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Mercian dialect

January 13, 2023

Mercian was a dialect spoken in the Anglian kingdom of Mercia (roughly speaking the Midlands of England, an area in which four kingdoms had been united under one monarchy). Together with Northumbrian, it was one of the two Anglian dialects. The other two dialects of Old English were Kentish and West Saxon.[1] Each of those dialects was associated with an independent kingdom on the island. Of these, all of Northumbria and most of Mercia were overrun by the Vikings during the 9th century. Part of Mercia and all of Kent were successfully defended but were then integrated into the Kingdom of Wessex. Because of the centralisation of power and the Viking invasions, there is little to no salvaged written evidence for the development of non-Wessex dialects after Alfred the Great's unification, until the Middle English period.[2][3][4]

History

The Mercian dialect was spoken as far east as the border of East Anglia and as far west as Offa's Dyke, bordering Wales. It was spoken in an area that extended as far north as Staffordshire, bordering Northumbria, and as far south as South Oxfordshire/ Gloucestershire, where it bordered on the Kingdom of Wessex. The Old Norse language also filtered in on a few occasions after the foundation of the Danelaw. This describes the situation before the unification of Mercia.

The Old English Martyrology is a collection of over 230 hagiographies, probably compiled in Mercia, or by someone who wrote in the Mercian dialect of Old English, in the second half of the 9th century. Six Mercian hymns are included in the Anglo-Saxon glosses to the Vespasian Psalter; they include the Benedictus and the Magnificat.[5]

In later Anglo-Saxon England, the dialect would have remained in use in speech but hardly ever in written documents. Some time after the Norman conquest of England, Middle English dialects emerged and were later found in such works as the Ormulum and the writings of the Gawain poet. In the later Middle Ages, a Mercian or East Midland dialect seems to have predominated in the London area, producing such forms as are (from Mercian arun).

Mercian was used by the writer and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien to signify his fictional Rohirric language.[6]

Alphabet

Modern Old English orthography adds additional diacritics above certain letters to show specific phonological features. These distinctions largely were not shown in Old English. Such diacritics include macrons for vowel length and overdots for palatalization. Sound approximations from various European languages have been given.but it is best to learn by the International Phonetic Alphabet transcriptions for more precise pronunciation.

  • a for /ɑ/; General American English cot
  • ā for /ɑː/; Norwegian ta
  • b for /b/; English boy
  • c for /k/; English cold
  • ċ for /tʃ/; English cheese
  • d for /d/; English dead
  • e for /e/; Spanish me
  • ē for /eː/; German See
  • f for /f/; English fun; realised as [v] between voiced sounds (English thrive)
  • g for /g/; realised as [ɣ] (Dutch getrouw)
  • ġ for /j/; English yes
  • ġġ or ċġ for /dʒ/; English wedge
  • h for /h/; realised as [h] (English hunt) syllable-initially, as [x] after back vowels (German Nacht), and as [ç] after front vowels (German Sicht); h also represented devoicing before certain voiced consonants
  • i for /i/; Spanish mí
  • ī for /iː/; English three
  • k for /k/; English kind; k was used rarely
  • l for /l/; English light
  • m for /m/; English mom
  • n for /n/; English sin; realized as [ŋ] before c or g (English think)
  • o for /o/; Spanish yo
  • ō for /oː/; German froh
  • p for /p/; English pip
  • r for /r/; likely [r] (a "rolled" r), which is present in Scottish English
  • s for /s/; English sit; voiced to [z] when between voiced sounds (English wise)
  • sċ for /ʃ/; English ship
  • t for /t/; English tart
  • u for /u/; Spanish tú
  • ū for /u/; English through
  • x for /ks/; English fox
  • y for /y/; equivalent to /i/ with rounded lips; Finnish mykkä
  • ȳ for /yː/; equivalent to /iː/ with rounded lips; German früh
  • ƿ for /w/; often replaced by modern w; English win
  • ð for /θ/, which realised as [θ] (English think) or [ð] (English feather) depending upon position; interchangeable with þ
  • þ for /θ/, which realised as [θ] (English think) or [ð] (English feather) depending upon position; interchangeable with ð
  • æ for /æ/; English bat
  • ǣ for /æː/; Finnish ääni
  • œ for /ø/; Hungarian jövő
  • œ̄ for /øː/; German schön or Hungarian jövő

Grammar

Mercian grammar has the same structure as other West Germanic dialects.

