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Old English and Its Closest Relatives: A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages
At first glance, there may seem little reason to think of English and German as variant forms of a single language. There are enormous differences between the two in pronunciation, vocabulary, and grammar, and a monolingual speaker of one cannot understand the other at all. Yet modern English and German have many points in common, and if we go back to the earliest texts available in the two languages, the similarities are even more notable. How do we account for these similarities? The generally accepted explanation is that English and German are divergent continuations of a common ancestor, a Germanic language now lost. This book surveys the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of the earliest kown Germanic languages, members of what has traditionally been known as the English family Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old English, Old Frisian, Old Low Franconian, and Old High German. For each language, the author provides a brief history of the people who spoke it, an overview of the important texts in the language, sample passages with full glossary and word-by-word translations, a section on orthography and grammar, and discussion of linguistic or philological topics relevant to all the early Germanic languaes but best exemplified by the particular language under consideration. These topics inclued the pronunciation of older languages; the runic inscriptions; Germanic alliterative pietry; historical syntax, borrowing, analogy, and drift; textual transmission; and dialect variation.
304 pages, Paperback
First published July 5, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
July 20, 2009
This review appeared in Idunna 77 (Autumn, 2008): http://stores.lulu.com/thetroth
Back in middle school, I had the great good fortune of moving up from regular classes into the “Advanced Placement” classes at my school – and thus entirely skipping all lessons on English grammar. To this day, I have been (blissfully!) ignorant of what a ‘gerund’ is. In the past few years, however, I have been ruing my good fortune, forever perplexed by the grammar of German, Icelandic, and Old Norse – not to mention the nearly century-old explanations of those grammars!
Luckily, I recently found Orrin Robinson’s Old English and Its Closest Relatives. The book is a boon for such grammar-flummoxed would-be philologists as myself, as it not only gives an overview of each of the older Germanic languages, but provides an overview of Germanic grammar, plus introductions to the grammar of each language. Having had a little German in college, too much French in high school, and a long love for Old English and Old Norse, this book is an ideal way to get my feet wet before seriously trying to learn Icelandic and Old Norse – not mention a wonderful read on the history of the Germanic languages.
Robinson provides individual chapters on: Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old English, Old Frisian, Old Low Franconian, and Old High German. Each of these chapters includes a (very) brief history of the people who spoke the language, a description of the texts surviving in the language, two reading samples along with glossaries, and comments on the language’s grammar (including proper pronunciation). A further reading section ends each chapter, so if you’re particularly interested in learning one of the languages or about the people who spoke them, you’ll find these lists quite useful.
An introduction to Germanic linguistics heads up the book, followed by an overview of Germanic grammar (ie: what all of the Germanic languages have in common, grammar-wise). I particularly enjoyed these sections: the introduction for its very readable description of the history of the languages, and the grammar overview because I’m finally beginning to understand the subject (including ‘gerund’)!
The final chapter of the book picks up on the linguistics theme of the first chapter, covering the relationships between the Germanic languages. Like the first chapter, it gives one some insight into how linguists used these to reconstruct (some would say, create) Proto-Germanic.
All in all, I feel this book should be in the libraries of anyone interested in Germanic literature and languages – whether one wants to learn the languages or not. It is by far the easiest way to develop a sense of what the various Germanic languages are like in their historical context. If you love language studies or are very fond of word meanings, buy this book. If you flunked German, Dutch, Norwegian, Icelandic, or Swedish and feel that diagramming English sentences should be banned as cruel and unusual punishment, buy this book. No matter how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ you believe you are with languages, Old English and Its Closest Relatives is a delightful tour of who our ancestors were, how they described their experience, and what they all had in common amongst themselves – and with us.
Merged review:
This review appeared in Idunna 77 (Autumn, 2008): http://stores.lulu.com/thetroth
Back in middle school, I had the great good fortune of moving up from regular classes into the “Advanced Placement” classes at my school – and thus entirely skipping all lessons on English grammar. To this day, I have been (blissfully!) ignorant of what a ‘gerund’ is. In the past few years, however, I have been ruing my good fortune, forever perplexed by the grammar of German, Icelandic, and Old Norse – not to mention the nearly century-old explanations of those grammars!
