I read the first book in the Last Kingdom series recently, which are historical fiction novels set in the 800s in Anglo Saxon England. They use "witan" when talking about the king's council for making military / judicial decisions, etc. I didn't know it was a more general word!
Also I remember Edmund Spenser's poem The Faerie Queene, which has artificially archaic language (it was written in the 1590s but tries to sound older), uses "wot" in some places.
Note that there is also an 's' ending in the genetive, when the genetic relationship itself acts as a pronoun -- whose book is it? It's hers; theirs was an adventurous vacation. I believe this corresponds to deren/dessen in German.
I read the first book in the Last Kingdom series recently, which are historical fiction novels set in the 800s in Anglo Saxon England. They use "witan" when talking about the king's council for making military / judicial decisions, etc. I didn't know it was a more general word!
Also I remember Edmund Spenser's poem The Faerie Queene, which has artificially archaic language (it was written in the 1590s but tries to sound older), uses "wot" in some places.
Thank you. I found this absolutely fascinating
So what you're saying is that Lil Jon was not being nonsensical, he was rather a student of Old English?
(Realizing that reference is two decades old....)
Note that there is also an 's' ending in the genetive, when the genetic relationship itself acts as a pronoun -- whose book is it? It's hers; theirs was an adventurous vacation. I believe this corresponds to deren/dessen in German.
This was such a fun and informative essay! My daughter is taking linguistics right now, and I’m going to send it to her.
More fodder for the pronoun wars!