Nouns

Nouns have three genders: masculine, feminine, neuter; and four cases: nominative, accusative, dative and genitive. These, in addition, all have singular and plural forms. They can also be strong or weak.

Examples

  • Strong masculine noun stān (stone)
    • nominative (singular, plural): stān, stānes
    • accusative: stān, stānes
    • dative: stāne, stānen
    • genitive: stānes, stāne
  • Weak masculine noun name (name)
    • nominative: name, namen
    • accusative: namen/name, namen
    • dative: namen/name, namen
    • genitive: namen/name. namene/namen

Pronouns

Personal pronouns (I/me, you, he, she, we, you (pl.) and they) come in all the above cases and come in three numbers: singular, dual ('you/we two'), plural.

Demonstrative pronouns vary in the same way described below for the indefinite article, based on 'ðes' only for this. That and Those are the same as the definite article.

Relative pronouns (who, which, that) are usually 'ðe' and 'ðet.'

Articles

The definite article is equally complex, with all genders changing in the singular in all cases, based on variations of 'ðe.' In the plural all genders take the same word. The indefinite article was often omitted in Mercian.

Adjectives

Adjectives are always declined, even with some verbs (which means they can double up as adverbs), e.g. I am cold. Having split into weak and strong declensions (depending on the strength of the noun), these split again into all four cases, both singular and plural.

Comparative adjectives (e.g. bigger) always add 're.' Example: Æðelen (noble), æðelenre (nobler).

Verbs

Verbs can be conjugated from the infinitive into the present tense, the past singular, the past plural and the past participle. There exist strong and weak verbs in Mercian that too conjugate in their own ways. The future tense requires an auxiliary verb, like will (Mercian wyllen). There are three moods: indicative, subjunctive and imperative. Like most inflected languages, Mercian has a few irregular verbs (such as 'to be' bēon and 'have' habben). For basic understanding, the four principal parts must be known for each strong verb: weak verbs are easier and more numerous, they all form the past participle with -ed.

Vocabulary

Mercian vocabulary is largely inherited from Proto-Germanic, with Latin loanwords coming via the use of Latin as the language of the Early Church, and Norse loanwords that arrived as part of the Norse incursions and foundation of the Danelaw which covered much of the midlands and north of England.

Some morphological differences between the Mercian and West Saxon include:

  • Change of West Saxon final -c to -h, presumably alluding to its ultimate loss in Modern English.
Ic (I) ↔ Ih
  • The preservation of -k in Proto-Germanic in some pronouns, like mec (me).

See also

References

  1. ^ Campbell, Alistair (1959). Old English Grammar. London: Oxford University Press. p. 4. ISBN 0-19-811943-7.
  2. ^ Skeat, W. W., English Dialects, from the Eighth Century to the Present Day. Cambridge, 1911.
  3. ^ Bennett, J. A. W. & Smithers, G. V., Early Middle English Verse and Prose. Oxford, 1968, etc.
  4. ^ Dickins, Bruce, & Wilson, R. M. Early Middle English Texts. Cambridge: Bowes & Bowes, 1951.
  5. ^ Sweet, H. (1946) Anglo-Saxon Reader; 10th ed. Clarendon Pr.; pp. 170-179
  6. ^ Shippey, Tom (2005) [1982]. The Road to Middle-Earth (Third ed.). Grafton (HarperCollins). pp. 131–133. ISBN 978-0261102750.
  • Biddulph, Joseph (2004) The Mercian Language: Introduction to the English Midlands Dialect of Late Anglo-Saxon and Early Middle English. 56 p. Pontypridd: Joseph Biddulph ISBN 1-897999-39-9 (Text in modern English, with examples in Old and Middle English)

Further reading

  • Mitchell, Bruce, and Robinson, Fred C. (2001) A Guide to Old English (6th edition). Oxford: Blackwell ISBN 0-631-22636-2
  • Sweet, H., ed. (1885) The Oldest English Texts: glossaries, the Vespasian Psalter, and other works written before AD 900. London: for the Early English Text Society
    • The Vespasian Psalter facsimile of the MS.: Wright, David H. (ed.) (1967) The Vespasian Psalter. (Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile, #14) Copenhagen: Rosenkilde and Bagger OCLC 5009657, an interlinear gloss found in a manuscript of the Book of Psalms in the Cottonian Library (now British Library). The gloss was prepared around 850. This gloss is in the Mercian dialect.

