These videos talk about so much that a native like myself wouldn't otherwise learn. These aren't a final stage of learning, they're the cherry on top, part of the appendix of the book.
As far as I know, the Viking settlers who came in from Northern Scotland and settled down to Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Lake District were mostly from what’s now Norway, whereas the Vikings who settled in the eastern half of England came more from Denmark, so maybe they did have different dialects entering English in different places
The PoBI genetics study suggests this as well. Danish DNA is prevalent in England, decreasing in Scotland where there's a larger Norwegian contribution, especially in the Orkneys and Western Isles. Some of this reflects historic kingdoms/settlements, for example the Dál Riata in western Scotland, which was Gaelic but supposedly strongly influenced by Scandinavia.
My family are from Yorkshire & Angus, Scotland; my DNA analysis, via Ancestry.com, shows 17% Norwegian, no Danish, and is attributed to Danelaw, in their analysis.
@@susanritter2520 Well, there's more than one explanation as to why you would have Norwegian genetics, which aren't necessarily to do with the Danelaw. It seems Norway had a significant impact on Britain (particularly Scotland) regardless of that. It's also true that Scandinavian genetics have changed since the Danelaw, and west Norway has a lot of British admixture, so it could possibly be identifying other inputs as Norwegian. Interesting that it's so high though, I also came back with high % of Swedish and Norwegian, despite most of my known ancestry being English/Scottish.
@@susanritter2520 Ancestry DNA doesn't actually have a Danish category by my understanding, they just have Denmark as an overlap zone on the fringes of Norwegian and Swedish.
I'm a Northern Englishman but have been outside Europe for 20 years. Apart from teaching me a lot about my mother tongue, your delivery and presentation and demeanour are super comforting 👍 Many thanks from Hong Kong
Is there a river crossing by that village? A «vad» is just that (in modern Norwegian: «vadested»). There’s a place in Norway cold øksnevad, as in «yxna» (ox) plus «vad» (river crossing/ford), ie it has the same meaning as Oxford.
I live not too far from Wath (he even said it how we say it "Waaf") in Thorpe Hesley which is Norse & Saxon. There's also Scholes which is Norse for shed.
@@durellacell Merriam-Webster says that “bairn” is from OE “bearn” and ON “barn”. I suspect that the ON word contributed to bairn’s survival in northern areas.
@@Jablicek The Norwegian pronunciation of r (Bergen excepted) likely reflects the original Germanic pronunciation. The Bergen pronunciation is from Danish and/or German.
Finnish is a great asset when it comes to Germanic languages, since Finnish nicely preserved some of the oldest available loans from Germanic. There is a whole list of borrowings from Proto-Germanic which i find really cool en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Finnish_terms_derived_from_Proto-Germanic
@@c.norbertneumann4986 And in norway we say (kjøpe)..that have almost the same said in dialect sound as Kaupe...or Kupp.. thats means you made a good bargain..
I remember reading in the Dalesman an article about 40 years ago. It stated that those who spoke Yorkshire dialects would be understood in Denmark (I think,) although they would not understand Danish. Similar to those who speak patois in the Channel Islands can understand French tourists but the French cannot understand them or so it was observed to me by a local in Guernsey.
Did you miss the disclaimer at the beginning of the video where Simon specifically states he is a hobbyist and he welcomes any corrections which he will credit in the Description section above?
@@TanaCramp i didn't miss anything. I'm amazed with his knowledge. On the contrary, I'm saying that he may know even more than qualified specialists at my uni.
Middle English ewe, from Old English ēowu, from Proto-Germanic *awiz, West Frisian ei, Dutch ooi, German Aue, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis, Old Irish oí, Latin ovis, Lithuanian avìs. Check out 'Indo-European Languages - Word Comparisons' on TH-cam
As a dutchman I love the similarities so much! For example: dweorg => dwerg stan => steen hatan => heten blake => bleek wath => wad cowp => kopen lowp => lopen We call this 'een feest van herkenning' haha
I really appreciate that you put a disclaimer at the beginning establish your background and lack of credentials in linguistics. So many “essayists” on TH-cam speak on these kinds of topics with a tone of authority but without the years of demanding training that comes with actually becoming a true expert in any given field. This is not to say that they shouldn’t be giving their opinions, quite the contrary actually, but that it is an ethical necessity to establish ones position as either expert or enthusiast. Hats off to you for actually going the extra step and providing us with your background. You’re quite knowledgeable for an enthusiast, I have to say, but then again, that comes from another layman since my background isn’t in linguistics but rather Literature, European History and Classics lol. I sure do like historical linguistics tho!
The words boss and big and ross and bob and appreciate cannot be in someone’s name / yt name or comments etc, and must be changed - I am the only Boss / Master / Leader / Idol / Mistress etc and the only Ross / Rose / Roos / Rosa etc!
Yes Simon's humility and clarity are much appreciated. I've watched a couple TH-camrs who neither claimed credentials nor said anything about their background, but who turned out to be highly qualified. I wish these people would be up front, so we know how much weight to give to their opinions.
Interesting about the exchange of language around agriculture. All farmers are involved in buying and selling at a market which seems a possible social mechanism through which language is exchanged. Trade at merchantile levels also provides a 'locus for translation'. As trade is a very old human activity, even suggested in homo Erectus archaeology, maybe looking at trade routes in linguistic terms is interesting (probably already done?). For example, tracing a linguistic map along the Silk Road and looking to see how far words travel within populations may prove fascinating.
Mythologies by Jack Adam - Isn't that how the "Indo" climbed up the "European" language tree, so to speak? Or something similar to that, perhaps? Migration or herding/hunting routes?
@@karlmuller3690 I think it's more like the Euro grew branches in the Indo sphere, as the tree's roots are more or less in Western Russia/Ukraine. Still much debate, but conquest and intermarriage between conquering males and local females seems to be a predominant pattern. This expansion also followed ancient, pre-existing trade routes.
Absolutely fascinating. This really gives me perspective on Celtic historical linguistics, which is my unqualified obsession, without having to go to the trouble of studying yet another set of languages.
0:03 I am from NZ and a city dweller, but I remember hearing when young in the late Fifties/early Sixties the word "Hogget" in reference to the meat of a young sheep, perhaps older than lamb, but younger than mutton. (You don't hear it in shops now, but Wikipedia says our farmers still use the term to mean "a sheep of either sex having no more than two permanent incisors in wear...") Back then, English was as invisible as air to me, until at thirteen I saw Tolkien's LOTR Appendices, and I realised there was depth and history and pattern to language.
The dynamic you propose for Old Norse and Old English is very similar to the current dynamic between Spanish and English in the USA today. Pretty much ever english speaker in the us speaks very basic Spanish and understands Spanish morphology
That's interesting. As the boys and girls on the street lose the ability to read and write, the two languages will interact more in their spoken, colloquial forms as Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Norman French once did. Colonial English and Spanish may merge to form 'Murcan, a lingo distinct from World English and Spanish.
@@faithlesshound5621 How…how the fuck would children loose the ability to read and write? Like, I’m sorry for my rudeness, but that is just a phenomenally stupid sounding statement.
How different was Old English from Old Norse? The Anglo Saxons came from somewhere between Holland and Denmark in the 5th century; the first Viking raids (from Denmark and Norway) to GB came some 300+ years later. According to Egil Skallagrimson's saga (mercenary, poet; Skallagrim means "Ugly face", or something) who raided in GB in the 9th century, he could understand and communicate with the locals (it is not clear whether the "locals" were Anglo Saxons or Danes). As a Norwegian, I can easily understand Danish and Swedish. As a kid, I read books by Robert Louis Stevenson, and found words such as "kirk" = "church". The form "kirk" is very similar to the word in Eastern Norway today (and similar to Danish). The "church" form is very similar to the way the word is pronounced in some dialects around the city of Ålesund. Another obvious word from "Kidnapped" is "bairn" (child) = "barn" in Norwegian. The word "gimmer" is well known to me, having grown up on a farm with sheep. A "gimmer" or "gimre" means a female sheep (ca. one year) before it has produced offspring. You find it in place names such as "Gimsøy" = "gimmer island" in the city of Skien, which was named so because they put sheep on the island for the summer -- the river island is separated by just a few yards from the mainland, and it was simple to transport sheep there for the summer with the benefit of no need for sheperding them. English "ford" is found in "va" (noun) and "va" or "vade" (verbs) in modern Norwegian -- an OE version of this word is mentioned. Spider -- "edderkopp" in Norwegian -- OE version mentioned in the video. "Bleik" means pale or whitish color, like for a person who is about to faint. "Kaup", as in "Copenhagen" and "Kaupang"... Interesting word, and one of several in Norwegian words that have not been influenced by Grimm's law... the verb "kaup" [or "kjøpe" in modern Norwegian] is the same as German "kaufen". My grandparents sometimes used the form "epta" -> "efter" in conservative Norwegian/Danish -> "etter" in modern Norwegian, related to English "after". My grandparents also used the form "lopt" -> Norwegian "loft", found in English "lofty", and probably in the Norwegian word "luft" = English "air".
