From: arnljotr
Message: 2219
Date: 2002-10-29
> old Swedish manuscripts from roughly 1200-1500?"Well, Konrad, 'I kallen' was used until mid 20th century in written
> Sæll Símon.archaic
>
> > In the course of my Swedish studies, I have discovered the
> form I KALLEN. I understand that "I" meant "you (pl.)" and that thedoesn't
> verb, e.g. KALLA (to call) had a special ending in -EN, which seems
> to have applied across all the conjugations except contracted verbs
> like TRO. I have a smattering of Icelandic, which is close to Old
> Norse, but the corresponding form there is ÞIÐ KALLIÐ, which
> seem to fit the bill. Please, can anyone enlighten me as to thepronunciation
> ultimate source of I KALLEN? I mean both the pronoun I and the
> ending EN.
> >
>
> I am assuming that by "archaic form" you mean a form that occurs in
> old Swedish manuscripts from roughly 1200-1500? If so, then here is
> the likely source of forms like "I KALLEN": a shift in
> from Ð to N in this position that occured in most East Norsehave
> dialects at various times during roughly the period 900-1300. I
> also observed this phenomenon on the course of my own studies inold
> Swedish. As you noticed, the -EN ending applies across all the oldEast
> conjugations with few exceptions. Historically, the change was from
> Ð to N and West Norse shows a more conservative form in this case.
> The use of E for I is in this case purely dialectical - some
> dialects had I and others E, showing no influence on the grammar
> either way. The Icelandic form ÞIÐ KALLIÐ should fit the bill just
> fine, as well as should the Icelandic formal plural ÞÉR KALLIÐ. ÞIÐ
> is the old dual form acting as a plural, whereas ÞÉR is the old
> plural form acting as a formal. The I in I KALLEN could represent
> either the West Norse dual IT, which became ÞIÐ, or the West Norse
> plural ÉR, which became ÞÉR, as there are no special dual forms of
> verbs in Old Norse or Old Swedish. Only the context can tell you
> whether the I in this case means West Norse IT or ÉR. Also, old
> Norse tended to prefer ÍR to ÉR in the plural. Finally, I want toduring
> point out that spelling was not fixed anywhere in Scandinavia
> this period - it could be quite erratic! Many manuspripts show nothe
> markings over vowels like I and E, thus leaving us to guess from
> context as to whether I in the case means ÍR/ÉR or IT/ET. I hope
> this will be useful to you in your studies.
>
> Regards,
> Konrad.