Reproduction of the 1705 copy of the Runic poem

 

 

Тот рыцарь был достойный человек,

С тех пор как в первый он ушёл набег,

Не посрамил он рыцарского рода;

Любил он честь, учтивость и свободу;

Усердный был и ревностный вассал.

И редко кто в стольких краях бывал.

Крещённые и даже басурмане

Признали доблести его во брани.

Он с королём Александрию брал,

На орденских пирах он восседал

Вверху стола, был гостем в замках прусских,

Ходил он на Литву, ходил на русских,

А мало кто – тому свидетель бог –

Из рыцарей тех похвалиться мог.

Им в Андалузии взят Алжезир

И от неверных ограждён Алжир.

Был под Лайасом он и Саталией

И помогал сражаться с Бельмарией.

Не раз терпел невзгоды он и горе

При трудных высадках в Великом море…

 

Seminar 3 (2 ч.) Typologically relevant processes in the history of the phonetic system of English. The System of Vowels

TEST 2

1. Word stress in Germanic languages. OE word stress.

2. Two types of vowel gradation:

Ø Indo-European quantitative and qualitative ablaut;

Ø i-umlaut (or palatal mutation)

3. Old English period: Fracture (Breaking), Palatalization, the development of diphthongs and monophthongs, Back-Mutation, Contraction.

4. Quantitative and qualitative vowel changes in ME and Early NE periods:

Ø word stress in Middle English and Early New English periods;

Ø the development of unstressed vowels, main trends in the changes of stressed vowels;

Ø shortening and lengthening of vowels;

Ø the development of diphthongs and monophthongs;

Ø the Great Vowel Shift;

Ø changes of short vowels.

Recommended readings:

Ilyish B.A. History …. – L., 1973. – Р. 16, 20-24, 44-51, 160-166, 254- 266.

Rastorguyeva T.A. A History of English. – M., 1983. – Р. 34-37, 43-46, 74-85, 188-208.

Text : read and translate the text PREFACE TO CAEDMON’S HYMN.

1) speak of the OE technique;

2) find examples to illustrate synthetic technique. Identify the structural type of OE with reference to technique.

 

þā stōd him sum mon æt þurh swefn ond hine hālette ond grētte ond hine be his noman nemde: ‘Cedmon, sing mē hwæthwugu’. Þā ondswarode hē ond cwæð: ‘Ne con ic nōht singan, ond ic forþon of þyssum gebēorscipe ūt ēode ond hider gewāt, forþon ic nāht singan ne cūðe’. Eft hē cwæð, sē ðe mid him sprecende wæs: ‘Hwæðre þū mē meaht singan’. Cwæð hē: ‘Hwæt sceal ic singan?’ Cwæð hē: ‘Sing mē frumsceaft’.

Þā hē ðā þās andsware onfēng, þā ongon hē sōna singan in herenesse Godes scyppendes þā fers ond þā word, þe hē nǽfre ne gehyrde…Þā ārās hē from þǽm slǽpe ond eal, þā þe hē slǽpende song, fæste in gemynde hæfde ond þǽm wordum sōna monig word in þæt ilce gemet Gode wyrðes songes tō geþēodde….

 

…then stood a certain man by him, in a dream, and hailed and greeted him, and named him by his name, saying “Caedmon, sing me something.” Then he answered and said, “I cannot sing anything, and therefore I went out from this convivial meeting, and retired hither, because I could not.” Again he who was speaking with him said, “Yet thou must sing to me.” Said he, “What shall I sing?” Said he, “Sing me the origin of things.” When he received this answer, then he began forthwith to sing, in praise of God the creator, the verses, and the words which he had never heard…Then he arose from sleep, and had fast in mind all that he sleeping had sung, and to those words forthwith joined many words of song worthy of God in the same measure.

 

 

Seminar 4 (2 ч.) Typologically relevant processes in the history of the phonetic system of English. The System of Consonants

TEST 3

1. Consonants in Germanic languages: Grimm’s Law, Verner’s Law, Rhotacism.

2. Origin of the OE consonants: West Germanic Germination, voicing and unvoicing of fricatives, Velar consonants in Early OE, Loss of consonants in some positions;

3. Evolution of consonants in ME and Early NE:

Ø growth of sibilants and affricates;

Ø treatment of fricative consonants;

Ø loss of consonants in certain positions and clusters;

Ø voicing and voiceless fricatives;

Ø vocalization of [R];

Ø development of[X];

Ø loss of [L] before [k,m,f,v];

Ø appearance and loss of [W];

Ø merger of [ j ] with preceding consonant;

Ø loss of consonants in initial clusters.