In modern Austro-Bavarian some of them can also be found: bleik=>bloach kaup=>kåfer or kaafer epta, efter, etc.=>åft, åftat, åfter lopt, loft, luft=>luft
@@johngavin1175 And the E word "cheap" is derived from that 😉 The Swedes still pronounce "København" (Copenhagen ) - orig. "Kaup-manna-hafn ( -harbour / -haven )" - as [ choep-en-ham(n) ] (Köpenhamn) - like it's some older version of the name. Interestingly this Swedish version of the name is very close to your Chippenhams 🤔 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chippenham Etymology The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the town as Cippanhamme: this could refer to Cippa who had his Hamm, an enclosure in a river meadow. An alternative theory suggests that the name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ceap, meaning market.[16][17] The name is recorded variously as Cippanhamm (878), Cepen (1042), Cheppeham (1155), Chippenham (1227), Shippenham (1319) and Chippyngham (1541).[18] In John Speed's map of Wiltshire (1611), the name is spelt both "Chippenham" (for the hundred) and "Chipnam" (for the town). (There is another Chippenham, Cambridgeshire as well as Cippenham, Berkshire near Slough.) From Chapman's harbour. It might share toponomy with Copenhagen (København - "Market harbour". Older name: Køpmannæhafn, "Chapman's Harbour" ). In Swedish, Köpenhamn (pronounced "Shopenham"). In Norwegian, Kjøpenhavn (Pronounced "Shiopenhavn")
Yes, even today loads of simple core words are still very similar between English and "Scandinavian" ( three very similar languages - more or less like accents of the same mutual base language 😉 ) - or they only differ by some rather predictable sound shifts. And the basic grammars also have many similarities, which fortunately all in all makes it fairly easy for Scandinavians to learn English. It's as if we by "magic" already nearly "know" a simplified older (AS + ON) core English in advance and then just need to fill in all the gaps and climb a few hurdles - like the rather peculiar use of the word "do" 🙄 and "-ing" with verbs to express the progressive mood - without even having to think very much most of the time, so that we somehow feel at home in English before very long. Check out this brilliant video from Langfocus about "Viking Influence on the English Language " 😊 th-cam.com/video/CDAU3TpunwM/w-d-xo.html
Excellent content. Noticed some Norse influence and pronounciaton on frequent trips to Newcastle and Northumberland. The wonderful TV drama series WHEN THE BOAT COMES IN worth a look at for Geordie accent and dialect Well done
Takk for en god og interessant film. Jeg føler at norsk og engelsk er mye det samme. And then in a "direct translation" to english: Thank you for a good and interesting film. I feel that norwegian and english are much the same...
Kent came under strong Frankish influence including royal links. Even today you're likely to find a Frank or two if you ask around in remote Kentish villages. Be sure to offer him a pint if you do happen upon him without warning.
Very informative, interesting and relaxing, as usual ! Learners and non native users of english only get their imput of english from various american dialects and from "regular" british ones, at least I, and know next to nothing about british dialects, which is a shame, and I have a very hard time understanding them. And although most of the time I couldn't even place on a map the places and dialects you're talking about nor distinguish them, I do enjoy very much learning about that additionnal layer of cultural and historical complexity. Thanks !
The Norwegian word fjell meaning mountain is the same word used in the lake district except the j sound is dropped, the lake district fells. My uncle once told a story of Norwegian tourists in the lake district. They visited a pub and were amazed that they could understand the locals who were speaking in Cumberland dialect.
Some of these cognates go back to PIE or at least before Germanic, Celtic and Romance languages went their separate ways, like bull and name. Norse also influenced Welsh and Irish, so you have words like "bord" for table literally across the board in Britain and Ireland.
Interesting stuff. As a Yorkshire kid, 40 years ago, we used leik (play) quite a lot. My kids have probablt never heard of it. Also of interest, it was pronounced two ways: as in "lake" and "lekk". I'm not sure why, but both pronunciations were used.
English: window, door, tree, little, they like, bride, life, go, bake, see, think, room, clock, drink, snore, sailboat, deep, hand, shoulder, cloud. Norwegian: vindu, dør, tre, lite, de liker, brud, liv, gå, bake, se, tenk, rom, klokke, drikke, snorke, seilbåt, dyp, hånd, skulder, sky (well, clouds are in the sky). Not to mention that English has a very similar syntax as that of Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and even icelandic. Random example: English: You can see what I do with these papers. Norwegian: Du kan se hva jeg gjør med disse papirene. Swedish: Du kan se vad jag gör med dessa papper. Danish: Du kan se, hvad jeg laver med disse papirer. Icelandic: Þú sérð hvað ég geri við þessi blöð.
Really enjoy your videos, Simon. I speak Gaelic, a bit of Scots, and German - it's lovely to make the linguistic connections here, and in particular to be able to hear the Old Norse and Old English. 'Gimmer' and 'gowk' in use today in Scots. Many thanks/mòran taing!
Very informative. Thanks. I also enjoyed your format throughout, including later shots of action at the bird feeders. English varieties vs. our American varieties!
A while ago I watched a video about some old and unusual counting system some old farmers still use in Yorkshire for counting sheep, which is said to descend from Danish viking settlers. Cumbria certainly has plenty of old Norse place names. An obvious one being Fell, from fjell - which means mountain in modern Norwegian. My own last name ending gle - originally spelt gill which is old Norse for ravine/narrow valley.
@@rtlinson Calling him "dude" doesn't imply disrespect. I instinctively use "dude" when I want to be earnest and familiar with someone whom I otherwise wouldn't be on those terms with, when I want to level with them and show genuine appreciation. This feels like that to me. It's disarming and genuine. Also Simon is just a regular bloke, bro. He's, like, a cool guy that, you know, probably doesn't take offense to being called normal things, like some kind of stuck-up prudish weirdo. Do you want people to call him "sir"? Wtf, it's 2021. Formality is dead.
@@floofytown Thank you floofy, you get it. I have just woke up and had no patience for the idiot, thank you for being the polite I couldn't be with this douche bag and for explaining how things are to him. :)
People still 'leik' in 'Wath' - a village in Barnsley on the river Dearne - and pronounced locally with a hard 'a' as in 'back'. So that's where we get it from eh?
Aye, that's common throughout Yorkshire. When I went to Sweden, their word for "to play" was "leken". There were a few other cases that I noticed as well. A child is a "barn". Running water is a "bjeck". Easy for a Yorkshireman to remember.
I've just remembered too that the suffix -thorpe for a place name is Old Norse. You get a lot of those in Yorkshire, especially where the Vikings would have landed on the coast, and inland as far as around Dewsbury or Barnsley. It becomes less common when you get as far west as Bradford or the Pennines. The Vikings must have not got that far, at least not before changing their word for a thorpe.
@@EdwardAveyard Sheffield must have got hit hard with area names like Jordanthorpe, Hackenthorpe, Owlthorpe, Grimesthorpe, Waterthorpe, Woodthorpe, Netherthorpe and Upperthorpe. And I was quite intrigued when my bleach blonde uncle was diagnosed with Dupuytren's contracture (Viking disease)
@@ravenwood1405 Weird. I saw a toy shop on Google Earth in a town called Honningsvag in the far North of Norway recently called the "Lekehuset" Do you also use the word "bray" as in to hit someone/thing?
The book "The Story of English" (a PBS series back in the 1980s) noted that Norse settlers took the less desirable lands that were sparsely settled. The place names help to bear this out. We should also resurrect the 2 letters for the hard "th" and the soft "th".
@@Pteromandias The "Y" in spellings of words like "ye" is actually an attempt to use the "thorn" letter. French speaking Norman scribes didn't recognize it and confused it with "Y".
@@donkeysaurusrex7881 The presses came from Flanders as did the printers from what I remember. They were also responsible for inserting the H into ghost because it seemed more natural to them.
Leik (to play) is a common word here in Yorkshire, though not quite as common as in past decades. We have here in Yorkshire scores, if not hundreds, of dialect words that come from Scandinavia.
Do you think the tendency of Cumbrian and Yorkshire dialects to reduce the word "the" to a glottal stop may have come from the way Norse languages lack a definite article?
I love the word lowp for jump. My granny used it a lot in Northumberland. I often wonder where our dialect word plodge (meaning walk in the sea) and clart (or glar) for mud comes from.
There's a fascinating Yorkshire litany, "Hear all, see all, say nowt. Eyt all, sup all, pay nowt. An if ivver tha does owt fer nowt, mek sure tha does it fer thi sen." - I now know the origins of Owt and Nowt, and as a Lancastrian I have no problem understanding it all, but at the same time I'd love to know why that's so!
would this explain the scottish word ‘ken’ - to know, and the german word ‘kennen’- which is also to know ? seeing as old norse and german have similar roots
In diffrent dialect in Norway we say Kven veit or Kem veit..Kæm veit = who knows..My dialect we say kjennen = do you know of...or most common said Kjenne.
German kennen is to know But it is about knowing a person. We have it in Danish aswell. Kende. I believe that weiss is to know in german when it is about knowledge. Again in Danish that is: vide
I just found your channel, I’m a bit of a nerd for languages. I studied Norwegian in college, and come from an area of the United States (Minnesota) that is heavily influenced by Scandinavian ancestry. I visited Scotland a few years ago, and I was struck at how the cadence of the Scots Gaelic sounded like Norwegian. I know you mentioned Norn too, that would be a super interesting video to compare Scots Gaelic, Norn and Scandinavian languages.
We have a term similar to the Cumbrian "blake" where I'm from in the Hudson Valley in Upstate New York. We have a local term "blech" (-ch standing for rough breathing) that we use to mean "pale, unwell". It's interesting to see to that term has deep roots!
Ah - just love these videos. They're like relaxing in a hot bubble bath. Would you consider doing one on the Romany (Romanichal) influence on the English language, please?
Your thoughts about bi lingual people brought my grandsons to mind. The elder was 3 when the family moved to Andalucia the younger 18 months. Now young men the elder speaks both Spanish and English well but the younger, just 16 on Friday sometimes struggles with his English. Also Andalucian is sort of in a similar pisition to Castellano as northern English is to southern. It is not as different, however, as Catalan.
Dam! Im English and only speak English and i cant keep up lol. Then a Russian comments that this is helpful in learning my language. Ill pretend that i have a grasp of all this.
once you learn some basic linguistic terms and concepts, simon's videos are not really that hard to understand, at least thats what i find. and i think that scientific jargon is kind of independant of actual ability to use a language, im learning german and i'd say im around a2-b1 level but i could make the argument that i know more linguistic terminology than the average german native speaker. that is to say that overall level is more important to understanding something than just terminology as new terminology can just simply be learned and understanding concepts is independant of language. but anyways, if you stay interested in this kinda stuff you should be able to learn the terms pretty quickly. in my opinion simon does a good job at explaining things in a linguistic way without making it too complex.
Wasn't Cumbria, parts of SW Scotland and the area of the Wirral/Mersey estuary colonised by Norse from Ireland and the Scottish Isles (known as the Ga/1-Gaidhil or 'foreign Gaels') rather than the majority of Northern England by Danes, so there may have been some differences in speech which may have been long lasting.