January 13, 2023
mercian, dialect, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, september. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Mercian dialect news newspapers books scholar JSTOR September 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Mercian was a dialect spoken in the Anglian kingdom of Mercia roughly speaking the Midlands of England an area in which four kingdoms had been united under one monarchy Together with Northumbrian it was one of the two Anglian dialects The other two dialects of Old English were Kentish and West Saxon 1 Each of those dialects was associated with an independent kingdom on the island Of these all of Northumbria and most of Mercia were overrun by the Vikings during the 9th century Part of Mercia and all of Kent were successfully defended but were then integrated into the Kingdom of Wessex Because of the centralisation of power and the Viking invasions there is little to no salvaged written evidence for the development of non Wessex dialects after Alfred the Great s unification until the Middle English period 2 3 4 Contents 1 History 2 Alphabet 3 Grammar 3 1 Nouns 3 1 1 Examples 3 2 Pronouns 3 3 Articles 3 4 Adjectives 3 5 Verbs 3 6 Vocabulary 4 See also 5 References 6 Further readingHistory EditThe Mercian dialect was spoken as far east as the border of East Anglia and as far west as Offa s Dyke bordering Wales It was spoken in an area that extended as far north as Staffordshire bordering Northumbria and as far south as South Oxfordshire Gloucestershire where it bordered on the Kingdom of Wessex The Old Norse language also filtered in on a few occasions after the foundation of the Danelaw This describes the situation before the unification of Mercia The Old English Martyrology is a collection of over 230 hagiographies probably compiled in Mercia or by someone who wrote in the Mercian dialect of Old English in the second half of the 9th century Six Mercian hymns are included in the Anglo Saxon glosses to the Vespasian Psalter they include the Benedictus and the Magnificat 5 In later Anglo Saxon England the dialect would have remained in use in speech but hardly ever in written documents Some time after the Norman conquest of England Middle English dialects emerged and were later found in such works as the Ormulum and the writings of the Gawain poet In the later Middle Ages a Mercian or East Midland dialect seems to have predominated in the London area producing such forms as are from Mercian arun Mercian was used by the writer and philologist J R R Tolkien to signify his fictional Rohirric language 6 Alphabet EditModern Old English orthography adds additional diacritics above certain letters to show specific phonological features These distinctions largely were not shown in Old English Such diacritics include macrons for vowel length and overdots for palatalization Sound approximations from various European languages have been given but it is best to learn by the International Phonetic Alphabet transcriptions for more precise pronunciation a for ɑ General American English cot a for ɑː Norwegian ta b for b English boy c for k English cold ċ for tʃ English cheese d for d English dead e for e Spanish me e for eː German See f for f English fun realised as v between voiced sounds English thrive g for g realised as ɣ Dutch getrouw ġ for j English yes ġġ or ċġ for dʒ English wedge h for h realised as h English hunt syllable initially as x after back vowels German Nacht and as c after front vowels German Sicht h also represented devoicing before certain voiced consonants i for i Spanish mi i for iː English three k for k English kind k was used rarely l for l English light m for m English mom n for n English sin realized as ŋ before c or g English think o for o Spanish yo ō for oː German froh p for p English pip r for r likely r a rolled r which is present in Scottish English s for s English sit voiced to z when between voiced sounds English wise sċ for ʃ English ship t for t English tart u for u Spanish tu u for u English through x for ks English fox y for y equivalent to i with rounded lips Finnish mykka ȳ for yː equivalent to iː with rounded lips German fruh ƿ for w often replaced by modern w English win d for 8 which realised as 8 English think or d English feather depending upon position interchangeable with th th for 8 which realised as 8 English think or d English feather depending upon position interchangeable with d ae for ae English bat ǣ for aeː Finnish aani œ for