[ɣ]}}; {{IPA|/j/}} and its allophone {{IPA|[dʒ]}} (when after {{angle bracket|n}}). In Old English manuscripts, this letter usually took its [[insular G|insular form]] {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ᵹ}}}}. The {{IPA|/j/}} and {{IPA|[dʒ]}} pronunciations are sometimes written {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ġ}}}} by modern editors. Before a consonant letter the pronunciation is always {{IPA|[ɡ]}} (word-initially) or {{IPA|[ɣ]}} (after a vowel). Word-finally after {{angle bracket|i}} it is always {{IPA|/j/}}. Otherwise a knowledge of the [[historical linguistics]] of the word in question is needed to predict which pronunciation is needed. (See [[Old English phonology#The distribution of velars and palatals|The distribution of velars and palatals in Old English]] for details.)
|-
! h
| {{IPA|/h/}} and its allophones {{IPA|[ç, x]}}. In the combinations {{angle bracket|hl}}, {{angle bracket|hr}}, {{angle bracket|hn}}, {{angle bracket|hw}}, the second consonant was certainly voiceless.
|-
! i
| Short {{IPA|/i/}}.
|-
! ī
| Long {{IPA|/iː/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|i}} in modern editions.
|-
! ie<!-- This is the digraph 'ie' please do not change to the abreviation 'i.e.' -->
| Short {{IPA|/iy/}}; after {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ċ}}}}, {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ġ}}}}, sometimes {{IPA|/e/}}.
|-
! īe
| Long {{IPA|/iːy/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|ie}} in modern editions. After {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ċ}}}}, {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ġ}}}}, sometimes {{IPA|/eː/}}.
|-
! k
| {{IPA|/k/}} (rarely used)
|-
! l
| {{IPA|/l/}}; probably [[velarise]]d (as in Modern English) when in [[Syllable coda|coda]] position.
|-
! m
| {{IPA|/m/}}
|-
! n
| {{IPA|/n/}} and its allophone {{IPA|[ŋ]}}
|-
! o
| Short {{IPA|/o/}}.
|-
! ō
| Long {{IPA|/oː/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|o}} in modern editions.
|-
! oe
| Short {{IPA|/ø/}} (in dialects with this sound).
|-
! ōe
| Long {{IPA|/øː/}} (in dialects with this sound). Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|oe}} in modern editions.
|-
! p
| {{IPA|/p/}}
|-
! qu
| A rare spelling of {{IPA|/kw/}}, which was usually written as {{angle bracket|{{unicode|cƿ}}}} (= {{angle bracket|cw}} in modern editions).<ref>The spelling {{angle bracket|qu}} is much more common in later Middle English.</ref>
|-
! r
| {{IPA|/r/}}; the exact nature of {{IPA|/r/}} is not known. It may have been an [[alveolar approximant]] {{IPA|[ɹ]}} as in most modern accents, an [[alveolar flap]] {{IPA|[ɾ]}}, or an [[alveolar trill]] {{IPA|[r]}}.
|-
! s
| {{IPA|/s/}} and its allophone {{IPA|[z]}}.
|-
! sc
| {{IPA|/ʃ/}} or occasionally {{IPA|/sk/}}.
|-
! t
| {{IPA|/t/}}
|-
! th
| Represented {{IPA|/θ/}} in the earliest texts but was soon replaced by {{angle bracket|ð}} and {{angle bracket|þ}}. For example, the word meaning "thought" was written {{angle bracket|mōdgithanc}} in an 8th-century Northumbrian text, but later as {{angle bracket|mōdgeþanc}} in a 10th-century West Saxon text.
|-
! þ
| An alternative symbol called [[thorn (letter)|thorn]] used instead of {{angle bracket|ð}}. Represents {{IPA|/θ/}} and its allophone {{IPA|[ð]}}. Together with {{angle bracket|ð}} it replaced the earlier {{angle bracket|d}} and {{angle bracket|th}}. First attested (in definitely dated materials) in the 8th century. Less common than {{angle bracket|ð}} before [[Alfred the Great|Alfred]]'s time, from then onward {{angle bracket|þ}} was used increasingly more frequently than {{angle bracket|ð}} at the beginning of words while its occurrence at the end and in the middle of words was rare. Some modern editions attempt to regularise the variation between {{angle bracket|þ}} and {{angle bracket|ð}} by using only {{angle bracket|þ}}.
|-
! u
| {{IPA|/u/}} and {{IPA|/w/}} in early texts of continental scribes. The {{IPA|/w/}} {{angle bracket|u}} was eventually replaced by {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ƿ}}}} outside of the north of the island.
|-
! uu
| {{IPA|/w/}} in early texts of continental scribes. Outside of the north, it was generally replaced by {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ƿ}}}}.
|-
! ū
| Long {{IPA|/uː/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|u}} in modern editions.
|-
! w
| {{IPA|/w/}}. A modern substitution for {{angle bracket|{{unicode|ƿ}}}}.
|-
! {{Unicode|ƿ}}
| Runic ''[[wynn]]''. Represents {{IPA|/w/}}, replaced in modern print by {{angle bracket|w}} to prevent confusion with {{angle bracket|p}}.
|-
! x
| {{IPA|/ks/}} (but according to some authors, {{IPA|[xs ~ çs]}})
|-
! y
| Short {{IPA|/y/}}.
|-
! ȳ
| Long {{IPA|/yː/}}. Rarely found in manuscripts, but usually distinguished from short {{angle bracket|y}} in modern editions.
|-
! z
| {{IPA|/ts/}}. A rare spelling for {{angle bracket|ts}}. Example: {{IPA|/betst/}} "best" is rarely spelled {{angle bracket|bezt}} for more common  {{angle bracket|betst}}.
|}

