up of poems are OE elegiac (Lyrical) poems: WIDSITH ("The Traveller's Song"), THE WANDERER, THE SEAFARER, and others. p> Religious poems paraphrase, more or less closely, the books of the Bible - GENESIS, EXODUS. ELENE, ANDREAS, CHRIST, FATE OF THE APOSTLES tell the life-stories of apostles and saint or deal with various subjects associated with the Gospels.
OE prose is a most valuable source of information for the history of the language. The earliest samples of continuous prose are the first pages of the ANGLO - SAXON CHRONICLES (by King Alfred, VII - IX c.): Brief annals of the year's happenings made at various monasteries. p> One of the most important contributions is the West Saxon version of Orosius's World History. Alfred's other translations were a book of instruction for parish priests PASTORAL CARE (CURA PASTORARIS) by Pope Gregory the Great; The famous philosophical treatise ON THE CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY by Boethius, a Roman philosopher and seaman. p> By the 10 th c. the West Saxon dialect had firmly established itself as the written form of English. The two important 10 th c. writers are AElfric and Wulfstan.
AElfric was the most outstanding writer of the later OE period. He produced the LIVES OF THE SAINTS, the COLLOQUIUM and a LATIN GRAMMAR.
Wulfstan, the second prominent late West Saxon author, was Archbishop of York in the early 11 th c. He is famous for his collections of passionate sermons known as the HOMILIES.
5. The Roman conquest.
In 55 B. C. the Romans under Julius Caesar first landed in Britain. This first appearance of the Romans had no further consequences (наслідок): after a brief stay the Romans went back to Gaul. In the year 54 Caesar landed in Britain for a second time, he routed (розгромив) the Britons and advanced (просунувся) as far as the Thames. But this stay was also a short one. p> Permanent conquest (постійні завоювання) of Britain began in 43 A. D., under the emperor Claudius. The Romans subdued (підпорядкували) the Britons, and colonized the country, establishing a great number of military camps, which eventually (зрештою) developed into English cities. About 80 A. D., under the emperor Domitian, the Romans reached the river Glotta (the Clyde) and the river Bodotria (the Forth). Thus, they occupied a territory including the modern cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow.
In this period Britain became a Roman province. This colonization had a profound (глибокі) effect on the country. Roman civilization - paved (вимощений) roads, powerful walls of military camps - completely transformed the aspect (вид) of the country. The Latin language superseded (зміняти) the Celtic dialects in township and probably also spread over the country-side. In the 4 th c., When Christianity was introduced in the Roman Empire, it also spread among the Britons.
The Romans ruled Britain for almost four hundred years, up to the early 5 th c. In 410 Roman legions were recalled from Britain to defend Italy from the advancing Goths; so the Britons had to rely on their own forces in the coming struggle with Germanic tribes. br/>
6. The Anglo-Saxon conquest.
It was about mid-5 th c. that Britain was conquered by Germanic tribes. An old saying names the year 449 as the year of the conquest, and Hengest and Horsa as the two leaders of the invaders (загарбник). p> The Britons fought against the conquerors for about a century and a half - till about the year 600. It is also this epoch that the legendary figure of the British king Arthur belongs.
The conquerors settled in Britain in the following way. The Angles occupied most of the territory north of the Thames; the Saxons, the territory south of the Thames and some stretches north of it; the Jutes settled in Kent and in the Isle of Wight.
Since the settlement of the Anglo-Saxons in Britain the ties of their language with the continent were broken, and in its further development it went its own ways. It is at this time, the 5 th c., that the history of the English language begins.
Its original territory was England except Cornwall, Wales, and Strathclyde. These western regions the Britons succeeded in holding, and they were conquered much later: Cornwall in the 9 th , Strathclyde in the 11 th , and Wales in the 13 th c.
The Scottish Highlands, where neither Romans nor Teutons had penetrated (проникати), were inhabited by Picts and Scots. The Scots language, belonging to the Celtic group, has survived in the Highlands up to our own days.
Ireland also remained Celtic: the first attempts at conquering it were made in the 12 th c.
7. Phonetic structure. Vowels and consonants.
The...