@@Barnaldomort Then probably not that distance from the site of the Battle of Brunanburh 937AD. When a Norse/Celtic army was defeated by King Athelstan's united Anglo-Saxon army. A very important battle in English history, but little known about. It will be interesting seeing what says about the evolution of Scouse, as it seems to me that it has a strong connection to Welsh speech.
Brilliant, thank you 😉 Greetings from DK 🤗 Modern Danish (D) & Swedish (S): { the corresponding Norwegian words are typically very similar to the Danish ones in its main variant for historical reasons } D gimmer-lam [ -lAm] (lamb) D gylt D & S de [dee*] ( "dey") D dem / S dem or dom D deres / S deras = their(s) D skal / S skalle ( skull) ( & D skal / S ska(ll) = shall / shell ) D skørt [skirt] ( D skjorte [sk'yor-te] / S skjorta [(s)hj'yor-tA] = shirt ) D give / S gi(va) D fregne / S frekna = freckle D ilde [ eel*-le ], S illa = ill / bad ( D syg [suegh] / S sjuk [(s)hjuek] = sick ) D kid, S ? - the young of a goat D løs [loes] / S lös = loose D sky [sk'ue] = cloud ( also the orig. meaning in E! ) / S sky = heaven ( D sky / ( S skygg ) = shy ) D okse, S oxa D & S sten D dværg [dvairgh, -gh as in "sigh" ] / S dvärg [dvairrj] ( "j' is like the y in "you" ) D stande / S stanna (stay, halt) D hedde / S heta D navn [nAun], S namn [nAmn] D broder [ bro(u)'th-er ! ], S broder [ bro(u)-derr ] D bleg [blaigh] / S blek = bleak / pale D blæk / S bläck = ink ~ black D sort / S svart = black / swart (!) D vade [va' th-e] / S vada = wade (!) D "vade-sted" or just "vade" even / S vad-ställe = river crossing N & WJutish dialects of Danish generally have w- phonetically ( like E does! ), where standard Danish, Norwegian & Swedish have v- - and hv- with a pronounced h (!), where E has wh- ( orig. hw- ! ), but where standard D ( and Norw. to some degree ) now has a mute h - or has lost it completely ( Swedish & Norwegian ). For instance "hvad" [ D va'th / J hoo'A ! ] = "what" & "hvor" [ D vOr* / J hoo-Or ! ] = "where" etc. D til / S till = to ( D indtil [in*-til] = until ! ) D bag [ba{y)gh] / S bak = back / behind D ædle (rare now), but forædle = improve S odla ( grow plants ) D hak(ke) / S hack(a) = hack / chop D & S garn D byg = barley D edderkop (!) / S spindel ( D bryde / S brotta = break / tear apart / OE breotan ) D løft(e) / S löft(a) = to lift ( et løfte = a promise - i.e. something you hold high ) ? ( lium ) D & S hus (hoos] , mus [moos] & lus [loos] (louse) D søgt(e) [soeg-te] / S sökte = sought D høg [h'oe'gh] / S hök = hawk D gøg [g'oe'gh] / gök [y'oe'k] D gale / S gala = gaulan ( make a rooster sound 😉) D købe [koe-be] / köpa [ sh:oe-pA] = cawpan / buy ( as in "cheap"! ) D løbe / S löpa = hlaupan / leap / run D greb = grape (dung fork) D gade / S gata =giat / "gate" / street D lege [laigh-e] / S leka = play ( like children ) / leika
i'd be interested in something about the similarities between some aspects of some yorkshire dialects and the black country dialect that i keep noticing the more i hear both
Thank you for another interesting video, Simon. Do you think it's possible that some of the words loaned from Old Norse / Old Danish may have retained their -r ending because there was another commonly used Old English word that was the same sound as it without the ending?
Simon, thank you for this and for your other excellent videos. One topic which might be worth looking at is whether there is any systematic difference between urban and rural accents, in English or other languages. Anecdotally, urban accents are often considered 'harsher' or 'rougher' (consider a soft Hampshire burr versus a Southampton accent) but have there been any systematic studies of this, or perhaps of why urban accents are heard as rougher? I'd assume that urban accents change more quickly and are subject to more outside influences. Scouse is an example of an urban (port) accent which pretty much stops within a few miles of the city boundaries, and in this case it's obvious that Irish influence is very important, but can anything valid be said about urban accents in general? (does the category even exist?) thanks again
Joan Washington has an hour-long video on "How the Edwardians Spoke" in the course of which she mentions her theory that local dialects are influenced by topography and microclimate, which affect how one holds one's face and mouth.
Please do a video on Scouse, i hear there may be Irish / welsh and Scottish influences on the accent but I could be wrong, either way I'm working my way through all of your videos Simon (great name BTW) and I am fascinated by this subject and can't wait to learn more. Thanks! :)
Common or European Starlings in the snow. We have them all across Canada as well. But introduced from Britain to Central Park in New York. "The European starling was purposefully introduced to North America in 1890-1891 by the American Acclimatization Society, an organization dedicated to introducing European flora and fauna into North America for cultural and economic reasons. Eugene Schieffelin, chairman at the time, allegedly decided all birds mentioned by William Shakespeare should be in North America (the bird had been mentioned in Henry IV, Part 1). A hundred of them were released from New York's Central Park.
Please do a video on the influence of Brythonic/Old Welsh on Northern English! We’ll have to get you on a tour from the Scottish lowlands and down the west coast to Liverpool!
I live in Yorkshire, In a town called Wath. We pronounce this differently, the locals pronounce it as Woth or "woff" since we pronounce the th as f and like the O sound you here in 'was'. The people on the outer areas, pronounce it was WAth, and so do we, when we're being funny or being silly by talking in a "strong" Yorkshire accent. So its interesting how Yorkshire has changed, how pronunciation has changed over the decades. In the doomsday book, its listed as Wade.
Simon, I was once talking to a Norwegian in the late 90's, originating from Yorkshire I gave him examples of the dialect of my county of birth. What facinated me was 't' (to the) he told me old people in more remote parts of Norway also used 't' with the same meaning. Have you come across this? Thanks
I think you can tell something of how the Norse influenced northern dialects through their settlements. Here in South Yorkshire around half of the small towns and villages have Norse place-names whereas the the largest market towns all have Anglo-Saxon ones. Norse place-names are usually linked with farming or clearing land for farming which is probably why there’s so many Norse words associated with agriculture but I can imagine Norse settlers having to speak English to sell their goods at market.
My favourite is Butterthwaite, a small group of farms just down the lane from me in "Thorpe" Hesley. Sounds like the bucolic places you get in the Dales or the Lake District. Mel Jones the local historian wrote some interesting books on local place names "South Yorkshire: A landscape history" is very good.
3:15 / in romanian there is the word “vad” with the same meaning as these two (it’s a noun, not a verb, but means a proper place for crossing a river) 🤔 anyway, I love your videos ❤️👍🏻
@@hagsmunamadurinn In Dutch it is "wad" a dry piece of land in a sea (Waddenzee north of the country) and the verb "waden" with the same meaning. I was told that "wad" has it's roots in Arabic as in Wadi Rum.
On the topic of inflections, i asume that the reason the norse inflections were dropped was for similar reasons as we do today. I've noticed that when a new word, that describes a new thing, comes to another country the natives drop the foreign inflections and use their own native ones. To take an example here in Sweden: Q:"'Gamear' du något på kvällarna?" (Is 'gaming' (play videogames) something you do on the evenings?) A:"Nej, jag har inte tid att 'gamea' alls" (No, i don't have time 'to game' at all). Swedish people will sometimes use the english word "game" rather than our own "spel" as it's a bit more specifically associated with videogames, but we add our native inflections -a & -ar.
Oh how I wish these words were used in the standard language. Oh and I was reading that the American slang word "to cop" meaning "to obtain/buy" has a French origin, but is it possible that it could have also come from the northern word "cowp" and thus from ON? I'm probably wrong, but it would be cool if that were the case
Never heard "to cop" (I am not a native English speaker), but German has kaufen which comes from an Latin word (caupō) loaned into Proto-Germanic.(*kaupōną). Other germanic languages have similar words.
@@RobbeSeolh fenster is also a more modern loanword from latin. Ironically English actually uses a germanic word for it (Old Norse Vind+Auga, meaning ‘wind-eye’)
@@simonroper9218 Simon! Nice to hear from you mate. Yeah thats interesting... Good to see it can still snow tho haha... Yes we get a lot of snow here in Big Sky Montana ! I live for the snow, my job is snow removal so I deal with it everyday! Love your videos btw... Very calming and informative... love the fact that you use nature scenes as well! Keep it up Simon! Thanks a bunch
Its playing like children in Scandinavian and old name for games among both adults and children. The same meaning still in Scandinavia. Greetings from Sweden and Scandinavia 👱🤺⚔️👋
The same in Swedish. But you don't you use that word in English also at sea? Hiv! hiv! hiv! When you drag the rope in an old sailing ship? I think I have seen that in movies.
Not forgetting expressions like Ey up! It's no coincidence that Modern Norwegian is Se opp! ...Look (see) up! rather than Look out! The E is pronounced rather openly, so it's well on the way to sounding like Say Opp!
My favourite example of old Norse in northern English is "bairn" a word for child, which still exists in most Scandinavian languages as "barn/børn" with the same meaning!
11.40 Settlement patterns would suggest that Old West Norse, which was spoken in Norway, would have some influence ib Cumbria, where Norwegians settled. By contrast Yorkshire, the east Midlands, and East Anglia were all ruled and setted by Danes and there the influence would have come from Old East Norse. I believe that is so, though offhand i can't cite specific examples.
Here in 21st century Idaho , a sheep wth black and white hairs on her face is called "Brockle-faced", or smply a "Brockle". Brockles are usually a suffolk or Hampshire buck crossed with a whteface ewe.
