Pronouncing some Anglo-Saxon Words

As an immediate correction, there are a couple of words (e.g. 'bitela') where I pronounce a consonant unaspirated where it should be aspirated. This was probably because I was focusing on making sure I was dentalising them.

Thanks to fs2728 for pointing out that what I transcribe as [æ], I pronounce more like [a]. Here is my response cut and pasted:
"Oops - I am leaning a bit towards [a] here! Having said that, the realisation of that phoneme won't have been exactly the same in all dialects, and while it's usually given as [æ] in textbooks, all reconstruction can really tell us (as far as I'm aware) is that it's an unrounded front vowel, more open than [ɛ]. Under the circumstances, I would argue that [a] is just as good a candidate."

Spelled 'Eichhörnchen' wrong - thanks to SiqueScarface for pointing this out.

[heretolevitateme]

1:45 So you're saying inhabitants of England were more likely to describe the sky as grey than blue? Who woulda guessed?!? XD

[M-Afghan]

Languages are fascinating. I am a Pashto speaker. Pashto is an Eastern Arian/Iranian language, a branch of Indo-European family and is mainly spoken in Afghanistan. I can identify a lot of words which can be found in Pashto as well. For example Steorra is Stori in Pashto, fyr is aur, god is Khodai, thunder is talanda/tunder(persian), brother is wror, and many others.

[mrtactica]

I was born in Leicester and we moved to Australia. When in England my school declared that I had a well above average vocabulary which seems to have, on one hand, lessened by use over the years but, on the other, maintained to some degree by study and application in areas of interest (history, theology). I have tried to keep my vocabulary large and to use words as carefully and as etymologically accurate as practicable to impart and receive specific meaning and understanding. I consider myself fortunate to have kept much of my original accent and many words, including some slang, from my youth and parents. My children and grandchildren think me quaint/weird/interesting .
Simon, your work has added to my knowledge, to my enjoyment of the beauty of our language, but mostly to my appreciation of the great gift of speech.
Brilliant and well done.

[DaveTexas]

I never would have thought watching a video of a guy just saying words could be so fascinating m but here we are. This is SO cool! Your knowledge is very impressive.

[raphaelb]

I don't think I've ever heard an anglophone pronounce Eichhörnchen this perfectly.

[jeffatturbofish]

Videos like this are why I'm not allowed to have the remote control to the TV when my wife is home. Was playing this on the TV yesterday and my wife walked in and gave me that look questioning my entertainment choice or my general sanity.

[NobbyStilestheToothlessTiger]

This sounds still very similar to a lot of Modern Dutch and German words. There are even more similarities to Dutch Low Saxon. These dialects are spoken in the northeastern part of the Netherlands.

[garytong]

As a Man of Kent, but fluent Dutch speaker it is amazing the number of modern Dutch words that appear, either written or pronounced. Interesting videos, bedankt.

[melaniewolf]

It was so cool seeing my suggestions in the video! Thank you Mr. Roper! 'Grimful' is indeed a cool word, and seems more accurate than 'violent'.

[RobWhittlestone]

Another valuable video, thank you Simon!
This triggered various thoughts:
"Sunne" is exactly as "Sonne" (sun) is pronounced today in Swiss German. (A common name for pubs here).
English folk name-phrases for animals "Brock (brocc) the badger", Reynard the fox, Bruin the bear, …
Werewolf --> wer-wulf --> man-wolf?
Amete --> Ameise (de) - Emmet (Cornish/Dorset dialect?)
Naedre --> Natter (de) = Adder (en)
Ceorl --> Kerl (de) - fellow, chap (en)
I find your videos make me feel that I have been put back in touch with my ancestral heritage - a very rare and valuable quality. Thank you again, Simon.
All the best, Rob in Switzerland

[bluenightgrinner]

Never thought I'd be studying old anglo but I'm learning latin aswell so I'm sure this will be a great help.
It helps to love what you're studying and I find language, history and archeology/anthropology, biology, Physiology, philosophy, psychology etc to be bloody fascinating.
So glad I stumbled upon your channel. Your love of what you're doing is obvious and contagious so I look forward to what else you have on the backburners...

[Marco_Venieri]

simon, can i say that you're one of the best channel on YouTube

[Seraphim]

Emmet is still used a lot in Cornwall, as a (somewhat) derogatory term for tourists (because they suddenly appear in large numbers in the summer, but are nowhere to be seen when winter comes). This derives from the custom of referring to lizards as "four-legged emmets", because like ants (and tourists) they only ever appear in large numbers in the summer. This has led to some people in Cornwall mistakenly thinking the word emmet is derived from Cornish.

[YabibiHabibi]

Awesome stuff, Simon. Your work is incredibly interesting to me as a history undergrad student who is garnering interest in Anglo-Saxon England.

[d.]

the butterfly and laugh pronunciations were probably my 2 fave songs on this album.

[OntarioTrafficMan]

Words that continue to be used in Dutch, but not in modern English:
1:50 "sweart" ("zwart" in Dutch)
2:12 "wolcn" (wolk)
2:52 "holt" (hout)
3:03 "mere" (meer)
3:42 "wīf" (wijf) - cognate with English "wife" but different meaning
3:47 "dēor" (dier) - cognate with English "deer" but different meaning
3:50 "heorut" (hert)
4:06 "īl" (egel)
4:10 "ācweorna" (eekhoorn)

[jaykay]

Really interesting to hear some words still pronounced the same way in modern (northern/Scottish) British accents.

[Haddcore]

I'm so mind blown by how many words I recognize from their modern swedish counterparts

[CheLanguages]

4:04 there is a place near where my grandparents live in West Yorkshire called Brockholes, I was informed that Brock or Brocc means Badger in Old English sometime ago and I later found in it was one of the very few left over loanwords from the old English Celtic language.

[njujuznem]

Could you do a video on the different way names & place names change (like you mentioned at the start)? I'd love to learn more about that