Doubled consonants are [[consonant length|geminated]]; the geminate fricatives {{angle bracket|ðð}}/{{angle bracket|þþ}}, {{angle bracket|ff}} and {{angle bracket|ss}} cannot be voiced.

==Literature==
{{Main|Old English literature}}

Old English literature, though more abundant than literature of the continent before [[Anno Domini|AD]] 1000{{citation needed|date=August 2012}}{{specify|date=August 2012}}<!--More than the entire "continent" as a whole? Or than any other single "country" (France, Germany, Italy) in Western and Central Europe at the time? Including only literature in the vernaculars - or also in Latin?--> is nonetheless scant. In his supplementary article to the 1935 posthumous edition of Bright's ''Anglo-Saxon Reader'', Dr. James Hulbert writes:

{{quote|In such historical conditions, an incalculable amount of the writings of the Anglo-Saxon period perished. What they contained, how important they were for an understanding of literature before the Conquest, we have no means of knowing: the scant catalogues of monastic libraries do not help us, and there are no references in extant works to other compositions....How incomplete our materials are can be illustrated by the well-known fact that, with few and relatively unimportant exceptions, all extant Anglo-Saxon poetry is preserved in four manuscripts.}}

Some of the most important surviving works of Old English literature are ''[[Beowulf]]'', an [[epic poem]]; the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'', a record of early English history; the [[Franks Casket]], an early whalebone artefact; and [[Caedmon's Hymn]], a Christian religious poem. There are also a number of extant prose works, such as sermons and saints' lives, biblical translations, and translated Latin works of the early Church Fathers, legal documents, such as laws and wills, and practical works on grammar, medicine, and geography. Still, poetry is considered the heart of Old English literature. Nearly all Anglo-Saxon authors are anonymous, with a few exceptions, such as [[Bede]] and [[Caedmon]].

==Text samples==

===''Beowulf''===
The first example is taken from the opening lines of the epic poem ''[[Beowulf]]''. This passage describes how [[Hrothgar|Hrothgar's]] legendary ancestor [[Scyld]] was found as a baby, washed ashore, and adopted by a noble family. The translation is literal and represents the original poetic word order. As such, it is not typical of Old English prose. The modern cognates of original words have been used whenever practical to give a close approximation of the feel of the original poem.

The words in brackets are implied in the Old English by noun case and the bold words in brackets are explanations of words that have slightly different meanings in a modern context. Notice how ''what'' is used by the poet where a word like ''lo'' or ''behold'' would be expected. This usage is similar to ''what-ho!'', both an expression of surprise and a call to attention.

