Questions dealing with Old English, i.e. the language of the Anglo-Saxons up to about 1150.
Questions tagged [old-english]
215 questions
6
votes
1 answer
What is the name of the sign “ł”?
What is the name of this (in my opinian tyronian) sign? (in "The Gospel according to Saint Matthew in Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian Versions", Matthew 5:36)
HungarianMan
- 163
3
votes
1 answer
"So clean it was fallen away"... what?
This quote is from the Very Bloody History of Britain by John Farman. I have a soft spot for it as the first history book I ever read, almost twenty-five years ago.
I have always wondered what the phrase below means, apparently from the time of King…
Ne Mo
- 656
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- 11
2
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1 answer
Byname or patronymic names for daughters?
Bynames in various texts and genealogies include the suffix -ing to indicate the son of. Example would be Cynric son of Cerdic written as Cynric Cerdicing.
Was there a similar practice for daughter's "bynames?"
user97339
1
vote
1 answer
What is the word?
What is the word?
The first part is hegh (high) /if I understood correctly/
from
fedor
- 113
1
vote
0 answers
Why does Distal of "yon" got no Source, Goal, Time, Manner, Reason?
I know yon is old-fashioned and bygone. But why blanks in red rectangle? Why it had no Pro-adverb for Source, Goal, Time, Manner, Reason?
user50720
1
vote
1 answer
How did "like" change from a noun meaning "body" to the modern verb?
As pointed out here, saying "I like X" in old English would have to be formulated as "X pleases my body" and the word "like" would represent "body" in that sentence. But it's not clear to me how "like" became a verb in modern English.
Count Iblis
- 203
1
vote
1 answer
Where can I find information about the history of the study of Old English?
I'm curious about when the English, in early modern period, first found out about texts such as Beowulf and Anglo-Saxon chronicles and realised it was an old version of English? Or did they always know about the history of the English language?
When…
Einheri
- 416
0
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1 answer
What is the name of this sign?
What is the name of this sign?
(in "Psalterium Davidis Latino-Saxonicum vetus",
Psalms 78:52)
HungarianMan
- 163
0
votes
0 answers
0
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1 answer
Why do English words sheer and week have "ee"?
Why do English words sheer and week (from OE scære and wice) have "ee"?
The expected English ee <- Old English ē / eo:
street strēt
sleep slēpan
weep wēpan
deep dēop
deer dēor
reek rēocan
prostorech
- 151
0
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How did willa compound with cuma, to signify 'it's well you have come' and 'one who arrives at the pleasure of another'?
I based the subject line on Etymonline, but the other quotations purport different etymons. Regardless which etymons are correct, I don't understand how they begot the meanings of "it's well you have come" “and "one who arrives at the pleasure of…
user50720