An Introduction to Old English

An accessible overview of the first centuries in the history of the English language.


Combining a wide variety of short texts with a coherent and up-to-date assessment of the forms of language which remain as the foundation of English today, this introduction offers a unique study of Old English in context. It is designed for students unfamiliar with the earliest stages of the English language and provides a basis for further study of the history of the language to the present day. All the basic elements of Old English are covered, including nouns, adjectives, verbs, syntax, word order, vocabulary and sound values. Wherever possible comparisons are drawn between Old English and the present-day language, but also with other related languages such as Dutch, German and French. There are also chapters introducing Old English poetry and dialect variation, as well as a chapter looking at what happened to the language after the Norman Conquest. 


Key Features:

• Up-to-date account of the linguistics of the Old English period with particular stress on syntax and vocabulary 

• Integrates accounts of the language with selected texts graded to improve accessibility for the beginner

• Strong emphasis on the relation between Old English and present-day English together with relevant features in related languages 

• Contains exercises, a glossary of key terms and an Old English glossary


KEYWORDS: Old English, history of English, grammar, strong verb, weak verb, morphology