{| cellspacing="10"
|-
! Line || Original || Translation
|-
| [1] || Hwæt! wē Gār-Dena in ġeār-dagum,
| What! We of Gare-Danes''' (lit. Spear-Danes)''' in yore-days,
|-
| [2] || þēod-cyninga,         þrym ġefrūnon,
|  of thede'''(nation/people)'''-kings, did thrum''' (glory)''' frayne''' (learn about by asking)''',
|-
| [3] || hū ðā æþelingas ellen fremedon.
| how those athelings''' (noblemen)''' did ellen '''(fortitude/courage/zeal)''' freme''' (promote)'''.
|-
| [4] || Oft Scyld Scēfing sceaþena þrēatum,
| Oft did Scyld Scefing of scather threats''' (troops)''',
|-
| [5] || monegum mǣġþum, meodosetla oftēah,
| of many maegths''' (clans; cf. Irish cognate Mac-)''', of mead-settees atee '''(deprive)''',
|-
| [6] || egsode eorlas. Syððan ǣrest wearð
| [and] ugg''' (induce loathing in, terrify; related to "ugly")''' earls. Sith '''(since, as of when)''' erst''' (first)''' [he] worthed''' (became)'''
|-
| [7] || fēasceaft funden, hē þæs frōfre ġebād,
| [in] fewship''' (destitute)''' found, he of this frover''' (comfort)''' abode,
|-
| [8] || wēox under wolcnum, weorðmyndum þāh,
| [and] waxed under welkin''' (firmament/clouds)''', [and amid] worthmint''' (honour/worship)''' threed''' (throve/prospered)'''
|-
| [9] || oðþæt him ǣġhwylc         þāra ymbsittendra
| oth that''' (until that)''' him each of those umsitters''' (those "sitting" or dwelling roundabout)'''
|-
| [10] || ofer hronrāde hȳran scolde,
| over whale-road''' (''[[kenning]]'' for "sea")''' hear should,
|-
| [11] || gomban gyldan. Þæt wæs gōd cyning!
| [and] yeme '''(heed/obedience; related to "gormless")''' yield. That was [a] good king!
|}

A semi-fluent translation in Modern English would be:

Lo! We have heard of majesty of the Spear-Danes, of those nation-kings in the days of yore, and how those noblemen promoted zeal. Scyld Scefing took away mead-benches from bands of enemies, from many tribes; he terrified earls. Since he was first found destitute (he gained consolation for that) he grew under the heavens, prospered in honours, until each of those who lived around him over the sea had to obey him, give him tribute. That was a good king!

===The Lord's Prayer===

This text of the [[Lord's Prayer]] is presented in the standardised West Saxon literary dialect, with added macrons for vowel length,  markings for probable palatalized consonants, modern punctuation, and the replacement of the letter [[wynn]] with w.

{| cellspacing="10" style="white-space: nowrap;"
|-
! Line || Original || Translation
|-
| [1] ||Fæder ūre þū þe eart on heofonum,
| Father of ours, thou who art in heavens,
|-
| [2] || Sī þīn nama ġehālgod.
| Be thy name hallowed.
|-
| [3] || Tōbecume þīn [[Reich|rīċe]],
| Come thy [[Reich|riche]] '''(kingdom)''',
|-
| [4] || ġewurþe þīn willa, on eorðan swā swā on heofonum.
| Worth '''(manifest)''' thy will, on earth as also in heaven.
|-
| [5] || Ūre ġedæġhwāmlīcan hlāf syle ūs tō dæġ,
| Our daily loaf do sell '''(give)''' to us today,
|-
| [6] || and forġyf ūs ūre gyltas, swā swā wē forġyfað ūrum gyltendum.
| And forgive us our guilts as also we forgive our guilters<ref>Lit. a participle: "guilting" or "[a person who is] sinning"; cf. Latin cognate -ant/-ent.</ref>
|-
| [7] || And ne ġelǣd þū ūs on costnunge, ac ālȳs ūs of yfele.
| <small>And do not lead thou us into temptation, but alese '''(release/deliver)''' us of '''(from)''' evil.</small>
|-
| [8] || Sōþlīċe.
| Soothly.
|}

===Charter of Cnut===
This is a proclamation from King [[Cnut the Great]] to his [[earl]] [[Thorkell the Tall]] and the English people written in AD 1020. Unlike the previous two examples, this text is prose rather than poetry. For ease of reading, the passage has been divided into sentences while the [[pilcrow]]s represent the original division.

