Scandinavian Invasion.

Scandinavian Influence

Scandinavian Influence

The change in the English language which was caused by the Scandinavian invasions.
Though the invasions took place from 787 until 1041 evidence of its influence can be traced
much later in the twelfth century. For 300 years the influx of Scandinavians was unevenly
spread throughout time, as well as the areas. Thus the intensity of the impact on English is
not the same at all times . After a certain stage of assimilation with British locals the
Scandinavians gave up their language . In other places, however , their language was
spoken for a remarkably long time . The gradual fusion of two peoples in Britain was
facilitated by having a common language group and the resemblance of their languages .
The Anglo - Saxons and the Danes mainly did not have linguistic obstacles . Some scholars
doubt that their respective languages were mutually intelligible . Some scholars , however ,
express a revolutionary view that an Anglo - Danish creole was established . One way or
the other , a linguistic fusion took place . It had a considerable effect on all language levels
in English - phonetics , lexis and grammar . The full extent of the invasions can be
measured by the considerable number of place - names in the north - eastern part of
England , in Danelaw . They are one of the most important linguistic developments of this
period . Modern estimates suggest over 2,000 place - names found throughout the area .
Over 600 place - names in modern Britain have the suffix -by , which in Old Norse means '
town ' , as in Derby , Grimsby , Westerby , Appleby and Whitby . Lots of place - names end
in -thorpe , ' village " , as in Millthorpe , Bishopsthorpe , Linthorpe ; -thwaite ' isolated
piece of land " , as in Braithwaite and Langthwaite . Some 300 names like Sandtoft ,
Lowestoft contain the ending - toft , meaning ' homestead ' . Sometimes place - names can
be a combination of Anglo - Saxon and Scandinavian names , but sometimes the whole
word is a purely Norse word . Similarly , a high percentage of Scandinavian words can be
found in personal names , such as in - son , Johnson , Widowson and Anderson . Since the
two peoples lived intimately and their languages were similar , it is very difficult to
determine with accuracy Scandinavian borrowings in English . Some words , however , can
be identified as of Scandinavian origin . Often , a word of Scandinavian origin can be
determined by the fact that it does not occur in Old English , but does occur in Scandinavian
. An example is the verb , " to take " , niman . Many of the Scandinavian words have since
disappeared from the English which is Scandinavian taka . This is not found in Old
English , which uses the verb language , but quite a number remain . We find the legal and
administrative terms , such as the words thrall , law , by - law , crave and riding . The
largest group of words represents seafaring , words like barda ( ship ) , ceanerr ( small
warship ) , lib ( fleet ) , dreng ( warrior ) , orrest ( battle ) and ran ( robbery ) . Many of the
words adopted were homely and everyday lexemes . Thus the word sister is taken from
Scandinavian . So are the names of parts of the body leg and neck . Other common names
from Old Norse include : sky , knife , skin , dirt , cake and fellow , anger , are , awe ,
awkward , bag , billow , birth , blunder , both , bulk , bull , call , cast , club , crawl , creek ,
die , dirt , egg . gawk , get , gift , give , gosling , guest , gust , hack , hit , husband , knife ,
lad , law , loose , low , mire , mistake , muck , mug , oat , odd , plough ( plow ) , raft , raise ,
ransack , reindeer , rive , root , rune , scarf , score , scrap , scrape , seem , skate ( fish ) ,
skill , skin , skirt , slaughter , sleight , snub , stagger , steak , take , talk , tarn , their , they ,
thrift , troll , wand , want , weak , whirl , whisk , window , wing . Everyday adjectives
include wrong , low , loose , odd , flat and ugly . Among the everyday verbs are : get , give ,
call , want , take , drag , smile , thrive , die etc.

