Book contents
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume I
- General Preface
- Abbreviations
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Context of English
- 1 The Indo-European Framework
- 2 English in Its Germanic Surrounding
- 3 Language Development in the Old English Period
- 4 The Geography of English in England
- 5 Philology and the History of English
- Part II Contact and External Influences
- Part III The Long View by Levels and Areas
- Appendix: Recommended Reading
- Index
- References
3 - Language Development in the Old English Period
from Part I - The Context of English
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 October 2025
Book contents
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- The New Cambridge History of the English Language
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume I
- General Preface
- Abbreviations
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume I
- Part I The Context of English
- 1 The Indo-European Framework
- 2 English in Its Germanic Surrounding
- 3 Language Development in the Old English Period
- 4 The Geography of English in England
- 5 Philology and the History of English
- Part II Contact and External Influences
- Part III The Long View by Levels and Areas
- Appendix: Recommended Reading
- Index
- References
Summary
This chapter discusses the extent to which language contact between the indigenous inhabitants of England and the Germanic migrants (fifth to sixth centuries) may have influenced the evolution of English in its earliest stages. It then considers the possible consequences of contact with Norse in the Danelaw (eighth to eleventh centuries), the so-called Viking/Norse hypothesis. It furthermore addresses theories concerning the emergence of the first literary forms of language, associated with the Kingdom of Mercia and the School of Winchester and the tenth-century Benedictine Reform. Theories about the possible influence of the Mercian and West Saxon proto-standards on other dialects are also reviewed, since they may have obscured, at a vernacular level, the results of language contact with Scandinavian in the Old English period.
Keywords
Information
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The New Cambridge History of the English LanguageContext, Contact and Development, pp. 78 - 98Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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