{| cellspacing="10" style="white-space: wrap;"
|-
! Original || Translation
|-
|    ¶ Cnut cyning gret his arcebiscopas and his leod-biscopas and Þurcyl eorl and ealle his eorlas and ealne his þeodscype, twelfhynde and twyhynde, gehadode and læwede, on Englalande freondlice.
|    ¶ Cnut, king, greets his archbishops and his lede''''(people's)''''-bishops and Thorkell, earl, and all his earls and all his '''''people'''''ship, '''''greater''''' '''(having a 1200 [[shilling]] [[weregild]])''' and '''''lesser''''' '''(200 shilling weregild)''', hooded'''(ordained to priesthood)''' and lewd'''(lay)''', in England friendly.
|-
|And ic cyðe eow, þæt ic wylle beon hold hlaford and unswicende to godes gerihtum and to rihtre woroldlage.
|And I kithe'''(make known/couth to)''' you, that I will be [a] hold'''(civilised)''' lord and unswiking'''(uncheating)''' to God's rights'''(laws)''' and to [the] rights'''(laws)''' worldly.
|-
|    ¶ Ic nam me to gemynde þa gewritu and þa word, þe se arcebiscop Lyfing me fram þam papan brohte of Rome, þæt ic scolde æghwær godes lof upp aræran and unriht alecgan and full frið wyrcean be ðære mihte, þe me god syllan wolde.
|    ¶ I nam'''(took)''' me to mind the writs and the word that the [[Lyfing (Archbishop of Canterbury)|Archbishop Lyfing]] me from the Pope brought of Rome, that I should ayewhere'''(everywhere)''' God's love'''(praise)''' uprear'''(promote)''', and unright'''(outlaw)''' lies, and full frith'''(peace)''' work'''(bring about)''' by the might that me God would'''(wished)''' [to] sell''''(give)'''.
|-
|    ¶ Nu ne wandode ic na minum sceattum, þa hwile þe eow unfrið on handa stod: nu ic mid godes fultume þæt totwæmde mid minum scattum.
|    ¶ Now, ne went'''(withdrew/changed)''' I not my shot'''(financial contribution, cf. Norse cognate in scot-free)''' the while that you stood'''(endured)''' unfrith'''(turmoil)''' on-hand: now I, mid'''(with)''' God's '''''support''''', that [unfrith] totwemed'''(separated/dispelled)''' mid'''(with)''' my shot'''(financial contribution)'''.
|-
|Þa cydde man me, þæt us mara hearm to fundode, þonne us wel licode: and þa for ic me sylf mid þam mannum þe me mid foron into Denmearcon, þe eow mæst hearm of com: and þæt hæbbe mid godes fultume forene forfangen, þæt eow næfre heonon forð þanon nan unfrið to ne cymð, þa hwile þe ge me rihtlice healdað and min lif byð.
|Tho'''(then)''' [a] man kithed'''(made known/couth to)''' me that us more harm '''''had''''' found'''(come upon)''' than us well liked'''(equalled)''': and tho'''(then)''' fore'''(travelled)''' I, meself, mid'''(with)''' those men that mid'''(with)''' me fore'''(travelled)''', into Denmark that [to] you most harm came of'''(from)''': and that[harm] have [I], mid'''(with)''' God's '''''support''''', afore'''(previously)''' forefangen'''(forestalled)''' that to you never henceforth thence none unfrith'''(breach of peace)''' ne come the while that ye me rightly hold'''(behold as king)''' and my life beeth.
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Anglo-Saxon England}}
*[[Exeter Book]]
*[[Go (verb)]]
*[[History of the Scots language]]
*[[I-mutation]]
*[[Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law]] Anglo-Frisian nasal spirant law
*[[List of generic forms in place names in the United Kingdom and Ireland]]
*[[List of Germanic and Latinate equivalents in English]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|33em}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}

