Northumbrian Old English
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Northumbrian was a
The dialect was spoken from the
The earliest surviving Old English texts were written in Northumbrian: these are
The Viking invasion forced a division of the dialect into two distinct subdialects. South of the
History
The
The region of Lothian in the Lowlands, which was originally a part of the Kingdom of England, was invaded by Kenneth III of Scotland and became part of Scotland's sovereign territory. Despite the king being a Scottish Gaelic speaker, he allowed the region to keep its Northumbrian dialect, which was then still known as Inglis. However, the region became divided from Northumbria following the Battle of Carham (with the northern half of the territory under Scottish rule and the southern part under the English);[2] the language north of the divide later became known as Scottis[3] or Scots.[8]
The anonymous author of the Northumbrian
By the 14th century, Lowland Scots became the main language of Scotland's Lowlands (excluding Galloway, which still spoke Gaelic).[8] Despite this, Northumbrian began to lose its significance in England by the 16th century. Northumbrian dialectical terms, accents, and manners of speaking were considered incorrect and inelegant to those in power, who were seated in the south of England. As England began to centralise its power in London and the south of England, texts in the midland and southern dialects became the de facto standard. A great number of letters, poems and newspaper articles were written in Northumbrian and Cumbrian dialects throughout the 19th and 20th centuries; however, their use is declining in favour of Standard English.[11] The modern Northumbrian dialect is currently promoted by organisations such as the Northumbrian Language Society and Northumbrian Words Project.[13][14][15] Similarly, the closely related Cumbrian dialect is promoted by the Lakeland Dialect Society.[16][17]
The Lord's Prayer
Some Scottish and Northumbrian folk still say /uːr ˈfeðər/ or /uːr ˈfɪðər/ "our father" and [ðuː eːrt] "thou art".[18] The Lord's Prayer as rendered below dates from c. 650.[19]
FADER USÆR ðu arð in heofnu
Sie gehalgad NOMA ÐIN.
Tocymeð RÍC ÐIN.
Sie WILLO ÐIN
suæ is in heofne and in eorðo.
HLAF USERNE of'wistlic sel ús todæg,
and f'gef us SCYLDA USRA,
suæ uoe f'gefon SCYLDGUM USUM.
And ne inlæd usih in costunge,
ah gefrig usich from yfle.[19]
Bede's Death Song
Fore thaem neidfaerae ‖ naenig uuiurthit
thoncsnottura, ‖ than him tharf sie
to ymbhycggannae ‖ aer his hiniongae
huaet his gastae ‖ godaes aeththa yflaes
aefter deothdaege ‖ doemid uueorthae.[20]
Cædmon's Hymn
Nū scylun hergan ‖ hefaenrīcaes Uard,
metudæs maecti ‖ end his mōdgidanc,
uerc Uuldurfadur, ‖ suē hē uundra gihwaes,
ēci dryctin ‖ ōr āstelidæ
hē ǣrist scōp ‖ aelda barnum
heben til hrōfe, ‖ hāleg scepen.
Thā middungeard ‖ moncynnæs Uard,
eci Dryctin, ‖ æfter tīadæ
firum foldu, ‖ Frēa allmectig.[21]
The Leiden Riddle
Mec se uēta uong, uundrum frēorig,
ob his innaðae aerest cændæ.
Ni uaat ic mec biuorthæ uullan fliusum,
hērum ðerh hēhcraeft, hygiðonc....
Uundnae mē ni bīað ueflæ, ni ic uarp hafæ,
ni ðerih ðreatun giðraec ðrēt mē hlimmith,
ne mē hrūtendu hrīsil scelfath,
ni mec ōuana aam sceal cnyssa.
Uyrmas mec ni āuēfun uyrdi craeftum,
ðā ði geolu gōdueb geatum fraetuath.
Uil mec huethrae suae ðēh uīdæ ofaer eorðu
hātan mith hæliðum hyhtlic giuǣde;
ni anoegun ic mē aerigfaerae egsan brōgum,
ðēh ði n... ...n sīæ nīudlicae ob cocrum.[22]
Ruthwell Cross inscription
Krist wæs on rodi hwethræ ther fusæ fearran
kwomu æththilæ til anum ic thæt al bih[eald].
Mith strelum giwundad alegdun hiæ hinæ limwoerignæ
gistoddun him (æt his licæs heafdum).
Notes
- ^ In MS. Voss. lat. Q. 166 at the University of Leiden (see article by R. W. Zandvoort in English and Germanic Studies, vol. 3 (1949-50))
- ^ ISBN 978-1-139-45705-7.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-19-875427-5.
- ^ "Ulster-Scots Language". Ulsterscotsagency.com. 30 January 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
- ISBN 0-19-811943-7.
- ISBN 978-0-7190-0553-4.
- ISBN 978-0-7486-6445-0.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4556-0866-9.
- ISBN 978-1-137-03621-6.
- ^ Smith, Albert Hugh (1933). Three Northumbrian Poems: Caedmon's Hymn, Bede's Death Song and the Leiden Riddle. Ardent Media.
- ^ a b c "Germanic and Other Languages". Centre for the Scots Leid. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- ^ Chatto.]), Stephen OLIVER (the Younger, pseud [i e William Andrew; Chatto, William Andrew (1835). "Rambles in Northumberland and on the Scottish Border ... By S. Oliver, etc". Chapman and Hall.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "History & Evolution". Northumbrian Language Society. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
- ^ "Northumbrian Language Society". www.NorthumbrianLanguageSociety.co.uk. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ "The Distinctive Northumbrian Language - Living North". www.livingnorth.com. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
- ^ "Lakeland Dialect Society". www.lakelanddialectsociety.co.uk. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
- ^ "Celebration of dialect to be held on the shores of Bassenthwaite".
- ISBN 0-7475-5912-0
- ^ a b Bell, Laird D T. Northumbrian Culture and Language
- ^ Bede's Death Song: Northumbrian Version
- ^ Marsden, Richard (2004), Old English Reader, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 80, collated with manuscript facsimile.
- ^ M. B. Parkes, ‘The Manuscript of the Leiden Riddle’, Anglo-Saxon England, 1 (1972), 207–17 (p. 208); DOI: 10.1017/S0263675100000168. Length-marks added to Parkes's transcription on the basis of John R. Clark Hall, A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, 4th rev. edn by Herbet D. Meritt (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1960).
- ^ Browne 1908:297 .
Further reading
- Sweet, H., ed. (1885) The Oldest English Texts: glossaries, the Vespasian Psalter, and other works written before A.D. 900. London: for the Early English Text Society
- Sweet, H., ed. (1946) Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader; 10th ed., revised by C. T. Onions. Oxford: Clarendon Press. ("Northumbrian texts"—pp. 166–169)