The link below will take you to the OE/PDE version of Moses
parting the Red Sea. If you take on this assignment, I suggest
you print two or three of them (it should print out as one page).
You may also just do it on-screen. That is up to you.
Also up to you is how much you do. I think you will start
seeing
things more clearly after only part of the exercises are
complete. Do as much or little as you like.
I think these exercises can bridge (with out shaking) the gap
between
getting it an not getting it. Please take this opportunity to
explore
the synthetic nature of OE.
Look for the following in the sample:
Noun Phrases
-
Note how the modifiers use the same inflections as the noun head
-
Use the tables in the book listing the declensions for nouns,
adjectives,
and demonstrative pronouns to categorize these words by case and number
(I don't expect you to determine gender, but if you are bored,
enthusiastic,
neurotic, or stranded someplace, what the heck, give it a try!).
Hint: You
should only need to determine one word; the rest of the words in the
phrase
should agree, and
you should only need to confirm those.
Hint:
You may find that the demonstrative pronoun is the most telling
clue.
- Look at all words that either are proper nouns or are
derived from proper
nouns
-
Use the tables in the book listing the declensions for nouns,
adjectives,
and demonstrative pronouns to categorize this word by case and number
(I
don't expect you to determine gender). These include Moses,
Israel,
Egyptian, Pharaoh
-
List all the different forms of the OE etymon for "all"
-
Use the tables in the book listing the declensions for nouns,
adjectives,
and demonstrative pronouns to categorize this word by case and number
(I
don't expect you to determine gender).
-
Do any of these function as adverbs?
-
Most of the clauses in this passage appear to be independent and
active.
There are a couple of instances of the syntactic pattern SOV sometimes
used in OE for dependent clauses.
-
Count the number of "ands" used, esp. those that start sentences.
This will illustrate the paratactic nature of OE syntax.
Note the astonishing correspondence between the words and the phrasal
and
clausal syntactic patterns between the OE and
PDE versions of this story. It's not at all difficult to see
how the underpinnings of PDE were fully in place during the OE period.
http://www.wtamu.edu/academic/fah/eng/wc/OEsea.htm