===Sources===

* Whitelock, Dorothy (ed.) (1955) ''English Historical Documents; vol. I: c. 500–1042''. London: Eyre & Spottiswoode

===General===

*{{cite book |author=Baker, Peter S. |title=Introduction to Old English |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishing]] |year=2003 |isbn=0-631-23454-3}}
* Baugh, Albert C; & Cable, Thomas. (1993). ''A History of the English Language'' (4th ed.). London: Routledge.
*{{cite book |author=Earle, John |title=A Book for the Beginner in Anglo-Saxon |publisher=Evolution Publishing |location=[[Bristol, PA]] |year=2005 |isbn=1-889758-69-8|note=}} (Reissue of one of 4 eds. 1877–1902)
* [[Wolfram Euler|Euler, Wolfram]] (2013). ''Das Westgermanische <West Germanic - from its Emergence in the 3rd up until its Dissolution in the 7th Century CE - Analyses and Reconstruction>.'' 244 p., in German with English summary, London/Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-9812110-7-8.
* Hogg, Richard M. (ed.). (1992). ''The Cambridge History of the English Language: (Vol 1): the Beginnings to 1066''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Hogg, Richard; & Denison, David (eds.) (2006) ''A History of the English Language''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* [[Otto Jespersen|Jespersen, Otto]] (1909–1949) ''A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles''. 7 vols. Heidelberg: C. Winter & Copenhagen: Ejnar Munksgaard
* Lass, Roger (1987) ''The Shape of English: structure and history''. London: J. M. Dent & Sons
*{{cite book |author=Lass, Roger |title=Old English: A historical linguistic companion |location=[[Cambridge]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1994 |isbn=0-521-43087-9}}
*{{cite book |author=Millward, Celia |title=A Biography of the English Language |publisher=[[Harcourt Trade Publishers|Harcourt Brace]] |year=1996 |isbn=0-15-501645-8}}
*{{cite book |author=Mitchell, Bruce, and Robinson, Fred C. |title=A Guide to Old English | edition=6th |location=[[Oxford]] |publisher=Blackwell |year=2001 |isbn=0-631-22636-2}}
* Quirk, Randolph; & Wrenn, C. L. (1957). ''An Old English Grammar'' (2nd ed.) London: Methuen.
* Strang, Barbara M. H. (1970) ''A History of English''. London: Methuen.

===External history===

*{{cite book |author=Robinson, Orrin W. |title=Old English and Its Closest Relatives |publisher=[[Stanford University Press]] |year=1992 |isbn=0-8047-2221-8}}
* Bremmer Jr, Rolf H. (2009). ''An Introduction to Old Frisian. History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary''. Amsterdam and Philadelphia: John Benjamins.
* Stenton, F. M. (1971). ''Anglo-Saxon England'' (3rd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

===Orthography/Palaeography===

* Bourcier, Georges. (1978). ''L'orthographie de l'anglais: Histoire et situation actuelle''. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
* [[Alistair Campbell (academic)|Campbell, A.]] (1959). ''Old English Grammar''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* [[Ralph Warren Victor Elliott|Elliott, Ralph W. V.]] (1959). ''Runes: An introduction''. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
* Keller, Wolfgang. (1906). ''Angelsächsische Paleographie, I: Einleitung''. Berlin: Mayer & Müller.
* Ker, N. R. (1957). ''A Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* Ker, N. R. (1957: 1990). ''A Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo-Saxon''; with supplement prepared by Neil Ker originally published in ''Anglo-Saxon England''; 5, 1957. Oxford: Clarendon Press ISBN 0-19-811251-3
* Page, R. I. (1973). ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=SgpriZdKin0C&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_navlinks_s#v=onepage&q=&f=false An Introduction to English Runes]''. London: Methuen.
* Scragg, Donald G. (1974). ''A History of English Spelling''. Manchester: Manchester University Press.