Luckily, I recently found Orrin Robinson’s Old English and Its Closest Relatives. The book is a boon for such grammar-flummoxed would-be philologists as myself, as it not only gives an overview of each of the older Germanic languages, but provides an overview of Germanic grammar, plus introductions to the grammar of each language. Having had a little German in college, too much French in high school, and a long love for Old English and Old Norse, this book is an ideal way to get my feet wet before seriously trying to learn Icelandic and Old Norse – not mention a wonderful read on the history of the Germanic languages.
Robinson provides individual chapters on: Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old English, Old Frisian, Old Low Franconian, and Old High German. Each of these chapters includes a (very) brief history of the people who spoke the language, a description of the texts surviving in the language, two reading samples along with glossaries, and comments on the language’s grammar (including proper pronunciation). A further reading section ends each chapter, so if you’re particularly interested in learning one of the languages or about the people who spoke them, you’ll find these lists quite useful.
An introduction to Germanic linguistics heads up the book, followed by an overview of Germanic grammar (ie: what all of the Germanic languages have in common, grammar-wise). I particularly enjoyed these sections: the introduction for its very readable description of the history of the languages, and the grammar overview because I’m finally beginning to understand the subject (including ‘gerund’)!
The final chapter of the book picks up on the linguistics theme of the first chapter, covering the relationships between the Germanic languages. Like the first chapter, it gives one some insight into how linguists used these to reconstruct (some would say, create) Proto-Germanic.
All in all, I feel this book should be in the libraries of anyone interested in Germanic literature and languages – whether one wants to learn the languages or not. It is by far the easiest way to develop a sense of what the various Germanic languages are like in their historical context. If you love language studies or are very fond of word meanings, buy this book. If you flunked German, Dutch, Norwegian, Icelandic, or Swedish and feel that diagramming English sentences should be banned as cruel and unusual punishment, buy this book. No matter how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ you believe you are with languages, Old English and Its Closest Relatives is a delightful tour of who our ancestors were, how they described their experience, and what they all had in common amongst themselves – and with us.
Back in middle school, I had the great good fortune of moving up from regular classes into the “Advanced Placement” classes at my school – and thus entirely skipping all lessons on English grammar. To this day, I have been (blissfully!) ignorant of what a ‘gerund’ is. In the past few years, however, I have been ruing my good fortune, forever perplexed by the grammar of German, Icelandic, and Old Norse – not to mention the nearly century-old explanations of those grammars!
Luckily, I recently found Orrin Robinson’s Old English and Its Closest Relatives. The book is a boon for such grammar-flummoxed would-be philologists as myself, as it not only gives an overview of each of the older Germanic languages, but provides an overview of Germanic grammar, plus introductions to the grammar of each language. Having had a little German in college, too much French in high school, and a long love for Old English and Old Norse, this book is an ideal way to get my feet wet before seriously trying to learn Icelandic and Old Norse – not mention a wonderful read on the history of the Germanic languages.
Robinson provides individual chapters on: Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old English, Old Frisian, Old Low Franconian, and Old High German. Each of these chapters includes a (very) brief history of the people who spoke the language, a description of the texts surviving in the language, two reading samples along with glossaries, and comments on the language’s grammar (including proper pronunciation). A further reading section ends each chapter, so if you’re particularly interested in learning one of the languages or about the people who spoke them, you’ll find these lists quite useful.
An introduction to Germanic linguistics heads up the book, followed by an overview of Germanic grammar (ie: what all of the Germanic languages have in common, grammar-wise). I particularly enjoyed these sections: the introduction for its very readable description of the history of the languages, and the grammar overview because I’m finally beginning to understand the subject (including ‘gerund’)!
The final chapter of the book picks up on the linguistics theme of the first chapter, covering the relationships between the Germanic languages. Like the first chapter, it gives one some insight into how linguists used these to reconstruct (some would say, create) Proto-Germanic.