A similar situation in terms of linguistics happened to the Modern Russian language which was influenced by Old Church Slavonic (another Slavic language, particularly Southern Slavic language). So OCS influenced Old Russian and brought several words of the common origin with it and now all of them are mixed up. E.g. the word молоко (Russian and Old Russian: milk) has a unique adjective form of млечный (from Old Church Slavonic origin word млеко which refers to Milky Way or used instead of the word молочный in poetry). The poetry often used this sorta switch tool to make the words match the rhythm or make the poem look in a good manner (like lots of Romance words were the signs of nobility in Middle Age England). Another example is холодный (Old Russian/Russian) and хладный (Old Church Slavonic origin) meaning "cold".
I watch a lot of World Drama with subtitles, and in the "Scandi Noir" I recognise a number of words being of Geordie and Scots descent. One can see how the word pronounced "born" for child or baby became bairn in Scotland, and NE England, for instance, and the word pronounced "braw" is used in Scotland too. In Barnsley, Yorkshire, laiking is still used for playing, as in The kids are laiking in the street. I did once hear a comment that sounded very Geordie, my grandfather would have said something almost identical to "gan yem" for going home. I think these were from Danish but possibly Swedish. I watch so many and get a bit confused.
I was told by someone who teaches this at university that one way to check whether a word comes from OE or ON was to look at the inflexions. Thus "land" is in Old Norse and Anglo Saxon but the plural in English is "lands" whereas in Norse it is "lönd"; therefore it has not been borrowed from from vikings.
It's a pleasure to listen to you Simon. I'd love to hear you on the uvular R, used in Waterford, parts of Tipperary (uvularise that for fun!) and east Limerick. Hangover from Danish settlement c. 1000?
@@floofytown Watch Jackson Crawford’s video on it. He uses reconstructed Old Norse pronunciation whereas many use modern Icelandic pronunciation for Old Norse. It seems like a darned if you do/darned if you don’t sort of thing as even some of the academics he’s talked with use the Icelandic pronunciation.
@@floofytown The secret to pronouncing /r/ immediately after a voiceless consonant is to devoice it. Otherwise you'll insert an epenthetic vowel, which eventually became the norm in Iceland and the Faroes.
My mother who spent most of her formative years in the Humberhead levels area of the East Riding , used some dialect words I've never been able to trace . One in particular was the word "brawnscaup " which could refer to "stubborn " or "pig headed * . seemingly derogatory . Any ideas ? Sounds Germanic in origin .
Could you do a video on the influence of old Norse on northern english accents. For example, I heard a man speaking Dutch once and thought he was speaking liverpool English for a second lol
Simon did mention "Scouse" in the video which is one name for the Liverpool dialect. Possibly it's the more gutteral (throat) sounds that you think are similar to Dutch? To my ears, Scousers/Liverpuddlians and Glaswegians (from Glasgow) have a very strong influence from Irish, at least in terms of intonation. I would also love to hear more about this.
@@hasanc1526 So I guess by "rhythm" you mean something other than intonation? There's a long tradition of Dutch and Flemish migrants in Northern England, and even the Dutch navy was installed in London for a while if I'm not mistaken. Many dialect words in Northern England are the same as Dutch, for example my dad (Lancashire) used to pronounce old as "owd". Lots to learn here!
Well I was today years old when I found out that Old Norse (specifically old Danish) and Old English both constructed a word for spider independently from the roots for poison/venom (ātor) and something round (*coppe), and now I'm imagining a Dane settler and a northumbrian just walking along back a thousand years or so ago when a spider drops down out of the trees in front of them so they both scream "an attercop/en edderkopp!" And then look at each other in confusion like "wait that's my word"
There are cities in England ending with "ham". "Ham" is Old English for "home". In Swedish and New Norwegian the name for a harbor is "hamn". When used in place names the "n" is silent (Simrisham(n)). In other North Germanic languages the name for a harbor is a version of Old Norse "hǫfn" but not in Old Swedish a successor to Old Norse. Think of a harbor (hamn) as a home (ham) for ships. Is this an example of Old English influence on Scandinavian, or am I completely wrong?
In the Old Norse words meldr and gymbr the final /r/ is actually part of the stem of the word rather than an ending. Compare Old Norse wintr, glimbr and glitr with English winter, glimmer and glitter where the same is true. Either way, very nice video as usual. edit: Just read your description. Sorry :/
Regarding the het word for hot: i noticed that the modern English word is hot with a short vowel instead of the hote you would expect from Old English ha:t (I'm not at all a linguist though, I just noticed that on wiktionary!), which is coherent with the German word heiss i know. So maybe there was for some reason a shortening of the vowel in this specific word, that also affected northern dialects from an earlier he:t into het ? Just my two cents though.
I'd think by now -- The Last Kingdom aside -- that it's accepted that many of the Norse/Dane peoples that came to England settled permanently. They couldn't have killed *every* Anglo-Saxon that was already there so intermarrying/fraternizing and mingling of the languages surely took place.
Suggest you try the “Last Kingdom” books, not the TV series then... There’s a lot of intermarriage, conversion to Christianity, and long term settlement. It is actually on board, too.
@@CourtneySchwartz I read the first book a while back, but we're currently watching the show (would be interested in Simon's take on it!) But yeah, the book is probably more accurate in terms of what was actually happening at the time, but books are usually more nuanced anyways.
I just found this channel. It’s amazing. Cool to see the similarities between southern US accents and Shakespearean accents. I have a question for anyone out there that can answer! My first name is spelled “Stephen” and pronounced “steffen” and I’d love to know anything about the history of it, as well as why “stephen” at least here in the US is pronounced “Steven”
An overlooked model for the way English may have obtained vocabulary from Old Norse and later from French may be found in the Philippines. There, modern Tagalog has a layer of vocabulary from Spanish and a layer of vocabulary from English: Spanish layer: th-cam.com/video/bVM0StG1EMQ/w-d-xo.html English layer: th-cam.com/video/tYLFoUTJuGU/w-d-xo.html The second video (of modern Tagalog in on-the-street interviews in Manila) seems like good model for what it may have been like to hear Old English being spoken in the 12th century, with its new vocabulary.
Hi, your channel helps at the final stage of learning English, gives a depth of understanding. Thank you very much from Russia.
I've been speaking english all my life and this channel gives me a lot of new understanding
It helps me a lot too. Greeting from Ukraine and many, many thanks😊
These videos talk about so much that a native like myself wouldn't otherwise learn. These aren't a final stage of learning, they're the cherry on top, part of the appendix of the book.
Cool I feel the same way too, growing up in Nigeria, I always thought English was English , I never knew it was so complicated
Hey, I'm studying advanced English as well,and this channel is my favourite "textbook"
As far as I know, the Viking settlers who came in from Northern Scotland and settled down to Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Lake District were mostly from what’s now Norway, whereas the Vikings who settled in the eastern half of England came more from Denmark, so maybe they did have different dialects entering English in different places
The PoBI genetics study suggests this as well. Danish DNA is prevalent in England, decreasing in Scotland where there's a larger Norwegian contribution, especially in the Orkneys and Western Isles. Some of this reflects historic kingdoms/settlements, for example the Dál Riata in western Scotland, which was Gaelic but supposedly strongly influenced by Scandinavia.
Hence the Danelaw.
My family are from Yorkshire & Angus, Scotland; my DNA analysis, via Ancestry.com, shows 17% Norwegian, no Danish, and is attributed to Danelaw, in their analysis.
@@susanritter2520 Well, there's more than one explanation as to why you would have Norwegian genetics, which aren't necessarily to do with the Danelaw. It seems Norway had a significant impact on Britain (particularly Scotland) regardless of that. It's also true that Scandinavian genetics have changed since the Danelaw, and west Norway has a lot of British admixture, so it could possibly be identifying other inputs as Norwegian. Interesting that it's so high though, I also came back with high % of Swedish and Norwegian, despite most of my known ancestry being English/Scottish.
@@susanritter2520 Ancestry DNA doesn't actually have a Danish category by my understanding, they just have Denmark as an overlap zone on the fringes of Norwegian and Swedish.
I'm a Northern Englishman but have been outside Europe for 20 years. Apart from teaching me a lot about my mother tongue, your delivery and presentation and demeanour are super comforting 👍
Many thanks from Hong Kong
There is a village named Wath near me.
And Brian Blessed is from the next village. Imagine that running at you in 937.
Is there a river crossing by that village? A «vad» is just that (in modern Norwegian: «vadested»). There’s a place in Norway cold øksnevad, as in «yxna» (ox) plus «vad» (river crossing/ford), ie it has the same meaning as Oxford.
Brian Blessed is Mexborough's greatest son even Infront of my mate
The very image of built like a shithouse
BRIAN BLESSED!?
I live not too far from Wath (he even said it how we say it "Waaf") in Thorpe Hesley which is Norse & Saxon. There's also Scholes which is Norse for shed.
“Bairn” meaning “child” is my favorite Old Norse loan.
“Bairn” is native to Old English, it’s just the Scots equivalent to ModE “Barn”
And by “barn” I mean the word for child that isn’t used much anymore, not the building
@@durellacell Merriam-Webster says that “bairn” is from OE “bearn” and ON “barn”. I suspect that the ON word contributed to bairn’s survival in northern areas.
@@joshadams8761 "barn" is modern Norsk, so it's kept its morphology well.
@@Jablicek The Norwegian pronunciation of r (Bergen excepted) likely reflects the original Germanic pronunciation. The Bergen pronunciation is from Danish and/or German.
So interesting! I realised we have similar loanwords in Finnish that are in common use... kauppa = shop, leikkiä = to play
Finnish is a great asset when it comes to Germanic languages, since Finnish nicely preserved some of the oldest available loans from Germanic. There is a whole list of borrowings from Proto-Germanic which i find really cool en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Category:Finnish_terms_derived_from_Proto-Germanic
@@kala_asi fascinating! Thanks for the link;
"Kaup" is linguistically related to German "kaufen" (to buy). If you're buying something, you exchange goods for money.
@@c.norbertneumann4986 Or the Swedish "köp"
@@c.norbertneumann4986 And in norway we say (kjøpe)..that have almost the same said in dialect sound as Kaupe...or Kupp.. thats means you made a good bargain..
