An Introduction to Old English

This innovative introduction to the Old English language focuses on what students need to know in order to engage with Old English literary and historical texts. Designed for a new generation, the book assumes no expertise in traditional grammar or in other languages. An opening chapter reviews basic grammar for those who need to be brought up to speed. 'Quick Start' sections begin the major chapters, allowing students to learn the basics of Old English quickly. 'Minitexts' accompanying most chapters give students practice in reading the language, while a detailed introduction to poetic meter and style helps them to read poetry. The book as a whole contains more than 200 illustrative quotations, fourteen Old English readings including 'The Wanderer', 'The Dream of the Rood' and 'Judith', and a comprehensive glossary. Supplementary readings and exercises are available at the 'Old English Aerobics' website - http: //www .engl.virginia.edu/OE/OEA/ - which complements the text.

Table of Contents:
Contents. 1. The Anglo-Saxons Who were they? Where did their language come from? What was Old English like? Old English dialects 2. Pronunciation Quick start More about vowels More about c and g Syllable length Accentuation On-line pronunciation practice Summary 3. Basic Grammar Parts of speech Phrases Clauses Elements of the sentence or clause On-line exercises 4. Case What is case? Uses of the cases On-line exercises 5. Pronouns Quick Start Personal and demonstrative pronouns Interrogative pronouns Indefinite pronouns Relative pronouns Reflexive pronouns Reciprocal pronouns On-line exercise 6. Nouns Quick Start More about strong nouns Minor declensions On-line exercises 7. Verbs Quick Start More about endings More about weak verbs More about strong verbs Verbs with weak presents and strong pasts More about preterite-present verbs Don, gan, willan Negation The verbals The subjunctive On-line exercises 8. Adjectives Quick Start Strong adjectives Weak adjectives Comparison of adjectives On-line exercises 9. Numerals Quick Start Cardinal numbers Ordinal numbers On-line exercise 10. Adverbs, Conjunctions, Prepositions Quick Start Adverbs Conjunctions Correlation Prepositions On-line exercises 11. Concord Quick Start Subject and verb Pronoun and antecedent Noun and modifiers Bad grammar? On-line exercises 12. Word-order Quick Start Subject-Verb Verb-Subject Subject ... Verb Correlation Periphrastic verbs On-line exercise 13. Metre Alliteration Rhythm 14. Poetic Style Vocabulary Variation Formulas 15. The Grammar of Poetry Inflections Syntax 16. Reading Old English Manuscripts Construction of the manuscript The Old English alphabet Abbreviations Punctuation and capitalization Word- and line-division Errors and corrections Appendix A Common Spelling Variants Vowels of accented syllables Unaccented syllables Consonants Appendix B Phonetic Symbols and Terms International Phonetic Alphabet symbols Phonetic terms Appendix C Further Reading General works Grammars Dictionaries and concordances Bibliographies Old English texts and translations Literary criticism; sources and analogues; metre History and culture Manuscripts, art and archaeology On-line aids Anthology Bibliography Glossary

About the Author :
Peter S. Baker is Professor of Medieval Literature at the University of Virginia, Charlottesville. His previous publications include Byrhtferth s Enchiridion (co-edited with Michael Lapidge, 1995), Beowulf: Basic Readings (1995), and the website www.engl.virginia.edu/OE/.

Review :
"In its references to web-sites and computer-links, [An Introduction to Old English] is very much a book of the twenty-first century; and many of its novel features - for example the chapter on the grammar of poetry, or the appendix on common spelling variants - will be extraordinarily helpful to teachers and students alike." Michael Lapidge, University of Notre Dame "Baker's Introduction is the kind of book that students of Old English - and their teachers - have been waiting for for a long time." Hugh Magennis, Queen's University Belfast "This is a truly outstanding textbook for today's student of Old English. Written in lucid and friendly prose, Baker brings the language to life in a manner that will inspire students." Elaine Treharne, University of Leicester "Peter Baker's Introduction to Old English offers an innovative combination of the traditional and the cutting edge. Beginning with the basics of the language, the chapters proceed through intelligently paced levels so that by the end the user is reading the most sophisticated literature in Old English." Daniel G. Donoghue, Harvard University "the fruit of years of sensitive, thoughtful and student-responsive teaching. [...] this work is a huge step forward in imaginative course design. It is accessible in manner and genuinely tries to address the needs of the modern student and teacher, taking them through a course step by step. [...] by far the best attempt yet to introduce Old English, and I enthusiastically recommend it to members." TOEBI Newsletter "Peter Baker's excellent new book, a combined grammar and reader, deserves to find a central place in the university teaching of Old English. It is unabashedly designed to be accessible to absolute beginners, but students who progress attentively through the whole book will in fact find themselves in command of a great deal of what makes Old English language and literature tick. [...] These chapters [on 'Metre', Poetic Style', 'The Grammar of Poetry', and 'Reading Old English Manuscripts'] constitute the real novelty of the book in their lucid summation of some essential truths that have rarely if ever been to clearly set out for beginners; the sections on poetry in particular deserve to be read by all students beginning the translation of Old English for the first time." Notes and Queries