Loss and Consequence:
An Examination of the Old English Case Marking System
As Opposed to that of Other Old Germanic LanguagesDenise Walters
full paper (PDF)
ABSTRACT. Old English--early in its existence--did not differ much from its Germanic cousins. In fact, these languages could be considered distant dialects from one another. However, through the course of its development, Old English lost part of its Germanic morphology: the case-marking system. The loss of this system had such an impact on the development of the language that the results are seen in Modern English. This paper examines these results, and to an extent the reasons, behind this reduction.
Denise Walters is an MA student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Colorado.
Colorado Research in Linguistics - Volume 17, Issue 1 - June 2004
