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Chapter 11: English Contact: Norse

  • Richard Dance
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Volume 2 Old English
This chapter is in the book Volume 2 Old English

Abstract

This chapter begins by introducing the Scandinavian languages, and considering the Germanic background of their relationship with English. The main focus of the discussion is the contact of speakers of Old English and Old Norse in Viking Age England. I introduce the historical context of this interaction, and discuss its likely nature and the models available for interpreting it. I then go on to its linguistic consequences, beginning with an assessment of the criteria used to deduce the (usually later) English forms/structures that have been derived from Old Norse (drawing attention to the difficulties involved in the tests that are generally employed and the assumptions behind them). I survey the material in English which is usually reckoned to derive from contact with Norse, considering it diachronically and diatopically, and in terms of the linguistic systems affected (lexis beside morphology, syntax, etc.).

Abstract

This chapter begins by introducing the Scandinavian languages, and considering the Germanic background of their relationship with English. The main focus of the discussion is the contact of speakers of Old English and Old Norse in Viking Age England. I introduce the historical context of this interaction, and discuss its likely nature and the models available for interpreting it. I then go on to its linguistic consequences, beginning with an assessment of the criteria used to deduce the (usually later) English forms/structures that have been derived from Old Norse (drawing attention to the difficulties involved in the tests that are generally employed and the assumptions behind them). I survey the material in English which is usually reckoned to derive from contact with Norse, considering it diachronically and diatopically, and in terms of the linguistic systems affected (lexis beside morphology, syntax, etc.).

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Abbreviations VII
  4. Chapter 1: Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 2: Pre-Old English 8
  6. Chapter 3: Old English: Overview 32
  7. Chapter 4: Phonology 50
  8. Chapter 5: Morphology 73
  9. Chapter 6: Syntax 100
  10. Chapter 7: Semantics and Lexicon 125
  11. Chapter 8: Pragmatics and Discourse 140
  12. Chapter 9: Dialects 160
  13. Chapter 10: Language Contact: Latin 187
  14. Chapter 11: English Contact: Norse 202
  15. Chapter 12: Standardization 220
  16. Chapter 13: Literary Language 236
  17. Chapter 14: Early Textual Resources 254
  18. Index 271
https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110525304-011

Chapters in this book

  1. Frontmatter I
  2. Table of Contents V
  3. Abbreviations VII
  4. Chapter 1: Introduction 1
  5. Chapter 2: Pre-Old English 8
  6. Chapter 3: Old English: Overview 32
  7. Chapter 4: Phonology 50
  8. Chapter 5: Morphology 73
  9. Chapter 6: Syntax 100
  10. Chapter 7: Semantics and Lexicon 125
  11. Chapter 8: Pragmatics and Discourse 140
  12. Chapter 9: Dialects 160
  13. Chapter 10: Language Contact: Latin 187
  14. Chapter 11: English Contact: Norse 202
  15. Chapter 12: Standardization 220
  16. Chapter 13: Literary Language 236
  17. Chapter 14: Early Textual Resources 254
  18. Index 271
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