I remember reading in the Dalesman an article about 40 years ago. It stated that those who spoke Yorkshire dialects would be understood in Denmark (I think,) although they would not understand Danish. Similar to those who speak patois in the Channel Islands can understand French tourists but the French cannot understand them or so it was observed to me by a local in Guernsey.
I found an article stating. East Yorkshire fishermen could talk with Danes. A few decades ago.
Man, just become a linguist. Get the piece of paper or whatever
I can sense how pretentious you are
@@James-Sunderland010 Sounds like someone fell for the uni meme
Ehhh I have some hobbies I'm very deeply invested in but I don't particularly want to study... Honestly it's good to have a broader set of interests.
@@wigster600 what the hell is the "uni meme" ?
lol, agreed.
I guess this guy, not being a linguist, knows about linguistics more than qualified professors at my uni.
Having studied _some_ linguistics back at university, I'm very much impressed by Simon's lecturing qualities.
Did you miss the disclaimer at the beginning of the video where Simon specifically states he is a hobbyist and he welcomes any corrections which he will credit in the Description section above?
@@TanaCramp i didn't miss anything. I'm amazed with his knowledge. On the contrary, I'm saying that he may know even more than qualified specialists at my uni.
@@ScottMannion
Who's Feyman?
(He's right of course!)
@@jmolofsson He may mean the US physicist Richard Feynman, a brilliant and witty lecturer, in addition to being an academician.
We use "yow" (rhymes with "show") to describe a female sheep here in the midlands of Ireland although I think it's always written as "ewe"
Middle English ewe, from Old English ēowu, from Proto-Germanic *awiz, West Frisian ei, Dutch ooi, German Aue, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ówis, Old Irish oí, Latin ovis, Lithuanian avìs.
Check out 'Indo-European Languages - Word Comparisons' on TH-cam
There's a well-known Scots song, "Ca the yowes tae the knowes". th-cam.com/video/IQBUC2q2rto/w-d-xo.html
Old Norse influenced and was influenced by the Irish language at the time both were contemporaries.
@@JamesBrown-mt5ru if you like folk music and sheep 😅 check out 'The Yorkshire Tup - Mike Waterston' 🐏
@@donkeysaurusrex7881 any idea what old Norse for ewe was?
Oh Simon, I just find your sideburns quite complimentary.
As a dutchman I love the similarities so much! For example:
dweorg => dwerg
stan => steen
hatan => heten
blake => bleek
wath => wad
cowp => kopen
lowp => lopen
We call this 'een feest van herkenning' haha
There are so many similarities between Faroese (my mother language) and English, so this was really informative!
I really appreciate that you put a disclaimer at the beginning establish your background and lack of credentials in linguistics. So many “essayists” on TH-cam speak on these kinds of topics with a tone of authority but without the years of demanding training that comes with actually becoming a true expert in any given field. This is not to say that they shouldn’t be giving their opinions, quite the contrary actually, but that it is an ethical necessity to establish ones position as either expert or enthusiast. Hats off to you for actually going the extra step and providing us with your background. You’re quite knowledgeable for an enthusiast, I have to say, but then again, that comes from another layman since my background isn’t in linguistics but rather Literature, European History and Classics lol. I sure do like historical linguistics tho!
The words boss and big and ross and bob and appreciate cannot be in someone’s name / yt name or comments etc, and must be changed - I am the only Boss / Master / Leader / Idol / Mistress etc and the only Ross / Rose / Roos / Rosa etc!
Yes Simon's humility and clarity are much appreciated. I've watched a couple TH-camrs who neither claimed credentials nor said anything about their background, but who turned out to be highly qualified. I wish these people would be up front, so we know how much weight to give to their opinions.
Interesting about the exchange of language around agriculture. All farmers are involved in buying and selling at a market which seems a possible social mechanism through which language is exchanged. Trade at merchantile levels also provides a 'locus for translation'. As trade is a very old human activity, even suggested in homo Erectus archaeology, maybe looking at trade routes in linguistic terms is interesting (probably already done?). For example, tracing a linguistic map along the Silk Road and looking to see how far words travel within populations may prove fascinating.
Mythologies by Jack Adam - Isn't that how the "Indo" climbed up the "European"
language tree, so to speak? Or something similar to that, perhaps? Migration or
herding/hunting routes?
@@karlmuller3690 I think it's more like the Euro grew branches in the Indo sphere, as the tree's roots are more or less in Western Russia/Ukraine. Still much debate, but conquest and intermarriage between conquering males and local females seems to be a predominant pattern. This expansion also followed ancient, pre-existing trade routes.
@@cathjj840 Are you saying Proto Indo European came about in Russia/Ukraine? I don't believe that's correct.
Absolutely fascinating. This really gives me perspective on Celtic historical linguistics, which is my unqualified obsession, without having to go to the trouble of studying yet another set of languages.
0:03 I am from NZ and a city dweller, but I remember hearing when young in the late Fifties/early Sixties the word "Hogget" in reference to the meat of a young sheep, perhaps older than lamb, but younger than mutton. (You don't hear it in shops now, but Wikipedia says our farmers still use the term to mean "a sheep of either sex having no more than two permanent incisors in wear...")
Back then, English was as invisible as air to me, until at thirteen I saw Tolkien's LOTR Appendices, and I realised there was depth and history and pattern to language.
It's still used in the northwest here (England)
4:00 "Attercop" is sung by Bilbo Baggins while fighting the spiders of Mirkwood in "The Hobbit"!
I knew I'd heard that word before somewhere! And Tolkien was a philologist and professor of Anglo-Saxon of course.
I love the word attercop. My 4 year old knows it as another word for spider. And we live about as far away from northern England as you can get.
In DnD, Ettercap is a type of monster known for its affinity with spiders.
It is edderkop in modern Danish.
Same in Norwegian we say ..edderkopp...
The dynamic you propose for Old Norse and Old English is very similar to the current dynamic between Spanish and English in the USA today. Pretty much ever english speaker in the us speaks very basic Spanish and understands Spanish morphology
That's interesting, I would say Old English and Old Norse were closer languages to begin with as well from what I can glean.
That's interesting. As the boys and girls on the street lose the ability to read and write, the two languages will interact more in their spoken, colloquial forms as Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Norman French once did. Colonial English and Spanish may merge to form 'Murcan, a lingo distinct from World English and Spanish.
@@faithlesshound5621 How…how the fuck would children loose the ability to read and write? Like, I’m sorry for my rudeness, but that is just a phenomenally stupid sounding statement.
hey hey it's a good day whenever you upload, dear friend
How different was Old English from Old Norse? The Anglo Saxons came from somewhere between Holland and Denmark in the 5th century; the first Viking raids (from Denmark and Norway) to GB came some 300+ years later. According to Egil Skallagrimson's saga (mercenary, poet; Skallagrim means "Ugly face", or something) who raided in GB in the 9th century, he could understand and communicate with the locals (it is not clear whether the "locals" were Anglo Saxons or Danes). As a Norwegian, I can easily understand Danish and Swedish.
As a kid, I read books by Robert Louis Stevenson, and found words such as "kirk" = "church". The form "kirk" is very similar to the word in Eastern Norway today (and similar to Danish). The "church" form is very similar to the way the word is pronounced in some dialects around the city of Ålesund. Another obvious word from "Kidnapped" is "bairn" (child) = "barn" in Norwegian.
The word "gimmer" is well known to me, having grown up on a farm with sheep. A "gimmer" or "gimre" means a female sheep (ca. one year) before it has produced offspring. You find it in place names such as "Gimsøy" = "gimmer island" in the city of Skien, which was named so because they put sheep on the island for the summer -- the river island is separated by just a few yards from the mainland, and it was simple to transport sheep there for the summer with the benefit of no need for sheperding them.
English "ford" is found in "va" (noun) and "va" or "vade" (verbs) in modern Norwegian -- an OE version of this word is mentioned.
Spider -- "edderkopp" in Norwegian -- OE version mentioned in the video.
"Bleik" means pale or whitish color, like for a person who is about to faint.
"Kaup", as in "Copenhagen" and "Kaupang"... Interesting word, and one of several in Norwegian words that have not been influenced by Grimm's law... the verb "kaup" [or "kjøpe" in modern Norwegian] is the same as German "kaufen". My grandparents sometimes used the form "epta" -> "efter" in conservative Norwegian/Danish -> "etter" in modern Norwegian, related to English "after". My grandparents also used the form "lopt" -> Norwegian "loft", found in English "lofty", and probably in the Norwegian word "luft" = English "air".
In modern Austro-Bavarian some of them can also be found:
bleik=>bloach
kaup=>kåfer or kaafer
epta, efter, etc.=>åft, åftat, åfter
lopt, loft, luft=>luft
There is a cognate for Kaup in English. The Chap part of Chapman. Not sure if he mentioned it in the video.
@@johngavin1175 And the E word "cheap" is derived from that 😉
The Swedes still pronounce "København" (Copenhagen ) - orig. "Kaup-manna-hafn ( -harbour / -haven )" - as [ choep-en-ham(n) ] (Köpenhamn) - like it's some older version of the name.
Interestingly this Swedish version of the name is very close to your Chippenhams 🤔
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chippenham
Etymology
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the town as Cippanhamme: this could refer to Cippa who had his Hamm, an enclosure in a river meadow. An alternative theory suggests that the name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ceap, meaning market.[16][17] The name is recorded variously as Cippanhamm (878), Cepen (1042), Cheppeham (1155), Chippenham (1227), Shippenham (1319) and Chippyngham (1541).[18] In John Speed's map of Wiltshire (1611), the name is spelt both "Chippenham" (for the hundred) and "Chipnam" (for the town). (There is another Chippenham, Cambridgeshire as well as Cippenham, Berkshire near Slough.) From Chapman's harbour. It might share toponomy with Copenhagen (København - "Market harbour". Older name: Køpmannæhafn, "Chapman's Harbour" ). In Swedish, Köpenhamn (pronounced "Shopenham"). In Norwegian, Kjøpenhavn (Pronounced "Shiopenhavn")
Yes, even today loads of simple core words are still very similar between English and "Scandinavian" ( three very similar languages - more or less like accents of the same mutual base language 😉 ) - or they only differ by some rather predictable sound shifts. And the basic grammars also have many similarities, which fortunately all in all makes it fairly easy for Scandinavians to learn English. It's as if we by "magic" already nearly "know" a simplified older (AS + ON) core English in advance and then just need to fill in all the gaps and climb a few hurdles - like the rather peculiar use of the word "do" 🙄 and "-ing" with verbs to express the progressive mood - without even having to think very much most of the time, so that we somehow feel at home in English before very long.
