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334:(849–899), used in the many literary translations produced under Alfred's patronage (and some by Alfred himself). It is often referred to as Alfredian Old English, or Alfredian. The language of these texts nonetheless sometimes reflects the influence of other dialects besides that of Wessex.
399:, which was also the capital city of the Saxon kings. However, while other Old English dialects were still spoken in other parts of the country, it seems that all scribes wrote and copied manuscripts in this prestigious written form. Well-known poems recorded in this language include
390:
Late West Saxon was the dialect that became the first standardised written "English" ("Winchester standard"), sometimes referred to as "classical" Old
English. This dialect was spoken mostly in the south and west around the important
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of the late 10th and 11th centuries. Due to the Saxons' establishment as a politically dominant force in the Old
English period, the West Saxon dialects became the strongest dialects in Old English manuscript writing.
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as the language of the aristocracy, and any standard written
English became a distant memory by the mid-twelfth century as the last scribes, trained as boys before the conquest in West Saxon, died as old men.
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in 1066, the language had evolved into Late West Saxon, which had established itself as a written language and replaced the
Alfredian language, following the Athewoldian language reform set in train by Bishop
411:. However, both these poems appear to have been written originally in other Old English dialects, but later translated into the standard Late West Saxon literary language when they were copied by scribes.
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textbooks and scribal conventions, and there was less need to copy or write in Old
English. Latin soon became the dominant language of scholarship and legal documents, with
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387:, Ælfric the Grammarian. Despite their similarities, Late West Saxon is not considered by some to be a direct descendant of Early West Saxon.
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305:(the latter two were similar and are known as the Anglian dialects). West Saxon was the language of the kingdom of
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The new standard languages that would come into being in the times of
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in 1066. Monasteries did not keep the standard going because
English
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665:"Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 173: The Parker Chronicle"
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The "Winchester standard" gradually fell out of use after the
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383:. The name most associated with that reform is that of Abbot
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709:. Cambridge University Press, p. 117. For more detail see
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with West Saxon being one of the four distinct regional
281:is the term applied to the two different dialects
669:Parker Library On the Web - Spotlight at Stanford
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616:"King Alfred's Translation of the Pastoral Care"
662:
567:Wiktionary's coverage of Early West Saxon terms
572:Wiktionary's coverage of Late West Saxon terms
330:Early West Saxon was the language employed by
707:The Cambridge History of the English Language
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723:The Anglo-Saxon Version of the Holy Gospels
361:Cambridge, Corpus Christi College, MS 173:
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562:Wiktionary's coverage of West Saxon terms
796:Languages attested from the 9th century
462:Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg,
14:
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764:"Languages used in medieval documents"
801:Languages extinct in the 12th century
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472:swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum.
341:King Alfred's Preface to Gregory's
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437:Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum,
477:And ne gelæd þu us on costnunge,
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740:"Aelfric's Lives of the Saints"
688:Old English Plus. "Appendix 1."
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520:bishops who brought their own
457:on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.
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592:"The dialects of Old English"
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418:from around 990, the text of
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365:(The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle)
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376:Norman conquest of England
175:Development of Old English
705:Hogg, Richard M. (1992).
467:and forgyf us ure gyltas,
357:Historia adversus paganos
769:University of Nottingham
540:were descended from the
293:. The three others were
381:Æthelwold of Winchester
349:Old English translation
291:dialects of Old English
516:were soon replaced by
27:Dialect of Old English
18:West Saxon Old English
663:Stanford University.
640:"Old English Orosius"
550:West Country dialects
542:East Midlands dialect
442:si þin nama gehalgod.
149:Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
806:Old English dialects
711:Old English dialects
494:Ælfric of Eynsham's
482:ac alys us of yfele.
363:The Parker Chronicle
228:Early Modern English
124:Phonological history
744:The British Library
644:The British Library
620:The British Library
496:Lives of the Saints
447:To becume þin rice,
374:By the time of the
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332:King Alfred
99:Orthography
52:Old English
790:Categories
775:2022-12-22
749:2019-01-30
674:2019-01-30
649:2019-01-30
625:2019-01-30
601:2019-01-30
578:References
397:Winchester
279:West Saxon
182:Influences
137:Literature
81:West Saxon
420:Matthew 6
393:monastery
204:Brittonic
119:Phonology
691:Archived
556:See also
487:Soþlice.
60:Dialects
44:a series
42:Part of
546:Anglian
514:bishops
426:), the
414:In the
402:Beowulf
353:Orosius
299:Mercian
295:Kentish
167:History
144:Beowulf
114:Grammar
71:Mercian
66:Kentish
816:Wessex
518:Norman
408:Judith
307:Wessex
217:Legacy
522:Latin
238:Scots
199:Norse
194:Latin
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