The conjunction though is also from Scandinavian . So are more remarkably the pronouns
they , them and their . As Jespersen claims , such words as pronouns are rarely borrowed by
one language from another , which once more proves the mixture of two peoples , their
linguistic fusion and pidginization of the language . On the phonological level Old English
had a palatal g and Scandinavian a velar g . An example is the word for ' egg ' , which was
in Old English ag and in Scandinavian egg . Obviously , therefore , the modern word , egg
comes from Scandinavian . Similarly Old English sometimes had palatal e where
Scandinavian retained the velar k . That is why church is English and kirk is Scandinavian .
Again Germanic sk did not become palatalized in Scandinavian as it did in Old English .
Thus shirt is English and skirt , Scandinavian . The influence on English morphology is also
obvious . The suppletive form of to be , which is , are , has a Scandinavian origin . But of
all the effects the shift of English from the synthetic into the analytical type of language is
the most remarkable feature . The lexical similarity between the two languages on the one
hand , and the differences in endings , on the other , stimulated the dropping of inflections ,
and thus , the simplification of the grammatical system. No wonder that the decay of the OE
declension started from northern dialects and ended up with the southern ones.

Scandinavian Invasions

The same as Viking Invasions . The invasions of Britain by the inhabitants of the
Scandinavian peninsula and Denmark who were closely related to British the eighth century
to the beginning of the eleventh century . The invaders were in language and culture . The
Invasions took place from the middle of called by the English the Danes , although , apart
from the Danies , there were considerable Norwegian settlements in north - west England .
The fight by English against Scandinavian attacks on Britain lasted over 300 years .
Traditionally the whole period of invasion is divided into three . The first stage , according
to the Anglo - Saxon Chronicle , started in 787. These first invaders were small bands who
attacked and plundered the north - east areas of England . They also raided and ruined the
monasteries at Lindisfarne and at Jarrow , the centres of education and religion . There was
no permanent settlement during that time and the attacks were not organized . The second
stage started with the arrival of a Danish fleet of 350 ships in 850. In this period there were
a number of attacks and battles which ended in victories and defeats for both sides . During
King Alfred's reign ( 871 899 ) the Danes made an attempt to capture Wessex . The battle at
Ethandum ( now Edington ) resulted in an overwhelming victory for the English and a
capitulation by the Danes . The treaty of Wedmore which was signed by Alfred and the
Danish king Guthrum is a milestone in the second stage of the invasions . According to this
treaty the north - eastern part of England remained under the Danish legal system and is
known as the Danelaw . The south - western part of Britain was ruled by Alfred . The
border ran along the ancient road , known as Watling Street , from Chester to London . In
addition , the Danes agreed to be converted to Christianity and Guthrum was baptized into
the Christian church . His conversion was of great was not only a means of controlling the
fulfilment of the treaty , significance . but also led to intermarriages and thus the
intermingling of the Anglo - Saxon and the Danish peoples in the area . The third stage of
Danish invasions lasted from 878 till 1042 , and is characterized by new attacks and battles
as well as rather peaceful settlement of the Danish aristocracy and farmers . The arrival of
the Viking fleet under Olaf Tryggvason , the Battle at Malden , the joint attack on London
by the king of Norway and the king of Denmark , Svein , were landmarks of that period . In
1014 Svein made himself King of England . Three years later his the reign of Danish kings .
It is quite risky to generalize about the Scandinavian son Cnut succeeded him and for the
next twenty - five years England was under settlements . First of all , the invasion was not a
product of one large enterprise , but of different waves of invasions and settlements . The
relationship of the English population with the newcomers was different depending on the
circumstances of the settlement : intermarriage and intermingling were much more likely
when the lands was bought by the Vikings or otherwise legally acquired ; contact was less
likely when the newcomers had violently taken the land . No matter what , favourable
conditions for amalgamating the two races were established . This amalgamation was
largely facilitated by a close kinship in the style of life and between the English and the
Scandinavian languages .

