I hope that you all enjoyed James Coulter’s wonderful talk on the English Language. His talk on January 22nd I found not just compelling and easy for me to understand, but explained so many basic questions that I guess I had not had the sense to research about my mother tongue.
In the spirit of openness James has submitted his talk (with bonus extras) and the Links and Conversation documents for publishing here.
Thank you James!
An Old English Conversation
A: Hwa wunaþ in þǣt hus? (Hwa woo-nath in that hus)
A: Who lives in that house?
The verb wunaþ has disappeared from modern English but is cognate with (has the same linguistic derivation as) the German verb wohnen, meaning to ‘live in’ or ‘reside’.
B: Eadweard wunaþ þǣr. (Eydward woo-nath thayr)
B: Edward lives there. No further explanation needed!
A: Þǣt timber is gerotod! (That timber is ye-roetod)
A: That timber is rotten!
The prefix ‘ge’ on the verb ‘rotian’ (to rot) indicates that the wood has completely rotted (therefore in the past tense), not merely in the process of rotting.
B: Ic cann þæt hit is. (Itch can that hit is)
B: (Literal) I know that it is.
B: (Modern) I know it is.
The verb ‘cunnan’ means ‘to know’ something and in this sense is related to the Scottish word ‘ken’. The modern German verb is kennen.
A: Ic mǣg sume min wudu Eadwarde giefan. (Itch my soome meen wud-oo Eydward-e gee-van).
A: (Literal) I may (can) some (of) my wood to Edward give.
A: (Modern) I can give Edward some of my wood.
The word order is different to modern English with the verb ‘give’ at the end of the sentence, as in modern German.
B: Þū eart to milde! (Thoo airt toe mild-e!)
B: You are too kind!
‘Milde’ is the ancestor of the modern word ‘mild’ which in Old English meant good-natured or generous. The same word in modern German is milde.
James’ Talk with Bonus material
Further Reading and Resources
YouTube Videos
A humorous take on English and its inconsistencies, as performed by Jazz Emu on ‘8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown’ (note: contains some swearing):
RobWords: Britain’s Celtic languages explained (Scottish, Manx, Welsh, Irish, Cornish): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mroBpgBw0gU&t=905s
Beowulf spoken in Old English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QT5nja2Wy28
Old Norse/Viking influence on English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XimUGRX81V8&t=317s
Aelfric’s Colloquy spoken in Old English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBKzZhPev24&t=43s
Translation of Aelfric’s Colloquy: http://www.vikingage.org/wiki/wiki/Aelfric%E2%80%99s_Colloquy
The Canterbury Tales (Prologue): https://chaucer.fas.harvard.edu/pages/general-prologue-0
Chaucer’s Treatise on the Astrolabe (instructions for using an astronomical device, which is slightly more readable than the Canterbury Tales as it’s written in prose, not verse):
https://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/cme/ChaucerAstr/1:2?rgn=div1;view=fulltext
Dame Judi Dench recites a Shakespeare sonnet on the Graham Norton Show:
RobWords: Is English just badly-spoken French?
Books
How We’d Talk if the English Had Won in 1066: https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Wed-Talk-English-1066/dp/1800316291
The Horse, The Wheel and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Horse-Wheel-Language-Bronze-Age-Eurasian/dp/069114818X
Podcasts
The History of English Podcast by Kevin Stroud: https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/
Websites
English Language and Usage (question and answer forum): https://english.stackexchange.com/
Etymology Online (useful insight into the origins of English words): https://www.etymonline.com/