4. Historical foundations of Modern English Spelling.

 

Recommended readings:

Ilyish B.A. History of the English Language. – L., 1973. – Р. 51-53, 167-168, 266-273.

Rastorguyeva T.A. A History of English. – M., 1983. – Р. 85-90, 184-187, 209-218.

 

Text: read a passage from J. Chaucer’s “CANTERBURY TALES” lines 79-100.

1) comment on the author’s attempts to reflect historically long vowels;

2) which words underwent phonetic changes according to the Great Vowel Shift?

 

With him there was his sone, a yong Squyer,

A lovyere, and a lusty bacheler, 80

With lokkes crulle as they were leyd in presse.

Of twenty yeer of age he was, I gesse.

Of his stature he was of evene lengthe,

And wonderly deliver, and of greet strengthe.

And he had been somtyme in chivachye, 85

In Flaundres, in Artoys, and Picardye,

And born him wel, as of so litel space,

In hope to stonden in his lady grace.

Embrouded was he, as it were a mede

Al ful of fresshe floures, whyte and rede. 90

Singinge he was, or floytinge, al the day;

He was as fresh as is the month of May.

Short was his goune, with sleves longe and wyde.

Wel coude he sitte on hors, and faire ryde.

He coude songes make and wel endyte, 95

Juste and eek daunce, and well purtreye and wryte.

So hote he lovede, that by nightertale

He slepte namore than dooth a nightingale.

< на годы молодые,

Оруженосцем был и там сражался,

Чем милостей любимой добивался.

Стараньями искусных дамских рук

Наряд его расшит был, словно луг,

И весь искрился дивными цветами,

Эмблемами, заморскими зверями.

Весь день играл на флейте он и пел,

Изрядно песни складывать умел,

Умел читать он, рисовать, писать,

На копьях биться, ловко танцевать.

Он ярок, свеж был, как листок весенний.

Был в талию камзол, и по колени

Висели рукава. Скакал он смело

И гарцевал, красуясь, то и дело.

Всю ночь, томясь, он не смыкал очей

И меньше спал, чем в мае соловей.

Он был приятным, вежливым соседом:

Отцу жаркое резал за обедом.

 

 

Seminar 5 (2 ч.) The Evolution of the Grammatical System of Noun

TEST 4

1. OE noun and its grammatical categories. The use and meaning of cases. Morphological classification of nouns. Types of declensions:

Ø vocalic stems (a-stems, ō-stems, i-stems, u-stems);

Ø consonantal stems (n-stems, s-, r-, nd- stems);

Ø minor consonantal stems (root-stems).

2. ME and Early NE noun system. Grammatical categories of gender, case and number. Decay of noun declensions. Simplification of noun morphology.

3. Unification of the ways of expressing plurality.

Recommended readings:

Ilyish B.A. History of the English Language. – L., 1973. – Р. 63-74, 174-178, 274-275.

Rastorguyeva T.A. A History of English. – M., 1983. – Р. 93-101, 222-229.

Text: read a passage from BEOWULF.

 

1) define the sound values of the letters f, ð, s, g

2) comment on the system of OE consonant phonemes.

 

…Wergendra to lyt

þrong ymbe þeoden, þa hyne sio þrag becwom.

Nu sceal sincþego ond swyrdgifu,

eall eðelwyn eowrum cynne, 2885

lufen alicgean; londrihtes mot

þære mægburge monna æghwylc

idel hweorfan, syþþan æðelingas

feorran gefricgean fleam eowerne,

domleasan dæd. Deað bið sella 2890

eorla gehwylcum þonne edwitlif!

 

…Too few protectors

pressed round the prince, when the time came upon him.

Now the receiving of jewels, giving of swords

all the splendid heritage, and life’s necessities 2885

shall pass away from your race.

Every man of the people shall wander,

stripped of his rights in the land, when chieftains

from afar hear of your flight,

the inglorious act. Death is better 2890

for all earls than a shameful life.

 

Seminar 6 (4 ч.) The Evolution of the Grammatical System of verb

TEST 5

1. Peculiar features of the OE verb system. Grammatical categories of the finite verb (Number, Person, Mood, Tense, Aspect and Voice) and of the non-finite forms of the verb: the Infinitive and the Participle.

2. Morphological classification of verbs:

Ø OE strong verbs. The classes of strong verbs;

Ø OE weak verbs. The classes of weak verbs;

Ø OE minor group of verbs: preterite-present, anomalous and suppletive verbs.

3. Simplifying changes in the verb conjugation in ME period. Finite forms of the verbs. Number, Person, Mood, Tense. Voice, Aspect, Verbals. The Infinitive and the Participle. Development of the Gerund.