Editing Northumbrian Old English (section)

==History==
[[File:Map of the Kingdom of Northumbria around 700 AD.svg|thumb|Extent of Northumbria, {{circa|700 AD}}]]

[[Historical linguists]] recognise four distinct dialects of [[Old English]]: Northumbrian, Mercian, Kentish and West Saxon.<ref name="Campbell">{{cite book|last=Campbell|first=Alistair|title=Old English Grammar|place=Oxford|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1959|isbn=0-19-811943-7|page=4|language=en}}</ref><ref name="Scragg">{{cite book|last1=Scragg|first1=D. G.|title=A History of English Spelling|date=1974|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-0553-4|page=6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oeNRAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA6|language=en}}</ref> The Northumbrian dialect was spoken in the Kingdom of [[Northumbria]] from the Humber to the [[River Mersey]] (mersey meaning border river) in northern England to the [[Firth of Forth]] in the [[Scottish Lowlands]]. Today, [[Modern Scots]], [[Northumbrian dialect|Northumbrian]], [[Cumbrian dialect|Cumbrian]] and North/East Riding dialects originate purely from Northumbrian, as well as forming the substrate of the since Mercian-influenced West Riding and Lancashire dialects.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|last1=Wales|first1=Katie|title=Northern English: A Social and Cultural History|date=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-45705-7|pages=49–50|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IaOuTaQ5zq4C&pg=PA49|language=en}}</ref> It was significantly different from the dialects spoken by other Kingdoms, especially that of West-Saxon (the dialect used for most modern studies of Old English).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Beal |first1=Joan C. |title=Urban North-Eastern English |date=2012 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |page=4 |isbn=978-0-7486-6445-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eV9MyzOnBi8C&pg=PA4 |language=en}}</ref> Modern Standard English, on the other hand, has its origins in the Mercian dialect, which was the dialect most similar to Northumbrian.<ref name="Skinner">{{cite book |last1=Skinner |first1=June Sawyers |title=Maverick Guide to Scotland |year=1999 |publisher=Pelican Publishing |isbn=978-1-4556-0866-9 |page=60 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=55ZaYPD-g10C&pg=PA60 |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Angles (tribe)|Angles]] brought their language (''Englisc'') to Northumbria in the 6th century AD, where it reached the modern-day [[Scottish Lowlands]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Penhallurick |first1=Rob |title=Studying the English Language |date=2010 |publisher=Macmillan International Higher Education |isbn=978-1-137-03621-6 |page=73 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TPkcBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA73 |language=en}}</ref> This form of Northumbrian Old English was first recorded in [[poetry]]; e.g. [[Cædmon's Hymn]] {{circa|658-680}}), writings of the Venerable [[Bede]] ({{circa|700 AD}}) and the [[Leiden Riddle]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Albert Hugh |title=Three Northumbrian Poems: Caedmon's Hymn, Bede's Death Song and the Leiden Riddle |date=1933 |publisher=Ardent Media |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mg9_vYokAloC |language=en}}</ref> The language is also attested in the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]] {{circa|970 AD}}, in modern Scotland as a carved runic text, the ''[[Dream of the Rood]]'', and on the [[Ruthwell Cross]], {{circa|750 AD}}. Old Northumbria was later conquered by the Danes (867–883 AD) and from this day forth the language became influenced with [[Old Norse]].<ref name="CSL" />

The area now in Southern Scotland, which was originally a part of the [[Northumbria|Kingdom of Northumbria]], was invaded by [[Kenneth III of Scotland]] and became part of Scots territory. Despite the king being a [[Scottish Gaelic]] speaker, he allowed the region to keep its Northumbrian Language. However, the region became divided from Northumbria following the [[Battle of Carham]] (with the northern half of the territory under Scottish rule and the southern part under the English);<ref name=":0"/> the language north of the divide later became known as ''Scottis''<ref name="Oxford University Press">{{cite book |last1=Horobin |first1=Simon |title=How English Became English: A Short History of a Global Language |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-875427-5 |page=101 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rTAiCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA101 |language=en}}</ref> or ''Scots''.<ref name="Skinner" />

The anonymous author of the Northumbrian ''[[Cursor Mundi]]'' claimed southern English texts needed to be translated into northern dialects for people to fully understand what they were reading.<ref name=CSL>{{cite web |title=Germanic and Other Languages |url=https://www.scotslanguage.com/The_Languages_Our_Neighbours_Speak/Germanic_and_Other_Languages |website=Centre for the Scots Leid |access-date=16 September 2020}}</ref> [[Ralph Higden]] in 1364 described Northumbrian as incredibly difficult for southern natives to understand, believing the reason for this to be the "strange men an nations that speaketh stronglie" (i.e. the Scots) the region bordered.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Oliver  |first1=Stephen the Younger|title=Rambles in Northumberland and on the Scottish Border |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jBcHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA18 |publisher=Chapman and Hall |date=1835 |language=en}}</ref> [[John of Trevisa]] spoke about nearby "strange men an aliens" in discussing northern English's alleged outlandishness, and in {{circa|1440}} [[Osbern Bokenam]] wrote about Scots' influence on northern English in his ''[[Mappula Angliae]]''.<ref name=":0"/>

By the 14th century, [[Lallans|Lowland Scots]] became the main language of Scotland's Lowlands (excluding [[Galloway]], which still spoke Gaelic).<ref name="Skinner" /> Despite this, Northumbrian began to lose its significance in England by the 16th century. Northumbrian dialectical terms, accents, and manners of speaking were considered incorrect and inelegant to those in power, who were seated in the south of England. As England began to centralise its power in London and the south of England, texts in the midland and southern dialects became the ''de facto'' standard. A great number of letters, poems and newspaper articles were written in Northumbrian and Cumbrian dialects throughout the 19th and 20th centuries; however, their use is declining in favour of Standard English.<ref name=CSL /> The modern Northumbrian dialect is currently promoted by organisations such as the Northumbrian Language Society and Northumbrian Words Project.<ref>{{cite web |title=History & Evolution |url=https://northumbrianlanguagesociety.co.uk/language/history/ |website=Northumbrian Language Society |access-date=16 September 2020 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Northumbrian Language Society|url=http://www.NorthumbrianLanguageSociety.co.uk|access-date=13 September 2020|website=www.NorthumbrianLanguageSociety.co.uk|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.livingnorth.com/northeast/people-places/learn-about-distinctive-northumbrian-language|title=The Distinctive Northumbrian Language - Living North|website=www.livingnorth.com|access-date=13 September 2020|language=en}}</ref> Similarly, the closely related [[Cumbrian dialect]] is promoted by the Lakeland Dialect Society.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lakelanddialectsociety.co.uk/|website=www.lakelanddialectsociety.co.uk|access-date=2023-09-24|title=Lakeland Dialect Society}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nwemail.co.uk/news/16424822.celebration-dialect-held-shores-bassenthwaite/|title=Celebration of dialect to be held on the shores of Bassenthwaite }}</ref>