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Anglo Saxon Version
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Modern Literal Translation of Anglo-Saxon
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Phonetic Transcription of Anglo Saxon
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Middle English Version
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Related Web Sites
The three most obvious characteristics of Old English are:
1. Odd Spelling Characters
2. Use of Inflections
3. Unique Vocabulary
All of these characteristics are evident in this Anglo-Saxon version
of the Lord's Prayer. Notice the synthetic nature of the syntax caused
by the use of cases based on inflection.
Anglo-Saxon Koine (before 1000)
Fæder ure
þu þe eart on heofonum,
Si þin nama gehalgod. Tobecume þin rice.
Gewurþe ðin willa on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.
Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us to dæg.
And forgyf us urne gyltas, swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum.
And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge, ac alys us of yfele. Soþlice.
Modern Literal Translation
Father our
You who are in Heaven
Be your name hallowed,
Come your kingdom.
Become your will on earth as on Heaven.
Our daily loaf give us today.
And forgive us our guilts as we forgive the fellow guilty.
And do not lead you us into temptation
But release us of evil. Truly.
Phonetic Transcription of the Anglo-Saxon
Click on a word for transcription into IPA!
Wycliffite Bible (c. 1395)
When William the Conqueror of Normandy took the throne of England in
1066, the language of the island changed DRAMATICALLY. William replaced
the Anglo-Saxon aristocrats with nobles of Normandy. As a result, French
became the language of the upper class in England while Anglo-Saxon was
retained by the lower class. The merging of these two languages created
Middle English. At this time, it is estimated that over 10,000 French words
entered the English vocabulary.
When French scribes transcribed Anglo-Saxon texts, they made significant
changes:
1. Dropped the odd spelling characters such as:ð, æ, and
þ.
2. Added the final -e to indicate long vowel sounds.
3. Odd orthographic sound combinations were changed. For example, the
Anglo-Saxon "sc" and "cg" were replaced with "sh" and "dg".
4. Numerous vowel sound and spelling changes.
Oure fadir that
art in heuenes, halewid
be thi name;
thi kyngdoom come to; be thi wille don in erthe as in
heuene; gyue to vs this dai oure breed
ouer othir substaunce;
and forgyue to vs oure detis, as we forgyen to oure
dettouris;
and lede vs not in to temptacioun, but delyuere vs
fro
yuel. Amen.
Links of Interest
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Old English
Pages- Dr. Cathy Ball's work on the web is vital to the electronic
English scholar.
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History of the English
Language-Great page for students of the English Language and its History.
Contains various links for serious Anglo-Saxon and linguistic research.
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Anglo-Saxon History
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English
Literature and Language-source for significant literary periods of
the English Language. Contains links to various other sources, including
an Anglo-Saxon link.
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Buddy's Home Page-It's my
world (at least in cyberspace).
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The Labyrinth-This is
an awesome site. This page is great for literary studies. Contains archives
of e-texts and images, teaching materials, and research databases.
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Anglo Saxon England-Great
page of external history of the English Language.
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Regia Anglora-extensive page
of articles: including everything from oven-building to Viking military
organization.
This page maintained
by Buddy Costley: rcostley@accessatlanta.com
Thanks to Dr. Cathy Ball for the use of images from her web site,
Old English
Pages, and for the lesson in web manners!
Fæder- [fæder] ModE-Father
ure- [uIrE] ModE-our
Þu- [þu] ModE-you
þe- [þE] ModE-who
eart- [æ(schwa)rt]
heofonum- [hEovonUm] ModE-heaven
Si- [si] ModE-be
þin- [þin] ModE-your
nama- [nama] ModE-name
gehalgod- [jExalgod] ModE-hallowed
Tobecume- [tobEkUmE] ModE-Come
rice- [ri(ts)E] ModE-kingdom
Gewurþe- [jEwUrðE] ModE-Become
ðin- [þin] ModE-your
willa- [wILLa] ModE-will
eorðan- [Eorðan] ModE-earth
swa swa- [swa swa] ModE-so
Urne- [urne] ModE-our
gedæghwamlican- [jEdæjhwamlikan] ModE-daily
hlaf- [xlaf] ModE-loaf
syle- [sylE] ModE-give
dæg- [dæj] ModE-day
forgyf- [forjyf] ModE-forgive
gyltas- [gyltas] ModE-guilt
forgyfað- [forjyvaþ] ModE-have forgiven
urum- [urUm]
gyltendum- [gyltEndUm] ModE-(root)guilt
ne- [nE] ModE-(negative) not
gelæd- [jElæd] ModE-lead
costnunge- [kostnUngE] ModE-temptation
ac- [ak]
alys- [alys] ModE-release
yfele- [yvElE] ModE-evil
Soþlice- [soðli(ts)E]
Wycliffe Transcription
Oure- [urE] notice the vowel change from "u" to "ou".
Fadir- [fadir] note the "æ" to "a" vowel change.
that- [ðat] Norman scribes dropped the "þ"
and "ð" and replaced them with "th". Also, note that this word replaces
the OE's combination of personal and relative pronouns to express "who."
art- [art] The ME drops the OE's initial "e."
heuenes- [hevEnEs]The medial "f" is replaced with
[v]. The ME [v] was spelled "u."
halewid-[halEwid]The OE ge- prefix has been dropped.
The middle "e" has been added possibly to signify a long "a." The OE medial
"g" is also dropped.
name- [nam(schwa)] Norman Scribes replace final "a"
with "e" to indicate a long medial "a."
as- [as] This replaces OE "swa swa."
vs- [us] Latin spelling with "v" for "u."
dai- [daj] OE diphthong dropped. OE final "g" replaced
with "i."
breed- [bred] The use of double vowels to signify a
long sound is characteristic of ME.
detis- [detis] Note that ME has a richer vocabulary
thanks to the French contribution of around 10,000 words.
lede- [led(schwa)] Note that the OE ge- prefix has been
dropped. The "æ" has been monothongized to an "e."
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