o Hungarian jovo œ for oː German schon or Hungarian jovoGrammar EditMercian grammar has the same structure as other West Germanic dialects Nouns Edit Nouns have three genders masculine feminine neuter and four cases nominative accusative dative and genitive These in addition all have singular and plural forms They can also be strong or weak Examples Edit Strong masculine noun stan stone nominative singular plural stan stanes accusative stan stanes dative stane stanen genitive stanes stane Weak masculine noun name name nominative name namen accusative namen name namen dative namen name namen genitive namen name namene namenPronouns Edit Personal pronouns I me you he she we you pl and they come in all the above cases and come in three numbers singular dual you we two plural Demonstrative pronouns vary in the same way described below for the indefinite article based on des only for this That and Those are the same as the definite article Relative pronouns who which that are usually de and det Articles Edit The definite article is equally complex with all genders changing in the singular in all cases based on variations of de In the plural all genders take the same word The indefinite article was often omitted in Mercian Adjectives Edit Adjectives are always declined even with some verbs which means they can double up as adverbs e g I am cold Having split into weak and strong declensions depending on the strength of the noun these split again into all four cases both singular and plural Comparative adjectives e g bigger always add re Example AEdelen noble aedelenre nobler Verbs Edit Verbs can be conjugated from the infinitive into the present tense the past singular the past plural and the past participle There exist strong and weak verbs in Mercian that too conjugate in their own ways The future tense requires an auxiliary verb like will Mercian wyllen There are three moods indicative subjunctive and imperative Like most inflected languages Mercian has a few irregular verbs such as to be beon and have habben For basic understanding the four principal parts must be known for each strong verb weak verbs are easier and more numerous they all form the past participle with ed Vocabulary Edit Mercian vocabulary is largely inherited from Proto Germanic with Latin loanwords coming via the use of Latin as the language of the Early Church and Norse loanwords that arrived as part of the Norse incursions and foundation of the Danelaw which covered much of the midlands and north of England Some morphological differences between the Mercian and West Saxon include Change of West Saxon final c to h presumably alluding to its ultimate loss in Modern English Ic I IhThe preservation of k in Proto Germanic in some pronouns like mec me See also EditAB language a written Middle English dialect Mercia disambiguation Wiktionary s coverage of Mercian termsReferences Edit Campbell Alistair 1959 Old English Grammar London Oxford University Press p 4 ISBN 0 19 811943 7 Skeat W W English Dialects from the Eighth Century to the Present Day Cambridge 1911 Bennett J A W amp Smithers G V Early Middle English Verse and Prose Oxford 1968 etc Dickins Bruce amp Wilson R M Early Middle English Texts Cambridge Bowes amp Bowes 1951 Sweet H 1946 Anglo Saxon Reader 10th ed Clarendon Pr pp 170 179 Shippey Tom 2005 1982 The Road to Middle Earth Third ed Grafton HarperCollins pp 131 133 ISBN 978 0261102750 Biddulph Joseph 2004 The Mercian Language Introduction to the English Midlands Dialect of Late Anglo Saxon and Early Middle English 56 p Pontypridd Joseph Biddulph ISBN 1 897999 39 9 Text in modern English with examples in Old and Middle English Further reading EditMitchell Bruce and Robinson Fred C 2001 A Guide to Old English 6th edition Oxford Blackwell ISBN 0 631 22636 2 Sweet H ed 1885 The Oldest English Texts glossaries the Vespasian Psalter and other works written before AD 900 London for the Early English Text Society The Vespasian Psalter facsimile of the MS Wright David H ed 1967 The Vespasian Psalter Early English Manuscripts in Facsimile 14 Copenhagen Rosenkilde and Bagger OCLC 5009657 an interlinear gloss found in a manuscript of the Book of Psalms in the Cottonian Library now British Library The gloss was prepared around 850 This gloss is in the Mercian dialect Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Mercian dialect amp oldid 1132954619, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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