[Sca-cooks] eths and thorns, oh my

[Laura C. Minnick]

Elizabeth A Heckert wrote:
>
> On Tue, 25 Sep 2001 13:35:21 -0700 "Laura C. Minnick" <lcm at efn.org>
> writes:
> >What I remember from a year of Anglo-Saxon- (and my books are all in
> >another town, natch.)...
>
>     It is very helpful; but Svalbarth is Old Icelandic--do the rules for
> the Anglo-Saxon characters apply across languages???

Actually, I believe so- because they are both from the same
root/language group. And the letter forms themselves come from the runic
alphabet.

English isn't the same sort of language as French or Spanish- there are
some borrowed words, but the root system is vastly different. French,
Spanish, Italian, etc are 'Romance' languages- descended from a Latin,
or 'Roman' base. English is a Germanic language, one of many from
ancient Germanic/Norse roots. (Hence some of our weird-ass grammar and
spelling conventions like tough/trough/through.)

An Anglo-Saxon ancestor will be able to understand a fair amount of what
that blond ruffian from Oslo has to say ("I have an axe- give me all
your sheep.") but that Norman fellow with the back of his head shaved-
can't understand a word he says! ("J'ai un big hurking broadsword.
Donnez-moi la terre!")

And that is the story of England!

SOmewhere I have the funny History of the English Language. If I can
find it I'll send it to you.

'Lainie