All in all, I feel this book should be in the libraries of anyone interested in Germanic literature and languages – whether one wants to learn the languages or not. It is by far the easiest way to develop a sense of what the various Germanic languages are like in their historical context. If you love language studies or are very fond of word meanings, buy this book. If you flunked German, Dutch, Norwegian, Icelandic, or Swedish and feel that diagramming English sentences should be banned as cruel and unusual punishment, buy this book. No matter how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ you believe you are with languages, Old English and Its Closest Relatives is a delightful tour of who our ancestors were, how they described their experience, and what they all had in common amongst themselves – and with us.
Merged review:
This review appeared in Idunna 77 (Autumn, 2008): http://stores.lulu.com/thetroth
Back in middle school, I had the great good fortune of moving up from regular classes into the “Advanced Placement” classes at my school – and thus entirely skipping all lessons on English grammar. To this day, I have been (blissfully!) ignorant of what a ‘gerund’ is. In the past few years, however, I have been ruing my good fortune, forever perplexed by the grammar of German, Icelandic, and Old Norse – not to mention the nearly century-old explanations of those grammars!
Luckily, I recently found Orrin Robinson’s Old English and Its Closest Relatives. The book is a boon for such grammar-flummoxed would-be philologists as myself, as it not only gives an overview of each of the older Germanic languages, but provides an overview of Germanic grammar, plus introductions to the grammar of each language. Having had a little German in college, too much French in high school, and a long love for Old English and Old Norse, this book is an ideal way to get my feet wet before seriously trying to learn Icelandic and Old Norse – not mention a wonderful read on the history of the Germanic languages.
Robinson provides individual chapters on: Gothic, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old English, Old Frisian, Old Low Franconian, and Old High German. Each of these chapters includes a (very) brief history of the people who spoke the language, a description of the texts surviving in the language, two reading samples along with glossaries, and comments on the language’s grammar (including proper pronunciation). A further reading section ends each chapter, so if you’re particularly interested in learning one of the languages or about the people who spoke them, you’ll find these lists quite useful.
An introduction to Germanic linguistics heads up the book, followed by an overview of Germanic grammar (ie: what all of the Germanic languages have in common, grammar-wise). I particularly enjoyed these sections: the introduction for its very readable description of the history of the languages, and the grammar overview because I’m finally beginning to understand the subject (including ‘gerund’)!
The final chapter of the book picks up on the linguistics theme of the first chapter, covering the relationships between the Germanic languages. Like the first chapter, it gives one some insight into how linguists used these to reconstruct (some would say, create) Proto-Germanic.
All in all, I feel this book should be in the libraries of anyone interested in Germanic literature and languages – whether one wants to learn the languages or not. It is by far the easiest way to develop a sense of what the various Germanic languages are like in their historical context. If you love language studies or are very fond of word meanings, buy this book. If you flunked German, Dutch, Norwegian, Icelandic, or Swedish and feel that diagramming English sentences should be banned as cruel and unusual punishment, buy this book. No matter how ‘good’ or ‘bad’ you believe you are with languages, Old English and Its Closest Relatives is a delightful tour of who our ancestors were, how they described their experience, and what they all had in common amongst themselves – and with us.
September 26, 2017
Squarely intended for English speaking students of German Linguistics, this volume is an interesting and enlightening dive into the relationships of the older Germanic languages, our linguistic cousins. While it seems to be intended for use in the classroom, it was a great resource in my personal study.
I would encourage those without a linguistics background who may be interested in the older Germanic languages to give this a try as well. However, patience is important - especially lacking previous exposure to linguistics terminology. My knowledge of linguistics is largely self-taught, and therefore I found it to be slower going through some portions, but the quality is strong throughout.
I would encourage those without a linguistics background who may be interested in the older Germanic languages to give this a try as well. However, patience is important - especially lacking previous exposure to linguistics terminology. My knowledge of linguistics is largely self-taught, and therefore I found it to be slower going through some portions, but the quality is strong throughout.
September 22, 2017
As I understand it, this was used as a text for a course, and this is kind of visible from the structure. It's not extremely technical, but as a language enthusiast with some knowledge but no formal studies, I glazed over more than a few times. Still, it was worth it if only for the historical overview.