Scandinavian Invasion. Scandinavian Influence

1. When did The Scandinavian Invasion start — 787

2. Monasteries — Jarrow and Lindisfarne

3. Due to Danelaw — Northeastern (Danes — Guthrum) and Southwestern (King Alfree

4. Pigeon and creole English

Vikings
• Vic (Old Norse)

• Wic (Anglo-Frisian)

From the 8th till the 11th CC

 The Danes;
 Three periods:

1. small bands 787

2. battles, DaneLaw 850, 878

3. battles, settlement 878 -1042

 Far from being unequivocal;

•In the Danelaw there must have been many Danish speakers living alongside English
speakers, apparently with relatively little mutual hostility and their languages to some
degree mutually intelligible." [Hogg & Denison, 2008:11]

Scandinavian Influence

The gradual fusion of two peoples in Britain was facilitated by having a common language
group and the resemblance of their languages. The Anglo-Saxons and the Danes mainly did
not have any linguistic obstacles. Some scholars doubt that their respective languages were
mutually intelligible. Some scholars, however, express a revolutionary view that an Anglo-
Danish creole was established. One way or the other, a linguistic fusion took place.

Place names

Modern estimates suggest over 2,000 place-names found throughout the area. Over 600
place-names in modern Britain have the suffix -by, which in Old Norse means *town', as in
Derby, Grimsby, Westerby, Appleby and Whitby. Lots of place-names end in -thorpe,
*village', as in Millthorpe, Bishopsthorpe, Linthorpe; -thwaite 'isolated piece of land", as in
Braithwaite and Langthwaite. Some 300 names like Sandtoft, Lowestoft contain the ending
-toft, meaning 'homestead'.

Vocabulary

•the verb, "to take", which is Scandinavian taka. This is not found in Old English, which
uses the verb niman.

•the legal and administrative terms, such as the words -- thrall, law, by-law, crave and
riding.
•The largest group of words represents seafaring, words like barda (ship), ceanerr (small
warship), lip (fleet), dreng (warrior), orrest (battle) and ran (robbery). Many of the words
adopted were homely and everyday lexemes. Thus the word sister is taken from
Scandinavian

•So are the names of parts of the body --leg and neck. Other common names from Old
Norse include: sky, knife, skin, dirt, cake and fellow, anger, are, awe, awkward, bag, billow,
birth, blunder, both, bulk, bull, call, cast, club, crawl, creek, die, dirt, egg, gawk, get, gift,
give, gosling, guest, gust, hack, hit, husband, knife, lad, law, loose, low, mire, mistake,
muck, mug, oat, odd, plough (plow), raft, raise, ransack, reindeer, rive, root, rune, scarf,
score, scrap, scrape, seem, skate (fish), skill, skin, skirt, slaughter, sleight, snub, stagger,
steak, take, talk, tarn, their, they, thrift, troll, wand, want, weak, whirl, whisk, window,
wing. Everyday adjectives include wrong, low, loose, odd, flat and ugly. Among the
everyday verbs are: get, give, call, want, take, drag, smile, thrive, die etc.

Grammar

•The conjunction though is also from Scandinavian. So are more remarkably the pronouns
they, them and their.

• As Jespersen claims , such words as pronouns are rarely borrowed by one language from
another , which once more proves the mixture of two peoples , their linguistic fusion and
pidginization of the language.

•The suppletive form of to be, which is, are, has a Scandinavian origin.

Phonological level

•Old English had a palatal g and Scandinavian a velar g. An example is the word for 'egg',
which was in Old English æg and in Scandinavian egg. Obviously, therefore, the modern
word, egg comes from Scandinavian. Similarly Old English sometimes had palatal e where
Scandinavian retained the velar k. That is why church is English and kirk is Scandinavian.

Phonology

•Again Germanic sk did not become palatalized in Scandinavian as it did in Old English.
Thus shirt is English and skirt, Scandinavian.

• But of all the effects the shift of English from the synthetic into the analytical type of
language is the most remarkable feature.

• The lexical similarity between the two languages. On the one hand, and the differences in
endings, on the other, stimulated the dropping of inflections, and thus, the simplification of
the grammatical system. No wonder that the decay of the OE declension started from
northern dialects and ended up with the southern ones.