Seaxan: difference between revisions

* {{alteralt|ang|Seaxe|Saxan}}

#*: {{quote|ang|''Augustīnus cwæþ, "Ġif Wēalas nyllaþ sibbe wiþ ūs, hīe sċulon æt '''Seaxna''' handa forweorðan."''|Augustine said, "If the Celts don't want peace with us, they'll have to perish at the hands [lit. "hand"] of the '''Saxons'''."}}

* The genitive plural is ''Seaxna'', not regular ''Seaxena''. Syncopated ''-na'' was apparently the inherited gen. pl. ending in weak nouns; but *a was then inserted by analogy with the nom.-acc. pl., subsequently dissimulatingdissimilating to *e.<ref>{{R:ang:DOE|154}}</ref> By the literary period, the syncopated form is uncommon except in poetry and in some weak names of peoples. suchThe assyncope is preserved consistently in ''Seaxan'', often in {{m|ang|Francan||the French}}, and {{m|ang|Frīsan||Frisians}}, and ''Seaxan''.never Note thatin {{m|ang|Gota|Gotan}} (“Goths”) and {{m|ang|Sigelhearwa|Siġelhearwan}} (“Ethiopians”), arethough exceptions;for theythe consistentlylast havetwo ''-ena''few examples survive.

====See also====