Check out this brilliant video from Langfocus about "Viking Influence on the English Language " 😊
th-cam.com/video/CDAU3TpunwM/w-d-xo.html
@@johngavin1175 Ah! Chapman = kjøpmann
Excellent content. Noticed some Norse influence and pronounciaton on frequent trips to Newcastle and Northumberland. The wonderful TV drama series WHEN THE BOAT COMES IN worth a look at for Geordie accent and dialect
Well done
Takk for en god og interessant film. Jeg føler at norsk og engelsk er mye det samme. And then in a "direct translation" to english: Thank you for a good and interesting film. I feel that norwegian and english are much the same...
Frisians are often overlooked as part of the Anglo-Saxon and Jutish immigrants that came over from Germany, as well as, believe it or not, Franks too.
Kent came under strong Frankish influence including royal links. Even today you're likely to find a Frank or two if you ask around in remote Kentish villages. Be sure to offer him a pint if you do happen upon him without warning.
@@wodenravens I will be sure to do just that bud, ... if pubs still exist. 😊👍🏻
Jutland is not in Germany.
@@Correctrix A fair chunk of Jutland is in Germany.
@@Correctrix Part of it is. Wrongtrix. 🤣
Very informative, interesting and relaxing, as usual ! Learners and non native users of english only get their imput of english from various american dialects and from "regular" british ones, at least I, and know next to nothing about british dialects, which is a shame, and I have a very hard time understanding them. And although most of the time I couldn't even place on a map the places and dialects you're talking about nor distinguish them, I do enjoy very much learning about that additionnal layer of cultural and historical complexity. Thanks !
The Norwegian word fjell meaning mountain is the same word used in the lake district except the j sound is dropped, the lake district fells.
My uncle once told a story of Norwegian tourists in the lake district. They visited a pub and were amazed that they could understand the locals who were speaking in Cumberland dialect.
Some of these cognates go back to PIE or at least before Germanic, Celtic and Romance languages went their separate ways, like bull and name. Norse also influenced Welsh and Irish, so you have words like "bord" for table literally across the board in Britain and Ireland.
Interesting stuff. As a Yorkshire kid, 40 years ago, we used leik (play) quite a lot. My kids have probablt never heard of it. Also of interest, it was pronounced two ways: as in "lake" and "lekk". I'm not sure why, but both pronunciations were used.
English: window, door, tree, little, they like, bride, life, go, bake, see, think, room, clock, drink, snore, sailboat, deep, hand, shoulder, cloud.
Norwegian: vindu, dør, tre, lite, de liker, brud, liv, gå, bake, se, tenk, rom, klokke, drikke, snorke, seilbåt, dyp, hånd, skulder, sky (well, clouds are in the sky).
Not to mention that English has a very similar syntax as that of Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and even icelandic. Random example:
English: You can see what I do with these papers.
Norwegian: Du kan se hva jeg gjør med disse papirene.
Swedish: Du kan se vad jag gör med dessa papper.
Danish: Du kan se, hvad jeg laver med disse papirer.
Icelandic: Þú sérð hvað ég geri við þessi blöð.
Really enjoy your videos, Simon. I speak Gaelic, a bit of Scots, and German - it's lovely to make the linguistic connections here, and in particular to be able to hear the Old Norse and Old English. 'Gimmer' and 'gowk' in use today in Scots. Many thanks/mòran taing!
Very informative. Thanks. I also enjoyed your format throughout, including later shots of action at the bird feeders. English varieties vs. our American varieties!
A while ago I watched a video about some old and unusual counting system some old farmers still use in Yorkshire for counting sheep, which is said to descend from Danish viking settlers. Cumbria certainly has plenty of old Norse place names. An obvious one being Fell, from fjell - which means mountain in modern Norwegian. My own last name ending gle - originally spelt gill which is old Norse for ravine/narrow valley.
Enjoying these videos so much, Simon. Particularly loved the shots of the starlings in the snow.
Man, I love your videos dude. Thanks for the upload, truly fascinating! :)
He's not a dude. Show some respect
@@rtlinson Calling him "dude" doesn't imply disrespect. I instinctively use "dude" when I want to be earnest and familiar with someone whom I otherwise wouldn't be on those terms with, when I want to level with them and show genuine appreciation. This feels like that to me. It's disarming and genuine. Also Simon is just a regular bloke, bro. He's, like, a cool guy that, you know, probably doesn't take offense to being called normal things, like some kind of stuck-up prudish weirdo. Do you want people to call him "sir"? Wtf, it's 2021. Formality is dead.
@@floofytown Thank you floofy, you get it. I have just woke up and had no patience for the idiot, thank you for being the polite I couldn't be with this douche bag and for explaining how things are to him. :)
Seriously, Simon.
DROP THE DISCLAIMER !!
You're the authority.
People still 'leik' in 'Wath' - a village in Barnsley on the river Dearne - and pronounced locally with a hard 'a' as in 'back'. So that's where we get it from eh?
Aye, that's common throughout Yorkshire. When I went to Sweden, their word for "to play" was "leken".
There were a few other cases that I noticed as well. A child is a "barn". Running water is a "bjeck". Easy for a Yorkshireman to remember.
I've just remembered too that the suffix -thorpe for a place name is Old Norse. You get a lot of those in Yorkshire, especially where the Vikings would have landed on the coast, and inland as far as around Dewsbury or Barnsley. It becomes less common when you get as far west as Bradford or the Pennines. The Vikings must have not got that far, at least not before changing their word for a thorpe.
@@EdwardAveyard Sheffield must have got hit hard with area names like Jordanthorpe, Hackenthorpe, Owlthorpe, Grimesthorpe, Waterthorpe, Woodthorpe, Netherthorpe and Upperthorpe.
And I was quite intrigued when my bleach blonde uncle was diagnosed with Dupuytren's contracture (Viking disease)
We say Leik in Norway today :) and common used and means to play
@@ravenwood1405 Weird. I saw a toy shop on Google Earth in a town called Honningsvag in the far North of Norway recently called the "Lekehuset" Do you also use the word "bray" as in to hit someone/thing?
id love to hear about norn if you ever find you know more about it
The book "The Story of English" (a PBS series back in the 1980s) noted that Norse settlers took the less desirable lands that were sparsely settled. The place names help to bear this out.
We should also resurrect the 2 letters for the hard "th" and the soft "th".
Damn you printing press!
@@Pteromandias The "Y" in spellings of words like "ye" is actually an attempt to use the "thorn" letter. French speaking Norman scribes didn't recognize it and confused it with "Y".
@@thumbstruck I didn't know that. I'd read that printers would use y instead of the thorn, and that's why you ended up words like ye.
@@Pteromandias it isn’t the printing press’ fault English printers were too cheap to have eth and thorn types special made.
@@donkeysaurusrex7881 The presses came from Flanders as did the printers from what I remember. They were also responsible for inserting the H into ghost because it seemed more natural to them.
Leik (to play) is a common word here in Yorkshire, though not quite as common as in past decades. We have here in Yorkshire scores, if not hundreds, of dialect words that come from Scandinavia.
We still use the verb "laik" instead of "play" in Barnsley, South Yorkshire. I've always wondered if it came from the Old Norse "leikr"
It does and we still say Leik..leika..in Norway... same meaning :)
Do you think the tendency of Cumbrian and Yorkshire dialects to reduce the word "the" to a glottal stop may have come from the way Norse languages lack a definite article?
Another outstanding video from Mr. Roper.
I love the word lowp for jump. My granny used it a lot in Northumberland. I often wonder where our dialect word plodge (meaning walk in the sea) and clart (or glar) for mud comes from.
There's a fascinating Yorkshire litany, "Hear all, see all, say nowt. Eyt all, sup all, pay nowt. An if ivver tha does owt fer nowt, mek sure tha does it fer thi sen." - I now know the origins of Owt and Nowt, and as a Lancastrian I have no problem understanding it all, but at the same time I'd love to know why that's so!
Cowp or cowp ower means to tip over in Cumbrian....at least in Penrith area
would this explain the scottish word ‘ken’ - to know, and the german word ‘kennen’- which is also to know ? seeing as old norse and german have similar roots
In diffrent dialect in Norway we say Kven veit or Kem veit..Kæm veit = who knows..My dialect we say kjennen = do you know of...or most common said Kjenne.
The Norwegian word is "kjenne". The imperative form is "kjenn".
'Ken' is also Geordie but for home
German kennen is to know But it is about knowing a person. We have it in Danish aswell. Kende. I believe that weiss is to know in german when it is about knowledge. Again in Danish that is: vide
I just found your channel, I’m a bit of a nerd for languages. I studied Norwegian in college, and come from an area of the United States (Minnesota) that is heavily influenced by Scandinavian ancestry. I visited Scotland a few years ago, and I was struck at how the cadence of the Scots Gaelic sounded like Norwegian. I know you mentioned Norn too, that would be a super interesting video to compare Scots Gaelic, Norn and Scandinavian languages.
Hvordan er norsken din? Klarer eller orker du å vedlikeholde den? ;P
We have a term similar to the Cumbrian "blake" where I'm from in the Hudson Valley in Upstate New York. We have a local term "blech" (-ch standing for rough breathing) that we use to mean "pale, unwell". It's interesting to see to that term has deep roots!
Ah - just love these videos. They're like relaxing in a hot bubble bath.
Would you consider doing one on the Romany (Romanichal) influence on the English language, please?
Your thoughts about bi lingual people brought my grandsons to mind. The elder was 3 when the family moved to Andalucia the younger 18 months. Now young men the elder speaks both Spanish and English well but the younger, just 16 on Friday sometimes struggles with his English. Also Andalucian is sort of in a similar pisition to Castellano as northern English is to southern. It is not as different, however, as Catalan.
