ABSTRACT
The oldest recorded stage of the English language is Old English (OE), sometimes called Anglo-Saxon. Manuscript records in OE begin in the sixth century AD, and continue until the Norman Conquest of 1066; OE shades into Middle English (ME) after 1100-1150. Several dialects of OE are recorded, but one variety, Late West Saxon, seems to have achieved the status of a standardised written language in the years before the Norman Conquest. In origin, West Saxon was the language of the Kingdom of Wessex, in the south-west of England; Wessex had achieved political and cultural hegemony in England by the end of the Anglo-Saxon period. The texts in this book have been normalised into Early West Saxon, the form of this dialect current in the time of King Alfred (849-899 AD), since this provides the most useful basis for subsequent study. However, students will quickly become aware that West Saxon is not a fixed variety, and at the end of this chapter a short Appendix I has been included on the main differences between Early and Late West Saxon. Appendix II contains a very brief discussion of the dialects of OE.
