Old English

The Old English language, often called Anglo-Saxon, was spoken in Anglo-Saxon England from 450 AD to 1100 AD. It was spoken by the Anglo-Saxons, who came to Great Britain from what is now Germany and Denmark. Different Anglo-Saxon kingdoms spoke different dialects, but a western dialect became the main literary version. Both modern languages of England and Scotland (English and Scots) came from the language of the Anglo-Saxons.

Old English
Anglo-Saxon Ænglisc, Englisc, Anglisc
A detail of the first page of the Beowulf manuscript, showing the words "ofer hron rade", translated as "over the whale's road (sea)". It is an example of an Old English stylistic device, the kenning.
Pronunciation	[ˈæŋliʃ]
Region	England (except the extreme south-west and north-west), southern and eastern Scotland, and the eastern fringes of modern Wales.
Ethnicity	Anglo Saxons
Era	mostly developed into Middle English and Early Scots by the 13th century
Language family	Indo-European Germanic West Germanic Ingvaeonic Anglo-Frisian Anglic Old English
Dialects	Kentish Mercian Northumbrian West Saxon
Writing system	Runic, later Latin (Old English alphabet).
Language codes
ISO 639-2	ang
ISO 639-3	ang
ISO 639-6	ango

Old English is very different from Modern English and has many more Germanic words. In early centuries, it was rarely written down and even then was in runes. After the 9th century, the Latin alphabet was used more often. Old English grammar is difficult, with complex inflections, and close to Old German. Latin was used by churchmen like the venerable Bede. Old English gradually turned into Middle English after the Norman Conquest of 1066.

Beowulf is written in Old English in an alphabetic script.

Old English comparison

language	wordlist
English	apple	path	eat	tide	make	child	give	day
Old English	æppel	pæþ	etan	tid	macian	cild	giefan	dæg
German	Apfel	Pfad	essen	Zeit	machen	Kind	geben	Tag

Old English Media

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  (Pre-)Old English and other West Germanic languages around 580 CE

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  Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English King proposed that primary education be taught in English, with those wishing to advance to holy orders to continue their studies in Latin.

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  The dialects of Old English c. 800 CE

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  Her sƿutelað seo gecƿydrædnes ðe ('Here the Word is revealed to thee'). Old English inscription over the arch of the south porticus in the 10th century St Mary's parish church, Breamore, Hampshire

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  The runic alphabet used to write Old English before the introduction of the Latin alphabet

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  The first page of the Beowulf manuscript with its openingHƿæt ƿē Gārde/na ingēar dagum þēod cyninga / þrym ge frunon..."Listen! We of the Spear-Danes from days of yore have heard of the glory of the folk-kings..."

• A recording of how the Lord's Prayer probably sounded in Old English, pronounced slowly

Other websites

• Old English -Citizendium