Dam! Im English and only speak English and i cant keep up lol. Then a Russian comments that this is helpful in learning my language. Ill pretend that i have a grasp of all this.
once you learn some basic linguistic terms and concepts, simon's videos are not really that hard to understand, at least thats what i find. and i think that scientific jargon is kind of independant of actual ability to use a language, im learning german and i'd say im around a2-b1 level but i could make the argument that i know more linguistic terminology than the average german native speaker. that is to say that overall level is more important to understanding something than just terminology as new terminology can just simply be learned and understanding concepts is independant of language. but anyways, if you stay interested in this kinda stuff you should be able to learn the terms pretty quickly. in my opinion simon does a good job at explaining things in a linguistic way without making it too complex.
English is my first language and my husband's second language. I always need his help with vocabulary.
Wasn't Cumbria, parts of SW Scotland and the area of the Wirral/Mersey estuary colonised by Norse from Ireland and the Scottish Isles (known as the Ga/1-Gaidhil or 'foreign Gaels') rather than the majority of Northern England by Danes, so there may have been some differences in speech which may have been long lasting.
I live on the Wirral in a old norse village - Thingwall (Norse Assembly Field)
@@Barnaldomort Then probably not that distance from the site of the Battle of Brunanburh 937AD. When a Norse/Celtic army was defeated by King Athelstan's united Anglo-Saxon army. A very important battle in English history, but little known about.
It will be interesting seeing what says about the evolution of Scouse, as it seems to me that it has a strong connection to Welsh speech.
Brilliant, thank you 😉
Greetings from DK 🤗
Modern Danish (D) & Swedish (S):
{ the corresponding Norwegian words are typically very similar to the Danish ones in its main variant for historical reasons }
D gimmer-lam [ -lAm] (lamb)
D gylt
D & S de [dee*] ( "dey")
D dem / S dem or dom
D deres / S deras = their(s)
D skal / S skalle ( skull)
( & D skal / S ska(ll) = shall / shell )
D skørt [skirt]
( D skjorte [sk'yor-te] / S skjorta [(s)hj'yor-tA] = shirt )
D give / S gi(va)
D fregne / S frekna = freckle
D ilde [ eel*-le ], S illa = ill / bad
( D syg [suegh] / S sjuk [(s)hjuek] = sick )
D kid, S ? - the young of a goat
D løs [loes] / S lös = loose
D sky [sk'ue] = cloud ( also the orig. meaning in E! ) /
S sky = heaven
( D sky / ( S skygg ) = shy )
D okse, S oxa
D & S sten
D dværg [dvairgh, -gh as in "sigh" ] / S dvärg [dvairrj] ( "j' is like the y in "you" )
D stande / S stanna (stay, halt)
D hedde / S heta
D navn [nAun], S namn [nAmn]
D broder [ bro(u)'th-er ! ], S broder [ bro(u)-derr ]
D bleg [blaigh] / S blek = bleak / pale
D blæk / S bläck = ink ~ black
D sort / S svart = black / swart (!)
D vade [va' th-e] / S vada = wade (!)
D "vade-sted" or just "vade" even / S vad-ställe = river crossing
N & WJutish dialects of Danish generally have w- phonetically ( like E does! ), where standard Danish, Norwegian & Swedish have v-
- and hv- with a pronounced h (!), where E has wh- ( orig. hw- ! ), but where standard D ( and Norw. to some degree ) now has a mute h - or has lost it completely ( Swedish & Norwegian ). For instance "hvad" [ D va'th / J hoo'A ! ] = "what" & "hvor" [ D vOr* / J hoo-Or ! ] = "where" etc.
D til / S till = to ( D indtil [in*-til] = until ! )
D bag [ba{y)gh] / S bak = back / behind
D ædle (rare now), but forædle = improve
S odla ( grow plants )
D hak(ke) / S hack(a) = hack / chop
D & S garn
D byg = barley
D edderkop (!) / S spindel
( D bryde / S brotta = break / tear apart / OE breotan )
D løft(e) / S löft(a) = to lift
( et løfte = a promise - i.e. something you hold high )
? ( lium )
D & S hus (hoos] , mus [moos] & lus [loos] (louse)
D søgt(e) [soeg-te] / S sökte = sought
D høg [h'oe'gh] / S hök = hawk
D gøg [g'oe'gh] / gök [y'oe'k]
D gale / S gala = gaulan ( make a rooster sound 😉)
D købe [koe-be] / köpa [ sh:oe-pA] = cawpan / buy
( as in "cheap"! )
D løbe / S löpa = hlaupan / leap / run
D greb = grape (dung fork)
D gade / S gata =giat / "gate" / street
D lege [laigh-e] / S leka = play ( like children ) / leika
i'd be interested in something about the similarities between some aspects of some yorkshire dialects and the black country dialect that i keep noticing the more i hear both
lots of miners from the black country moved up to work in the Yorkshire coal mines in the industrial revolution
Thank you for another interesting video, Simon.
Do you think it's possible that some of the words loaned from Old Norse / Old Danish may have retained their -r ending because there was another commonly used Old English word that was the same sound as it without the ending?
Simon, thank you for this and for your other excellent videos. One topic which might be worth looking at is whether there is any systematic difference between urban and rural accents, in English or other languages. Anecdotally, urban accents are often considered 'harsher' or 'rougher' (consider a soft Hampshire burr versus a Southampton accent) but have there been any systematic studies of this, or perhaps of why urban accents are heard as rougher? I'd assume that urban accents change more quickly and are subject to more outside influences. Scouse is an example of an urban (port) accent which pretty much stops within a few miles of the city boundaries, and in this case it's obvious that Irish influence is very important, but can anything valid be said about urban accents in general? (does the category even exist?) thanks again
Joan Washington has an hour-long video on "How the Edwardians Spoke" in the course of which she mentions her theory that local dialects are influenced by topography and microclimate, which affect how one holds one's face and mouth.
Please do a video on Scouse, i hear there may be Irish / welsh and Scottish influences on the accent but I could be wrong, either way I'm working my way through all of your videos Simon (great name BTW) and I am fascinated by this subject and can't wait to learn more. Thanks! :)
Common or European Starlings in the snow. We have them all across Canada as well. But introduced from Britain to Central Park in New York. "The European starling was purposefully introduced to North America in 1890-1891 by the American Acclimatization Society, an organization dedicated to introducing European flora and fauna into North America for cultural and economic reasons. Eugene Schieffelin, chairman at the time, allegedly decided all birds mentioned by William Shakespeare should be in North America (the bird had been mentioned in Henry IV, Part 1). A hundred of them were released from New York's Central Park.
Please do a video on the influence of Brythonic/Old Welsh on Northern English! We’ll have to get you on a tour from the Scottish lowlands and down the west coast to Liverpool!
I live in Yorkshire, In a town called Wath. We pronounce this differently, the locals pronounce it as Woth or "woff" since we pronounce the th as f and like the O sound you here in 'was'. The people on the outer areas, pronounce it was WAth, and so do we, when we're being funny or being silly by talking in a "strong" Yorkshire accent. So its interesting how Yorkshire has changed, how pronunciation has changed over the decades. In the doomsday book, its listed as Wade.
Simon, I was once talking to a Norwegian in the late 90's, originating from Yorkshire I gave him examples of the dialect of my county of birth. What facinated me was 't' (to the) he told me old people in more remote parts of Norway also used 't' with the same meaning. Have you come across this? Thanks
Bloody marvellous video. Once again, thank you for uploading.
Big thanks from the US for these fantastic episodes
I think you can tell something of how the Norse influenced northern dialects through their settlements. Here in South Yorkshire around half of the small towns and villages have Norse place-names whereas the the largest market towns all have Anglo-Saxon ones. Norse place-names are usually linked with farming or clearing land for farming which is probably why there’s so many Norse words associated with agriculture but I can imagine Norse settlers having to speak English to sell their goods at market.
My favourite is Butterthwaite, a small group of farms just down the lane from me in "Thorpe" Hesley. Sounds like the bucolic places you get in the Dales or the Lake District. Mel Jones the local historian wrote some interesting books on local place names "South Yorkshire: A landscape history" is very good.
3:15 / in romanian there is the word “vad” with the same meaning as these two (it’s a noun, not a verb, but means a proper place for crossing a river) 🤔 anyway, I love your videos ❤️👍🏻
Cognate with english wade is in wade through water. Seeing as the Vað/Wath/Vad/Wade is shallow enough cross and not drown.
@@hagsmunamadurinn In Dutch it is "wad" a dry piece of land in a sea (Waddenzee north of the country) and the verb "waden" with the same meaning. I was told that "wad" has it's roots in Arabic as in Wadi Rum.
@@mariadamen7886 Wadi is a valley in Arabic. No connection.
On the topic of inflections, i asume that the reason the norse inflections were dropped was for similar reasons as we do today. I've noticed that when a new word, that describes a new thing, comes to another country the natives drop the foreign inflections and use their own native ones.
To take an example here in Sweden: Q:"'Gamear' du något på kvällarna?" (Is 'gaming' (play videogames) something you do on the evenings?) A:"Nej, jag har inte tid att 'gamea' alls" (No, i don't have time 'to game' at all). Swedish people will sometimes use the english word "game" rather than our own "spel" as it's a bit more specifically associated with videogames, but we add our native inflections -a & -ar.
I can understand some Danish, as my mom is Danish, and it was interesting to learn about the origin of the word "edderkop" (spider in Danish)
Oh how I wish these words were used in the standard language. Oh and I was reading that the American slang word "to cop" meaning "to obtain/buy" has a French origin, but is it possible that it could have also come from the northern word "cowp" and thus from ON? I'm probably wrong, but it would be cool if that were the case
Never heard "to cop" (I am not a native English speaker), but German has kaufen which comes from an Latin word (caupō) loaned into Proto-Germanic.(*kaupōną). Other germanic languages have similar words.
@@RobbeSeolh interesting! i’ve studied German a bit before, but I didn’t realize kaufen was a latin loanword
@@archeofutura_4606 nice, Kopf, schreiben, Schrift, Föhn, Zwiebel are more ancient Latin loans into German.
