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SEMINAR 1
1. The origin and position of English
English belongs to the Low West Germanic branch of the Indo-European family. This
means in the first place that it shares certain characteristics common to all the Germanic
languages. For example, it shows:
the shifting of certain consonants under the head of Grimms Law.
2. The Germanic Languages. Grimms Law
Lat
OE
MnE
Piscis
Tres
Centum
Genus
Decem
Fisc
reo
Hund
Cynn
Tien
Fish
Three
Hundred
Kin
Ten
Correspondences
P/f
T/th
K/h
G/k
D/t
This is the paradigm of the Old English demonstrative pronoun which also played the part of the
demonstrative pronoun. In what way does it differ from the paradigm of the demonstrative pronoun
and the definite article in Modern English?
Masc sing
Neuter sing
Feminine sing
Nom.
se, se
Seo
Acc.
one
Gen.
re
ra
Dat.
re
Inst.
y, on
Generalization:
2.
Compare the following nouns in Modern English to the following nouns in Old English. What is the
main difference between the two regarding the classification of nouns?
Modern English
the woman
the moon
the arm
the lady
the sun
the woman
the land
the egg
Old English
se wifmann
se mona
se earm
seo hlfdige
seo sunne
t wif
t land
t g
Generalization:
3. Here are three types of declension of nouns in Old English. In what way do they
differ from their Modern English counterparts?
Masculine pl
Masculine
sg
stn
Long stem
neut
land
Neuter pl
stnas
Neuter sg
Short stem
scip
scipu
Long stem
neut
land
Acc
stn
stnas
scip
land
scipu
land
stnes
stna
scipes
landes
scipa
landa
stne
stnum
scipe
lande
scipum
landum
Fot
fet
nama
nama
Acc
Fot
fet
naman
nama
Fotes
fota
naman
namena
Fet
fotum
naman
Namum