Study the first four sections of Van Gelderen's Chapter 4, pp. 51-71. We will do the rest of the chapter next week.
This part of the chapter is, basically: spelling, sounds, and the first part of grammar.
Section 4, "Old English Morphology", pages 60-71, will probably require the most attention and work from you.
The word "morphology" comes from "morphe", Greek for "shape" or "form", and logos", Greek for "word", so "-logia" = "the study of". So, "morphology" means "the study of the forms that words take." It is the morphology that made Old English a synthetic language.
Go over this section very carefully. Study pronouns; demonstratives; strong and week nouns; the adjective (two declensions of adjectives in Germanic languages, with or without a demonstrative, like Modern German today); adverbs; strong verbs; weak verbs; the verb "to be". Much of this will be familiar to you. You will see how clear it is that Modern English (ModEng) is derived from OE.
We will go over the beginning of Beowulf in class (pp. 70-71). Bear in mind that Beowulf was written in a deliberately elevated, poetic style and vocabulary. OE prose is not nearly this difficult!
Go to Appendix A, p. 83 and just read through the selection from the OE Peterborough Chronicle. Do not look at the translation, which is right below it. Instead, read the OE text over several times.
You will find that you are able to understand a great deal of it! (not everything -- do not worry about that). You can see this this is not really a "foreign language" -- it is English! just an earlier version of English.
(This selection records the Battle of Hastings in 1066, the conquest of England by Duke William of Normandy, the "Norman Conquest. So it is an important historical text itself.)
Written Homework: Do Exercises 1 through 4, pp. 81-82.
We will discuss this in class.
As always, remember that your HW is not a test! It's an exercise to help you understand and learn the contents of the chapter. So please, do not look for the answers!
Email to me. NOT to your group.
NB: As always, bring your text to class with you.