September 21, 2021
This is a great basic overview of the various older Germanic languages from a comparative linguistic viewpoint. Its only weakness, I feel, is that its title, with its particular reference to Old English, implies that that language will hold a privileged position — which may or may not be desirable to you, depending on your interests. By singling out Old English from all the other languages in the title, I assumed the author would frequently make comparisons between a given Germanic language and Old English when at all possible. That, however, was not the case and Old English was really just given the same treatment as any of the other languages, both in length and depth of its description, and it was not at all a focal point when examples of shared or unique features were noted throughout the book. The subtitle, "A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages," is a much more fitting description.
Of course, there are times when certain non-English comparisons were most appropriate — for example, his frequent recourse to Gothic or Old Norse is to be expected given their antiquity or positions as the only East and North Germanic languages in the book, respectively — but there were many instances where I felt the author ignored pointing out interesting connections between a given language and Old English, instead choosing to make that connection with, say, Old High German or Old Saxon instead.
As my rating demonstrates, however, this hardly detracted from my opinion of the book. It was interesting, informative, engaging and well-written. I'm very interested in comparative and historical linguistics in general, though, so the author not following through with what I felt was an implication that Old English would be the main metric of comparison was not a problem for me. However, if you're a student of English and not particularly interested in Germanic linguistics generally, and are looking for a book focused on Old English and how its cousins are similar to it, this book may be overkill for your needs. Put another way, imagine that this book was actually titled "A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages," without any special reference to English. If you'd still be interested in such a book, then you should check this one out.
Of course, there are times when certain non-English comparisons were most appropriate — for example, his frequent recourse to Gothic or Old Norse is to be expected given their antiquity or positions as the only East and North Germanic languages in the book, respectively — but there were many instances where I felt the author ignored pointing out interesting connections between a given language and Old English, instead choosing to make that connection with, say, Old High German or Old Saxon instead.
As my rating demonstrates, however, this hardly detracted from my opinion of the book. It was interesting, informative, engaging and well-written. I'm very interested in comparative and historical linguistics in general, though, so the author not following through with what I felt was an implication that Old English would be the main metric of comparison was not a problem for me. However, if you're a student of English and not particularly interested in Germanic linguistics generally, and are looking for a book focused on Old English and how its cousins are similar to it, this book may be overkill for your needs. Put another way, imagine that this book was actually titled "A Survey of the Earliest Germanic Languages," without any special reference to English. If you'd still be interested in such a book, then you should check this one out.
March 19, 2024
What I enjoyed the most was the early history of language as it evolved, spread throughout Europe !!! Surprising are the languages I’ve never heard of that later were absorbed by Dutch, Norse, High and low German etc. Maybe not so surprising was the geographical influences and the interaction of many small and large groupings whether through war or alliances according to the circumstances of the time period. I did have to plow through some of the finer aspects of linguistics understanding what I could even skipping some. I appreciated the maps that aided a lot in understanding including tentative word family trees.
March 1, 2025
Great introductory reading that doesn't require any prerequisite knowledge. Very enjoyable. Author also provides extensive materials for further reading for each subject for those who are interested in going more in depth.
February 20, 2016
I had been looking for a book like this for a while: a combination of history, linguistic descriptions, and sample texts from the major Germanic languages. I have also been learning about Old English, but I wanted to understand its connections to the other Germanic languages. This filled in quite a bit for me. Although we can put together the three major branches of Germanic - North, East, and West, and we can find some close relationships between specific languages - English/Frisian, it is very difficult to trace back when each branch split, and how much one group has influenced the other, especially when much of this happened before written records. I wish there had been more discussion of historical reconstructions of the languages instead of solely relying on surviving texts. It is confusing, and probably not as helpful, to compare Old English (AD 500-1000) with Old Frisian (AD 1200) and Old Saxon (AD 800). It would be more useful to historically reconstruct each language for a specific time period labeled as "Old", "Middle", etc. Further, a chapter devoted to proto-Germanic would have also helped to show how close each language had strayed from their original Germanic tongue. This was done in passing, but not in depth. Overall, however, this book is a useful resource for anyone interested in the origins of Germanic, English, and Northern Europe. I learned many things, for example, that Old Frankish was the ancestral tongue of the Dutch/Flemish, Old Saxon was the ancestor of Low German, and that High German had a rather strange sound shift unlike any other Germanic language.
