Universidad Nacional

Chorotega`s Head Office

Campus Liberia

Diacrony of a Second Language

Professor: Msc. David Villalobos Betancourt

Student: Randall Alvarado Navarro Navarro

Old English vs German
Old English: it is an early form of the
English language that was spoken and
written in parts of what are now England
and south-eastern Scotland between at
least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th
century.

German: it is a West Germanic language,

thus related to and classified alongside
English and Dutch.

Source: Wikipedia.org
 There are some words that are pretty similar between
both languages:
Old English German Contemporary
English
Hie Sie they
Sæton saßen They sat

In the example one, we can see a notable similitude

between the words, the only thing that changes is the
H (old English) and the S (German).
In the example two, the verb in past SAT before the
pronoun THEY, have something particular, in both
languages are joined in order to make one word.
 Old English German Contemporary
English
Wind Wind Wind
Winter Winter Winter

In these examples, we can see that either in

Old English nor in German, the words are
totally written in the same way.

There are no differences in spelling but a

little in pronunciation. They have some
variation in the last sound of the words.
Old English German Contemporary
English

Macian  machen Make

Min nama is mein Name ist My name is …
Michael
 Old English German Contemporary
English

biddan bitten Ask

Baþian Baden Bathe
leger Lager Bed
bedd Bett Bed

All these examples look almost alike

between them, but we can see that
in the words are changes of letter
from Old English to German.

The changes occurs in either in the

middle or at the end of the word.
In the example 1, we can see that in the
words are some changes of position in the
letters. also, there are some additions of
letter, e.g. “e” and “n”.
Example 2: in these words, we notice that the
only difference between them is the addition
of the letter “h” in German.
Example 3: we can see a written accent in Old
English. In German it doesn’t exist. In
addition, there is an addition of the letter “n”
at the end of the word in German.

Old English German Contemporary

English

1. Lichama Leichnam Body

2. Flasce Flasche Bottle
3. Mán Mann Man
 Old English German Contemporary English

1. Hūs Haus House

2. Hund Hund dog
3. Undersingan lauter singen to sing

 Example 1: it can be seen that there is an addition of the letter “a”

in German. Also, there is the deletion of the diaeresis of on over
the letter “u” in Old English.

 Example 2: there is no difference at all. In both languages, the

words are totally alike.

 Example 3: even in these words are not too many similitudes, we

can say that they are alike in the way they are order. If we see
carefully, both words, the verb us at the end and the infinitive is
before it and it is join to the verb.
 Old English German
Si þin nama geheiligt werde
gehalgod. Dein Name.

In this part of The Lord Prayer, we can see some similitude as

well many differences between the two languages.
first of all, the word NAMA and NAME to refer to NAME
(contemporary English), the only difference between them is the
changing of the final letters. In the first is ending with “a” and
the second is ending with “e”.

But, the rest of the words are totally different. Moreover, the
structure of the sentences is different. It is seen that in German,
the word NAME goes at the end of the sentence. On the other
hand, NAMA goes almost in the middle. So, we can see that the
word order is pretty much different.
 source: wikipedia.org

 These questions are nice examples

of some similitudes that Old English
and German could have. They are
pretty much alike in the way they are
ordered, having the pronoun at the
end of the question (example 1).
 Also, the similitude between some
words: þu- du, bidde- bitte.
Old English German Contemporary
English

1. Hū hātest þu? / Wie heißt du? What is your name? 

Hwæt is þīn nama?

2. Hwǣr is se feltūn, Wo ist die Toilette, Where is the toilet,

bidde? bitte? please?