hellog〜英語史ブログ / 2016-05-31

■ #2591. 古ノルド語はいつまでイングランドで使われていたか [old_norse][bilingualism][emode][language_death]

　標記の問題については，「#1149. The Aldbrough Sundial」 ([2012-06-19-1]) で触れた Page の論文のほか，いくつかの論考がある．この種の問題には明確な結論を出せないことが多く，たいてい論者によって意見はまちまちである．ここでは，Baugh and Cable (92--93) の見解を示そう．

Although in some places the Scandinavians gave up their language early, there were certainly communities in which Danish or Norse remained for some time the usual language. Up until the time of the Norman Conquest the Scandinavian language in England was constantly being renewed by the steady stream of trade and conquest. In some parts of Scotland, Norse was still spoken as late as the seventeenth century. In other districts in which the prevailing speech was English, there were doubtless many of the newcomers who continued to speak their own language at least as late as 1100 and a considerable number who were to a greater or lesser degree bilingual. The last-named circumstance is rendered more likely by the frequent intermarriage between the two peoples and by the similarity between the two tongues. The Anglian dialect resembled the language of the Northmen in a number of particulars in which West Saxon showed divergence. The two may even have been mutually intelligible to a limited extent. Contemporary statements on the subject are conflicting, and it is difficult to arrive at a conviction. But wherever the truth lies in this debatable question, there can be no doubt that the basis existed for an extensive interaction of the two languages upon each other, and this conclusion is amply borne out by the large number of Scandinavian elements subsequently found in English.

　Danelaw 地域においては1100年くらいまで古ノルド語が話されていたと推測されているが，その後については言及がない．社会的バイリンガルにせよ個人的バイリンガルにせよ，程度の差があったろうし，その程度が推し量れるような直接，間接の文献もないとなると，すべては憶測の域を出ないことになる．
　上の引用にはスコットランドの一部における古ノルド語の使用について17世紀まで継続していたとの言及があるが，関連して「#828. Shetland」 ([2011-08-03-1]) の記事も参照されたい．Shetland では，古ノルド語から派生した1変種たる Norn の使用は18世紀まで続いていたようである．

　・ Page, R. I. "How Long Did the Scandinavian Language Survive in England? The Epigraphical Evidence." England Before the Conquest: Studies in Primary Sources Presented to Dorothy Whitelock. Ed. P. Clemoes and K. Hughes. Cambridge: CUP, 1971. 165--81.
　・ Baugh, Albert C. and Thomas Cable. A History of the English Language. 6th ed. London: Routledge, 2013.

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