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September 27, 2011This book is fantastic. I recommend it wholeheartedly to anybody who ever thought it might be neat to know what the angles, the saxons, the franks, the norse, and the goths had to do with one another. It's ten chapters - the first and last chapters frame the thing, and each chapter in the middle covers a dead language. The middle chapters have a section on the history of the people who spoke it, a description of what sort of literature is extant from those people, two short works in the original with a glossary handy for you to translate, and then a discussion of phonetics, nouns, verbs, comparative linguistics stuff, and any additional miscellaneous topics that might make sense to cover for that particular language (like dialects for old high german).
Seriously, if you like the idea of learning useless things for no good reason other than that it was fun to read about them, pick up this book.
Seriously, if you like the idea of learning useless things for no good reason other than that it was fun to read about them, pick up this book.
August 17, 2015
This was a challenging but very interesting and informative read into the history and development of the Germanic family tree and a comparason between the oldest attested versions of each Germanic language. After the introduction, each chapter is dedicated to a different old Germanic language, introducing the history of the peoples speaking the language (a feature I really loved) followed by an introduction to the some of the surviving texts in the languages, a small passage from one or two of the aforementioned texts complete with a glossary and then an analysis into the phonology and grammar of the language with comparasons to other sister languages. Whilst the book is very interesting, it may be a bit advanced for a general reader with little to no background knowledge on linguistics as it uses many linguistic terms. However I heartily recommend it for anyone with an interest in linguistics, especially historical linguistics!
August 24, 2011
This is a great introductory book on extinct Germanic languages. It is excellently arranged & explains concepts that other books make difficult or boring in an easy to understand, simple manner. Grammatical sketches, reading texts, & vocabulary lists are given for each language presented. This would be a good text to use with undergraduates or secondary school students (if any such would be interested in this subject!).
March 17, 2008
A readable introduction to the early Germanic languages. Unlike a lot of other lingusitics books, this one gives a short history of those who spoke each language before getting into descriptions, which gives the book a lot more life than others. I read parts of it for a project and wanted to keep going after I finished that project, and not many books of this kind have that power.
August 3, 2008
If you get a hardon for dead germanic languages, this is the book for you. I own this, and read it every year.
If you aren't into grammars of languages, then perhaps this isn't for you, but if you are, this is a lovely comprehensive comparative grammar of (as it says) Old English and Its Closest Relatives.
If you aren't into grammars of languages, then perhaps this isn't for you, but if you are, this is a lovely comprehensive comparative grammar of (as it says) Old English and Its Closest Relatives.
July 20, 2013
This is a terrific survey if you are interested in the details of English's Germanic roots. There are comparative passages for translation from OE, Gothic, Old Frisian, Old Norse, Old Saxon, Old High German and Old Franconian. The passages include complete glossaries as well as side notes with cognate hints.
April 7, 2013
Excellent book for anyone wanting to know more about the Germanic Languages. The writing is clear and concise, and you don't have to be a Linguist to make sense of it all--though a background in it wouldn't hurt! My only complaint is the inconsistency of the phonetic symbols. Standard IPA throughout would have been better, in my opinion.
November 9, 2007
Just starting. The author, it turns out, is a friend of a friend. I'm grateful for such a good and entertaining work of philology. At the present I can't read fiction or current "controversalia." They lead me to melancholy thoughts. Dryness has its great uses.
March 24, 2008
A great book on the lingustic evolution of the English language. A terrific read....from a linguistic student's point of view...
March 19, 2009
Details not just what you'd expect (Old Norse, Old High German) but also the really obscure (Old Low Franconian, Old Frisian). It's neither too academic nor too dumbed-down.
April 22, 2010
Linguistics for the non-specialist (although knowing something going in is definitely helpful).
September 26, 2010
Read this if you're a huge geek about linguistics and the history of the Germanic languages.
November 23, 2011
Very interesting, though I'll admit that much of the deeper linguistic information was a bit over my head
September 20, 2014
Great overview of Old English and her relatives.
January 22, 2016
Very interesting reading of modern english's origins.
October 27, 2016
Read for Evolution of English class.
January 14, 2018
Excellent and accessible.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews