|
Maria Dahvana Headley's contemporary-English version of Beowulf from 2020 translates "Hwæt" as "Bro!" Funny picture: 
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 15:11
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 18:18 |
|
|
Edit wow I was really been on this one nevermind
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 15:12
|
|
|
ultrafilter posted:The first few sentences of Beowulf in Old English:
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 15:17
|
|
|
Busket Posket posted:an OE translation of Hamlet could also start with the word hwæt 
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 15:20
|
|
|
DACK FAYDEN posted:My favorite part of this is how it's completely incomprehensible to modern readers and then you get to the end and it literally says "that was good king". This is also what sex with me is like
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 15:20
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 15:30
|
|
|
DACK FAYDEN posted:My favorite part of this is how it's completely incomprehensible to modern readers and then you get to the end and it literally says "that was good king". It's possible to write Old English sentences that are comprehensible to modern readers, but it takes some care, and they have to be pretty simple sentences. The most famous example: quote:And ich secge thussum ga than he gaeth, and ich secge thissum cum thanna cumth he, and ich secge thissum do this and he daeth.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 15:40
|
|
|
Busket Posket posted:Interestingly enough to 3 people on Earth, an OE translation of Hamlet could also start with the word hwæt, since it can be used as an interrogative pronoun and the first line of Hamlet is “Who’s there?” Now I want to hear Lil John do Beowulf.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 15:52
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:Now I want to hear Lil John do Beowulf. If Chappelle’s Show had lasted another few seasons, this probably would have happened.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 15:54
|
|
|
 Here's a kinda neat diagram of how English has changed over the millennium using a fixed text. It's amazing how much more comprehensible Middle English is then old. I guess thats the Saxons injecting it with a lethal dose of French in 1066? Idk
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:00
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:Now I want to hear Lil John do Beowulf. Beocrunk
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:06
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:08
|
|
|
projecthalaxy posted:
Wasn't the Saxons doing that, but definitely.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:18
|
|
|
i'm not sure how Big Bill the Conqueror would take to being called a Saxon.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:38
|
|
|
Rascar Capac posted:Maria Dahvana Headley's contemporary-English version of Beowulf from 2020 translates "Hwæt" as "Bro!" While "Bro!" is clearly a step in the right direction, and the Headley translation is an unalloyed delight, it's clear that the sensible modern translation of "Hwæt" is "Sup!"
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:44
|
|
|
Busket Posket posted:Interestingly enough to 3 people on Earth, an OE translation of Hamlet could also start with the word hwæt, since it can be used as an interrogative pronoun and the first line of Hamlet is “Who’s there?” I thought hwaet was more like "listen!" or "hark!", or does it also mean what you said?
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:46
|
|
|
Sally posted:i'm not sure how Big Bill the Conqueror would take to being called a Saxon. In my defense it's been a while since I had a history class and when i did it was in beautiful New Mexico, USA [48th in education] so I'm willing to accept only partial blame for mixing up saxons and normans
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:47
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEaRBAT0TLs&hd=1 This guy's videos are a fun look at Old English.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:49
|
|
|
projecthalaxy posted:
Written Middle English is comprehensible-ish but the spoken version was still pretty far off from what we're used to. Check out this reading from the Canterbury tales for our best guess as to how it would've sounded.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 16:54
|
|
|
middle english looks and reads like norwenglish and it's loving me up
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:00
|
|
|
Hey for real tho
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:02
|
|
|
ultrafilter posted:Written Middle English is comprehensible-ish but the spoken version was still pretty far off from what we're used to. Check out this reading from the Canterbury tales for our best guess as to how it would've sounded. Me watching Holy Grail as a teen: "LOL k-nicts" Me in college listening to my professor read Canterbury Tales: "Wait that's really it?"
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:06
|
|
|
Your Computer posted:middle english looks and reads like norwenglish and it's loving me up
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:09
|
|
|
SAY YOHO posted:Me watching Holy Grail as a teen: "LOL k-nicts" Holy grail was a documentary.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:12
|
|
|
rydiafan posted:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEaRBAT0TLs&hd=1 As someone who speaks Icelandic (and is decently proficient in Scandinavian) I understood like 70% of that and could make educated guesses about the remainder.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:16
|
|
|
Your Computer posted:middle english looks and reads like norwenglish and it's loving me up https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeC1yAaWG34
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:19
|
|
|
projecthalaxy posted:
finally this picture is relevant 
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:35
|
|
|
dr_rat posted:Holy grail was a documentary. Terry Jones did English at Oxford and was obsessed with medieval history and Old and Middle English, so would have known about the silent K being a modern invention - it would definitely have been pronounced that way in the dark ages. Not entirely sure how they'd have said anarchosyndicalist though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:37
|
|
|
Also related: https://twitter.com/JustWantToGrill/status/1478044228664004608 If Harold had won at Hastings English would probably have ended up sounding something like Dutch, so it feels like the English-speaking world got lucky in 1066.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:39
|
|
|
shelley posted:finally this picture is relevant The most interesting thing to me, apart from the bit about the kip in the field, is that your version has the passages in the opposite order. I wonder what lesson this teaches.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 17:42
|
|
|
xposting
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 18:48
|
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:Also related: It would be more like Frisian, but yes it would likely also sound closer to Dutch. In fact, the sounds and prosody of Old English sound much closer to Dutch to me than to English (I'm a native Dutch speaker and Old English was on my curriculum at uni).
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 18:49
|
|
|
Pope Hilarius II posted:It would be more like Frisian, but yes it would likely also sound closer to Dutch. In fact, the sounds and prosody of Old English sound much closer to Dutch to me than to English (I'm a native Dutch speaker and Old English was on my curriculum at uni). Maybe it's because all your professors spoke Old English with a thick Dutch accent.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 19:05
|
|
|
I follow a Dutch speaker on Twitter who usually tweets in English but every once in a while switches into Dutch, and it's always so disconcerting to see those tweets because it takes a few words before I realize that I have no idea what's being said.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 19:09
|
|
|
SAY YOHO posted:I thought hwaet was more like "listen!" or "hark!", or does it also mean what you said? It has like a half-dozen different meanings depending on context, and each one is debated by a dozen scholars. The interjective definition would fit Beowulf, while the interrogative pronoun definition would roughly fit Hamlet. And because literary characters used to be described as ejaculating when they interjected, you could start either your Beowulf stage play or erotic fan fiction with: “Hwaet! [He ejaculated].”
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 19:18
|
|
|
First time I saw this, it took me about 10 seconds to realise it wasn't German
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 19:20
|
|
|
Captain Splendid posted:First time I saw this, it took me about 10 seconds to realise it wasn't German Extra person in panel 3, not quite loss.jpg.
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 19:22
|
|
|
Android Apocalypse posted:Extra person in panel 3, not quite loss.jpg. darn those dover boys i didn't realize but, yeah, it is a loss joke
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 19:24
|
|
|
Dan Backslide is such a good hokey villain name
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 19:35
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 22, 2024 18:18 |
|
|
goddamnedtwisto posted:Also related: 
|
|
#
?
Jan 5, 2022 20:28
|
|