===Phonology===

* Anderson, John M; & Jones, Charles. (1977). ''Phonological structure and the history of English''. North-Holland linguistics series (No. 33). Amsterdam: North-Holland.
* Brunner, Karl. (1965). ''Altenglische Grammatik (nach der angelsächsischen Grammatik von Eduard Sievers neubearbeitet)'' (3rd ed.). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.
* Campbell, A. (1959). ''Old English Grammar''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* [[Fausto Cercignani|Cercignani, Fausto]] (1983). "The Development of */k/ and */sk/ in Old English". ''Journal of English and Germanic Philology'', 82 (3): 313–323.
* Girvan, Ritchie. (1931). ''Angelsaksisch Handboek''; E. L. Deuschle (transl.). (Oudgermaansche Handboeken; No. 4). Haarlem: Tjeenk Willink.
* Halle, Morris; & Keyser, Samuel J. (1971). ''English Stress: its form, its growth, and its role in verse''. New York: Harper & Row.
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.2307/410597 | last1 = Hockett | first1 = Charles F. | year = 1959 | title = The stressed syllabics of Old English | jstor = 410597| journal=Language | volume = 35 | issue = 4| pages = 575–597 }}
* Hogg, Richard M. (1992). ''A Grammar of Old English, I: Phonology''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.2307/411354 | last1 = Kuhn | first1 = Sherman M. | year = 1961 | title = On the Syllabic Phonemes of Old English | jstor = 411354| journal=Language | volume = 37 | issue = 4| pages = 522–538 }}
* Kuhn, Sherman M. (1970). "On the consonantal phonemes of Old English". In: J. L. Rosier (ed.) ''Philological Essays: studies in Old and Middle English language and literature in honour of Herbert Dean Merritt'' (pp.&nbsp;16–49). The Hague: Mouton.
* Lass, Roger; & Anderson, John M. (1975). ''Old English Phonology''. (Cambridge studies in linguistics; No. 14). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
* Luick, Karl. (1914–1940). ''Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache''. Stuttgart: [[Bernhard Tauchnitz]].
* {{Cite journal | last1 = Maling | first1 = J. | year = 1971 | title = Sentence stress in Old English | jstor =4177642 | journal=Linguistic Inquiry | volume = 2 | issue = 3| pages = 379–400 }}
* {{Cite journal | doi = 10.1017/S0022226700014699 | last1 = McCully | first1 = C. B. | last2 = Hogg | first2 = Richard M. | year = 1990 | title = An account of Old English stress | url = | journal=Journal of Linguistics | volume = 26 | pages = 315–339 | issue = 2 }}
* Moulton, W. G. (1972). "The Proto-Germanic non-syllabics (consonants)". In: [[Frans Van Coetsem|F. van Coetsem]] & H. L. Kufner (Eds.), ''Toward a Grammar of Proto-Germanic'' (pp.&nbsp;141–173). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.
* Sievers, Eduard (1893). ''Altgermanische Metrik''. Halle: Max Niemeyer.
* Wagner, Karl Heinz (1969). ''Generative Grammatical Studies in the Old English language''. Heidelberg: Julius Groos.

===Morphology===

* Brunner, Karl. (1965). ''Altenglische Grammatik (nach der angelsächsischen Grammatik von Eduard Sievers neubearbeitet)'' (3rd ed.). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.
* Campbell, A. (1959). ''Old English grammar''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* Wagner, Karl Heinz. (1969). ''Generative grammatical studies in the Old English language''. Heidelberg: Julius Groos.

