Old English, Parvus sed Potens

Old English, Parvus sed Potens Old English, Parvus sed Potens Old English, Parvus sed Potens By Maeve Maddox Since I am currently participating in an Old English seminarwere translating BeowulfIm especially sensitive to anything that may seem like a slur on Old English, the fascinating language that was the origin of modern English. Todays post is inspired by a readers comment taken out of context. (See Sues remarks in context at Among/Amongst. Theyre really quite amusing.) Reflect on the fact that 50% of the words were using here were stolen from other languages and the other 50% were invented by Shakespeare to plug the gaps. The remark, taken literally, implies that Modern English vocabulary owes nothing to that of Old English and this is the idea that I want to address. True, its estimated that surviving native forms make up only about one-sixth of the enormous vocabulary of modern Englishalthough how this percentage is arrived at is not clear to me since no one seems to be able to agree as to how many words make up the vocabulary of Modern English. According to Michael Quinion at Worldwide Words, estimates of Shakespeare’s vocabulary vary from about 18,000 to 25,000 in various books, because writers have different views about what constitutes a distinct wordyou’d think it would be easy to assess [Shakespeares] vocabulary But estimatesvary from about 18,000 to 25,000because writers have different views about what constitutes a distinct word. Writing on this subject in Slate in 2006, Jesse Sheidlower mentions an entity called the Global Language Monitor. GLM claimed then that the English vocabulary consisted of 988,968 words. GLM is still counting. As of September 9, 2008, the total given on their website is 996,444. The point that Id like to make is that although the native OE vocabulary may be small compared to the Latinate words that came into the language during Shakespeares time, and the deluge of words from every language of the earth weve adopted since that time, the fact remains that wed be unable to say much without them. Take the comment quoted above as an example of our reliance on Old English vocabulary. The comment contains 33 words. Im counting 50% (fifty percent), were (we are), and Shakespeare (shake+spear) as two words each. Take out the repeated words and that leaves 27. Result: 70% of Sues vocabulary in this comment relies on good old Old English! Words of Old English origin: on, the, that, fifty, of, words, we, are, here, were, stolen, from, other, and, other, by, shake, spear, to Words derived from other languages: Latin: reflect, fact, percent, invented Old French: using, languages Dutch: plug Old Norse: gaps Here is Sues comment shorn of its Old English vocabulary. Reflectfact%usinglanguagesinventedpluggaps One of my favorite Latin expressions is Parvus sed potens (small but mighty). Old English vocabulary may have dwindled in proportion to the new words, but it remains the most useful and important part of the modern language. One of my favorite English quotations is this one from the Old English poem The Battle of Maldon: Hige sceal à ¾e heardra, heorte à ¾e cenre, / mod sceal à ¾e mare, à ¾e ure mà ¦gen lytlaà °. The poem describes the last stand of some English warriors fighting invading Danes in CE 991. Its an Alamo situation. The English lose, but they dont run. Freely translated it says: Our resolution will be the firmer, our hearts will be the keener, our spirits will be stronger as our power lessens. If words could be said to have attitude, Id say thats the attitude of Old English vocabulary in modern English. Vive Old English! Quinion article Sheidlower article Global Language Monitor Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the General category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Types of Narrative ConflictGrammar Quiz #21: Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses50 Synonyms for â€Å"Villain†