Arrival of the Vikings in England
English first came into contact with the Scandinavian Languages was when the Vikings first raided England in 785 A.D. In the year 856
A.D., the Vikings formed and army and invaded England. King Alfred the Great of Wessax attempt to fight the Vikings in several battles but ultimately failed and the country had fallen to the Vikings. The north and east parts of the country fell to the Vikings, while the rest fell to the Danes and Norwegians.
Influence of Scandinavian on English
Over the years, parts of the Viking’s language started to rub off on English. From Old English to Middle English, one of the major changes were in clauses and pronouns were changed. ‘In Old English, relative clauses were usually introduced by the invariable particle pe (later pcct): pa wcbs sum consul, pe we heretoha hatap, 'there was a certain consul, that we call duke* (Boethius, Cap. I). It was also possible to rein- force pe with the demonstrative se and also to use se alone with omission of the particle as in AS Chronicle 906: Her gefdr Denewulf, se wcbs on Wintanceaste t. Although we would usually trans- late this as a relative clause 'At this time Dene? Wulf, who was Bishop of Winchester, died,' it could also be regarded as a case of asyndetic parataxis: 'At this time Denewulf died. He was the Bishop of Winchester.' Sometimes both the pronoun and the particle are wanting. The earliest case is found in Alfred Orosius 1, 12, 2: h'e nam his nefan him to suna, Cirus wcbs haten, he adopted his nephew, (who) was named Cirus.' There are many such exam- ples in Old English, especially with the missing pronoun subject of hatan or wesan in the second clause. This usage continued into the Middle English period: Layamon Brut 40 a Frenchis clerk Wace wes ihoten, 'a French scribe, (who) was called Wace.' In the modern period, however, this terse construction, in the nominative case, has practically disappeared from standard speech, although we occasionally hear sentences such as 'There's a man at the door wants to come in.' (Kirch, 503)
A.D., the Vikings formed and army and invaded England. King Alfred the Great of Wessax attempt to fight the Vikings in several battles but ultimately failed and the country had fallen to the Vikings. The north and east parts of the country fell to the Vikings, while the rest fell to the Danes and Norwegians.
Influence of Scandinavian on English
Over the years, parts of the Viking’s language started to rub off on English. From Old English to Middle English, one of the major changes were in clauses and pronouns were changed. ‘In Old English, relative clauses were usually introduced by the invariable particle pe (later pcct): pa wcbs sum consul, pe we heretoha hatap, 'there was a certain consul, that we call duke* (Boethius, Cap. I). It was also possible to rein- force pe with the demonstrative se and also to use se alone with omission of the particle as in AS Chronicle 906: Her gefdr Denewulf, se wcbs on Wintanceaste t. Although we would usually trans- late this as a relative clause 'At this time Dene? Wulf, who was Bishop of Winchester, died,' it could also be regarded as a case of asyndetic parataxis: 'At this time Denewulf died. He was the Bishop of Winchester.' Sometimes both the pronoun and the particle are wanting. The earliest case is found in Alfred Orosius 1, 12, 2: h'e nam his nefan him to suna, Cirus wcbs haten, he adopted his nephew, (who) was named Cirus.' There are many such exam- ples in Old English, especially with the missing pronoun subject of hatan or wesan in the second clause. This usage continued into the Middle English period: Layamon Brut 40 a Frenchis clerk Wace wes ihoten, 'a French scribe, (who) was called Wace.' In the modern period, however, this terse construction, in the nominative case, has practically disappeared from standard speech, although we occasionally hear sentences such as 'There's a man at the door wants to come in.' (Kirch, 503)