@@RobbeSeolh fenster is also a more modern loanword from latin. Ironically English actually uses a germanic word for it (Old Norse Vind+Auga, meaning ‘wind-eye’)
Very helpful as always.
Wow you guys got some snow over there ! I like seeing it snow in Southern England ... Very cool
It's been rarer over the last decade, but we get it sometimes! Hopefully you get a nice amount where you are.
@@simonroper9218 Simon! Nice to hear from you mate. Yeah thats interesting... Good to see it can still snow tho haha... Yes we get a lot of snow here in Big Sky Montana ! I live for the snow, my job is snow removal so I deal with it everyday! Love your videos btw... Very calming and informative... love the fact that you use nature scenes as well! Keep it up Simon! Thanks a bunch
Another brilliant video. You've managed to make me interested in a field I thought I had zero interest in.
Love you Simon, and the subject matter - thank you for the videos
Growing up on the border of West and South Yorkshire we had leiking or leking. "Is Luke lekin art?"
Its playing like children in Scandinavian and old name for games among both adults and children. The same meaning still in Scandinavia.
Greetings from Sweden and Scandinavia 👱🤺⚔️👋
A Scottish friend of mine said Hiv me the Hammer, that hiv word is the same as used in Norway today, throw is modern english.
The same in Swedish. But you don't you use that word in English also at sea? Hiv! hiv! hiv! When you drag the rope in an old sailing ship? I think I have seen that in movies.
Please Could you do a discussion on place names and origins in Norse and English.
Not forgetting expressions like Ey up! It's no coincidence that Modern Norwegian is Se opp! ...Look (see) up! rather than Look out! The E is pronounced rather openly, so it's well on the way to sounding like Say Opp!
Excellent video, Simon. Just to add the verb "to take" is also from old Norse. Cheers.
My the north it’s common to hear. Fo/Po like N.Germanic på pronounced po
And in the South for like pour in French.
Idk if they are directly linked.
My favourite example of old Norse in northern English is "bairn" a word for child, which still exists in most Scandinavian languages as "barn/børn" with the same meaning!
The Old English word for “child” is bearn. Just saying, it might be Old English carryover, not Nordic.
@@tfan2222 They are so similar, either way i wouldnt be surprised.
I’ve always said Nowt (nothing) Owt (anything) and sometimes Bowt (bought).
My cousin lives 10 miles away and says Nought and Ought.
I love your channel brother
All the best 💯💯💯
11.40 Settlement patterns would suggest that Old West Norse, which was spoken in Norway, would have some influence ib Cumbria, where Norwegians settled. By contrast Yorkshire, the east Midlands, and East Anglia were all ruled and setted by Danes and there the influence would have come from Old East Norse. I believe that is so, though offhand i can't cite specific examples.
Here in 21st century Idaho , a sheep wth black and white hairs on her face is called "Brockle-faced", or smply a "Brockle".
Brockles are usually a suffolk or Hampshire buck crossed with a whteface ewe.
A similar situation in terms of linguistics happened to the Modern Russian language which was influenced by Old Church Slavonic (another Slavic language, particularly Southern Slavic language). So OCS influenced Old Russian and brought several words of the common origin with it and now all of them are mixed up. E.g. the word молоко (Russian and Old Russian: milk) has a unique adjective form of млечный (from Old Church Slavonic origin word млеко which refers to Milky Way or used instead of the word молочный in poetry). The poetry often used this sorta switch tool to make the words match the rhythm or make the poem look in a good manner (like lots of Romance words were the signs of nobility in Middle Age England). Another example is холодный (Old Russian/Russian) and хладный (Old Church Slavonic origin) meaning "cold".
I watch a lot of World Drama with subtitles, and in the "Scandi Noir" I recognise a number of words being of Geordie and Scots descent. One can see how the word pronounced "born" for child or baby became bairn in Scotland, and NE England, for instance, and the word pronounced "braw" is used in Scotland too. In Barnsley, Yorkshire, laiking is still used for playing, as in The kids are laiking in the street. I did once hear a comment that sounded very Geordie, my grandfather would have said something almost identical to "gan yem" for going home. I think these were from Danish but possibly Swedish. I watch so many and get a bit confused.
I was told by someone who teaches this at university that one way to check whether a word comes from OE or ON was to look at the inflexions. Thus "land" is in Old Norse and Anglo Saxon but the plural in English is "lands" whereas in Norse it is "lönd"; therefore it has not been borrowed from from vikings.
It's a pleasure to listen to you Simon. I'd love to hear you on the uvular R, used in Waterford, parts of Tipperary (uvularise that for fun!) and east Limerick. Hangover from Danish settlement c. 1000?
You're actually pronouncing _bleikr_ in a very Icelandic way _(bleikur)_ rather than Old Norse.
Interesting. What pronunciation would be more like Old Norse? That'd be cool to know...I've always wondered what Old Norse sounded like.
Give the man a break. He makes great content.
@@leornendeealdenglisc He literally asks people to comment & correct him, you stan.
@@floofytown Watch Jackson Crawford’s video on it. He uses reconstructed Old Norse pronunciation whereas many use modern Icelandic pronunciation for Old Norse. It seems like a darned if you do/darned if you don’t sort of thing as even some of the academics he’s talked with use the Icelandic pronunciation.
@@floofytown The secret to pronouncing /r/ immediately after a voiceless consonant is to devoice it. Otherwise you'll insert an epenthetic vowel, which eventually became the norm in Iceland and the Faroes.
My mother who spent most of her formative years in the Humberhead levels area of the East Riding , used some dialect words I've never been able to trace . One in particular was the word "brawnscaup " which could refer to "stubborn " or "pig headed * . seemingly derogatory . Any ideas ? Sounds Germanic in origin .
I liked the part about gowk=cuckoo. A few miles to the south east of Glasgow there's a small town called Gowkthrapple. (Cuckoo's throat?)
Could you do a video on the influence of old Norse on northern english accents. For example, I heard a man speaking Dutch once and thought he was speaking liverpool English for a second lol
Simon did mention "Scouse" in the video which is one name for the Liverpool dialect. Possibly it's the more gutteral (throat) sounds that you think are similar to Dutch? To my ears, Scousers/Liverpuddlians and Glaswegians (from Glasgow) have a very strong influence from Irish, at least in terms of intonation. I would also love to hear more about this.
@@pixelfrenzy it's not just the from the throat sound. I don't know how to describe it but it's like the rhythm of the scouse accent
@@hasanc1526 So I guess by "rhythm" you mean something other than intonation? There's a long tradition of Dutch and Flemish migrants in Northern England, and even the Dutch navy was installed in London for a while if I'm not mistaken. Many dialect words in Northern England are the same as Dutch, for example my dad (Lancashire) used to pronounce old as "owd". Lots to learn here!
Well I was today years old when I found out that Old Norse (specifically old Danish) and Old English both constructed a word for spider independently from the roots for poison/venom (ātor) and something round (*coppe), and now I'm imagining a Dane settler and a northumbrian just walking along back a thousand years or so ago when a spider drops down out of the trees in front of them so they both scream "an attercop/en edderkopp!" And then look at each other in confusion like "wait that's my word"
There are cities in England ending with "ham". "Ham" is Old English for "home".
In Swedish and New Norwegian the name for a harbor is "hamn". When used in place names the "n" is silent (Simrisham(n)).
In other North Germanic languages the name for a harbor is a version of Old Norse "hǫfn" but not in Old Swedish a successor to Old Norse.
Think of a harbor (hamn) as a home (ham) for ships.
Is this an example of Old English influence on Scandinavian, or am I completely wrong?
Today I learned my name means “Bland, or washed out.” 😭
Has there been any influence attributed to the Picts before 500AD?
In the Old Norse words meldr and gymbr the final /r/ is actually part of the stem of the word rather than an ending. Compare Old Norse wintr, glimbr and glitr with English winter, glimmer and glitter where the same is true.
Either way, very nice video as usual.
edit: Just read your description. Sorry :/
Regarding the het word for hot: i noticed that the modern English word is hot with a short vowel instead of the hote you would expect from Old English ha:t (I'm not at all a linguist though, I just noticed that on wiktionary!), which is coherent with the German word heiss i know.
So maybe there was for some reason a shortening of the vowel in this specific word, that also affected northern dialects from an earlier he:t into het ? Just my two cents though.
Perhaps short “hot” formed as a merger/compromise between the expected “hote” and the verbal “het”.
Also, it's called “tuppence”, foreigner. ;-)
I'd think by now -- The Last Kingdom aside -- that it's accepted that many of the Norse/Dane peoples that came to England settled permanently. They couldn't have killed *every* Anglo-Saxon that was already there so intermarrying/fraternizing and mingling of the languages surely took place.
Suggest you try the “Last Kingdom” books, not the TV series then... There’s a lot of intermarriage, conversion to Christianity, and long term settlement. It is actually on board, too.
@@CourtneySchwartz I read the first book a while back, but we're currently watching the show (would be interested in Simon's take on it!) But yeah, the book is probably more accurate in terms of what was actually happening at the time, but books are usually more nuanced anyways.
I just found this channel. It’s amazing. Cool to see the similarities between southern US accents and Shakespearean accents.
I have a question for anyone out there that can answer! My first name is spelled “Stephen” and pronounced “steffen” and I’d love to know anything about the history of it, as well as why “stephen” at least here in the US is pronounced “Steven”
It is always pronounced Steven in England too.
That`s the way we pronounce it in german...Steffen is actually a common first name in Germany
An overlooked model for the way English may have obtained vocabulary from Old Norse and later from French may be found in the Philippines. There, modern Tagalog has a layer of vocabulary from Spanish and a layer of vocabulary from English:
Spanish layer:
th-cam.com/video/bVM0StG1EMQ/w-d-xo.html
English layer:
th-cam.com/video/tYLFoUTJuGU/w-d-xo.html
The second video (of modern Tagalog in on-the-street interviews in Manila) seems like good model for what it may have been like to hear Old English being spoken in the 12th century, with its new vocabulary.