===Syntax===

* Brunner, Karl. (1962). ''Die englische Sprache: ihre geschichtliche Entwicklung'' (Vol. II). Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.
* Kemenade, Ans van. (1982). ''Syntactic Case and Morphological Case in the History of English''. Dordrecht: Foris.
* MacLaughlin, John C. (1983). ''Old English Syntax: a handbook''. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer.
* Mitchell, Bruce. (1985). ''Old English Syntax'' (Vols. 1–2). Oxford: Clarendon Press (no more published)
** Vol.1: Concord, the parts of speech and the sentence
** Vol.2: Subordination, independent elements, and element order
* Mitchell, Bruce. (1990) ''A Critical Bibliography of Old English Syntax to the end of 1984, including addenda and corrigenda to "Old English Syntax" ''. Oxford: Blackwell
* Timofeeva, Olga. (2010) ''Non-finite Constructions in Old English, with Special Reference to Syntactic Borrowing from Latin'', PhD dissertation, Mémoires de la Société Néophilologique de Helsinki, vol. LXXX, Helsinki: Société Néophilologique.
* Traugott, Elizabeth Closs. (1972). ''A History of English Syntax: a transformational approach to the history of English sentence structure''. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
* Visser, F. Th. (1963–1973). ''An Historical Syntax of the English Language'' (Vols. 1–3). Leiden: E. J. Brill.

===Lexicons===
;Bosworth-Toller
* Bosworth, J; & Toller, T. Northcote. (1898). ''[[An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary]]''. Oxford: Clarendon Press. (Based on Bosworth's 1838 dictionary, his papers & additions by Toller)
* Toller, T. Northcote. (1921). ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary: Supplement''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
* Campbell, A. (1972). ''An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary: Enlarged addenda and corrigenda''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

;Clark Hall-Merritt
* Clark Hall, J. R; & Merritt, H. D. (1969). ''A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary'' (4th ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

;Toronto
* Cameron, Angus, et al. (ed.) (1983) ''[[Dictionary of Old English]]''. Toronto: Published for the Dictionary of Old English Project, Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto by the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1983/1994. (Issued on microfiche and subsequently as a CD-ROM and on the [http://copac.ac.uk/search?rn=11&au=angus+cameron&ti=old+english+dictionary&sort-order=ti%2C%2Ddate World Wide Web].)
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{interwiki|code=ang}}
{{Wiktionary category|type=Old English|category=Old English language}}
{{Wikisource|Bright's Anglo-Saxon Reader/An Outline of Anglo-Saxon Grammar}}
{{Commons category}}
*[[:ang:Englisc sprǣc|Old English Wikipedia]]
*[http://www.oldenglishtranslator.co.uk/ Old English/Modern English Translator]
*[http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/resources/IOE/index.html The Electronic Introduction to Old English]
*[http://www.tha-engliscan-gesithas.org.uk/education/learn-old-english-with-leofwin Learn Old English with Leofwin]
*[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/oldenglish.htm Old English (Anglo-Saxon) alphabet]
*[http://www.bosworthtoller.com Bosworth and Toller, ''An Anglo-Saxon dictionary'']
*[http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/app Downloadable Bosworth and Toller, ''An Anglo-Saxon dictionary Application'']
*[http://home.comcast.net/~modean52/index.htm ''Old English Made Easy'']{{dead link|date=November 2013}}
*[http://home.comcast.net/~modean52/oeme_dictionaries.htm Old English&nbsp;– Modern English dictionary]{{dead link|date=July 2013}}
*[http://victorcauchi.fortunecity.com/EuCmp/o/oldeng.htm Old English Glossary]{{dead link|date=November 2013}}
*[http://slodive.com/freebies/old-english-letters/ Old English Letters]
*[http://www.nosweatshakespeare.com/resources/shakespeare-old-english.htm Shakespeare's English vs Old English]
*[http://megse.unm.edu/research/internal/keyboards.html Downloadable Old English keyboard for Windows and Mac]
*[http://sites.google.com/site/windowskeyboards/Home Another downloadable keyboard for Windows computers]
*[http://symbolcodes.tlt.psu.edu/bylanguage/oenglish.html Guide to using Old English computer characters] (Unicode, HTML entities, etc.)
*[http://www.ling.upenn.edu/~kurisuto/germanic/language_resources.html The Germanic Lexicon Project]
*[http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/engl401/grammar/index.htm An overview of the grammar of Old English]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Wl-OZ3breE&feature=PlayList&p=11D1A11A88A6FF2A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1 The Lord's Prayer in Old English from the 11th century] (video link)

{{History of English}}
{{Germanic philology}}

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[[Category:English languages]]
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