The Grammar of Names in Anglo-Saxon England

The Grammar of Names in Anglo-Saxon England PDF Author: Fran Colman
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191005185
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 323

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Book Description
This book examines personal names, including given and acquired (or nick-) names, and how they were used in Anglo-Saxon England. It discusses their etymologies, semantics, and grammatical behaviour, and considers their evolving place in Anglo-Saxon history and culture. From that culture survive thousands of names on coins, in manuscripts, on stone and other inscriptions. Names are important and their absence a stigma (Grendel's parents have no names); they may have particular functions in ritual and magic; they mark individuals, generally people but also beings with close human contact such as dogs, cats, birds, and horses; and they may provide indications of rank and gender. Dr Colman explores the place of names within the structure of Old English, their derivation, formation, and other linguistic behaviour, and compares them with the products of other Germanic (e.g., Present-day German) and non-Germanic (e.g., Ancient and Present-day Greek) naming systems. Old English personal names typically followed the Germanic system of elements based on common words like leof (adjective 'beloved') and wulf (noun 'wolf'), which give Leofa and Wulf, and often combined as in Wulfraed, (ræd noun, 'advice, counsel') or as in Leofing (with the diminutive suffix -ing). The author looks at the combinatorial and sequencing possibilities of these elements in name formation, and assesses the extent to which, in origin, names may be selected to express qualities manifested by, or expected in, an individual. She examines their different modes of inflection and the variable behaviour of names classified as masculine or feminine. The results of her wide-ranging investigation are provocative and stimulating.

The Grammar of Names in Anglo-Saxon England

The Grammar of Names in Anglo-Saxon England PDF Author: Fran Colman
Publisher: OUP Oxford
ISBN: 0191005185
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 323

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book examines personal names, including given and acquired (or nick-) names, and how they were used in Anglo-Saxon England. It discusses their etymologies, semantics, and grammatical behaviour, and considers their evolving place in Anglo-Saxon history and culture. From that culture survive thousands of names on coins, in manuscripts, on stone and other inscriptions. Names are important and their absence a stigma (Grendel's parents have no names); they may have particular functions in ritual and magic; they mark individuals, generally people but also beings with close human contact such as dogs, cats, birds, and horses; and they may provide indications of rank and gender. Dr Colman explores the place of names within the structure of Old English, their derivation, formation, and other linguistic behaviour, and compares them with the products of other Germanic (e.g., Present-day German) and non-Germanic (e.g., Ancient and Present-day Greek) naming systems. Old English personal names typically followed the Germanic system of elements based on common words like leof (adjective 'beloved') and wulf (noun 'wolf'), which give Leofa and Wulf, and often combined as in Wulfraed, (ræd noun, 'advice, counsel') or as in Leofing (with the diminutive suffix -ing). The author looks at the combinatorial and sequencing possibilities of these elements in name formation, and assesses the extent to which, in origin, names may be selected to express qualities manifested by, or expected in, an individual. She examines their different modes of inflection and the variable behaviour of names classified as masculine or feminine. The results of her wide-ranging investigation are provocative and stimulating.

Rezension Von: Fran Colman. The Grammar of Names in Anglo-Saxon England

Rezension Von: Fran Colman. The Grammar of Names in Anglo-Saxon England PDF Author: John Insley
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Women's Names in Old English

Women's Names in Old English PDF Author: Elisabeth Okasha
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351871218
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 147

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Book Description
This monograph provides an in-depth study into the issue of vernacular names in Old English documents. Specifically, it challenges the generally accepted notion that the sex of an individual is definitively indicated by the grammatical gender of their name. In the case of di-thematic names, the grammatical gender in question is that of the second element of the name. Thus di-thematic names have been taken as belonging to women if their second element is grammatically feminine. However, as there are no surviving Anglo-Saxon texts which explain the principles of vernacular nomenclature, or any contemporary list of Old English personal names, it is by no means sure that this assumption is correct. While modern scholars have generally felt no difficulty in distinguishing male from female names, this book asks how far the Anglo-Saxons themselves recognised this distinction, and in so doing critically examines and tests the general principle that grammatical gender is a certain indicator of biological sex. Anyone with an interest in Old English manuscripts or early medieval history will find this book both thought provoking and a useful reference tool for better understanding the Anglo-Saxon world.

The Elements of Anglo-Saxon Grammar

The Elements of Anglo-Saxon Grammar PDF Author: Joseph Bosworth
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Alphabet
Languages : en
Pages : 392

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Book Description


Onomasticon Anglo-saxonicum

Onomasticon Anglo-saxonicum PDF Author: William George Searle
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Names, English (Old)
Languages : en
Pages : 674

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Book Description


A Comparative Grammar of the Anglo Saxon Language. In which its Forms are Illustrated by Those of the Sankrit, Greek, Latin, Gothic, Old Saxon, Old Friesic, Old Norse, and Old High German

A Comparative Grammar of the Anglo Saxon Language. In which its Forms are Illustrated by Those of the Sankrit, Greek, Latin, Gothic, Old Saxon, Old Friesic, Old Norse, and Old High German PDF Author: Francis Andrew March
Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand
ISBN: 3385522110
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
Reprint of the original, first published in 1877.

Origins of English Surnames

Origins of English Surnames PDF Author: Joslin Fiennes
Publisher: Robert Hale Ltd
ISBN: 0719824443
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 208

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Book Description
Surnames carry the history of people in a very personal way. In England, surnames were mostly established by the end of the fourteenth century - by ordinary people, for ordinary people. Uniquely, surnames describe medieval lives not captured by any other record. They tell us what these people did, where they went, what they noticed and give clues about their culture and memories. This book examines the origins of English surnames, looking at: occupational names; locational names, or names that record places; nicknames and personal names; names from the Continent; and symbolic names. Where genealogists and etymologists focus on single names, this book takes groups of names and explores what these say about the society that created them. In 'The Origins of English Surnames' you will find the English people at a key moment in history, revealing the way they spoke, the jokes they made, and their memories of ancient cultures - all at a time when land-based feudalism was crumbling and people sought better lives.

English Grammar

English Grammar PDF Author: Charles Peter Mason
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English language
Languages : en
Pages : 324

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Book Description


English Grammar, Including the Principles of Grammatical Analysis

English Grammar, Including the Principles of Grammatical Analysis PDF Author: Charles Peter Mason
Publisher: A. Miller
ISBN:
Category : English language
Languages : en
Pages : 314

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Book Description


Elves in Anglo-Saxon England

Elves in Anglo-Saxon England PDF Author: Alaric Hall
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
Elves and elf-belief during the Anglo-Saxon period are reassessed in this lively and provocative study. Anglo-Saxon elves [Old English ælfe] are one of the best attested non-Christian beliefs in early medieval Europe, but current interpretations of the evidence derive directly from outdated nineteenth- and early twentieth-century scholarship. Integrating linguistic and textual approaches into an anthropologically-inspired framework, this book reassesses the full range of evidence. It traces continuities and changes in medieval non-Christian beliefs with a new degree of reliability, from pre-conversion times to the eleventh century and beyond, and uses comparative material from medieval Ireland and Scandinavia to argue for a dynamic relationship between beliefs and society. Inparticular, it interprets the cultural significance of elves as a cause of illness in medical texts, and provides new insights into the much-discussed Scandinavian magic of seidr. Elf-beliefs, moreover, were connected withAnglo-Saxon constructions of sex and gender; their changing nature provides a rare insight into a fascinating area of early medieval European culture. Shortlisted for the Katharine Briggs Folklore Award 2007 ALARIC HALL is a fellow of the Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies.