OE prose is a most valuable sources of information for the history of the language. The earliest samples of continuous prose are the first pages of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles: brief annals of the year’s happenings made at various monasteries. In the 9th c. the chronicles were unified at Winchester, the capital of Wessex. Though sometimes dropped or started again, the chronicles developed into a fairly complete prose history of England; the Winchester annals were copied and continued in other monasteries.
5. Conclusion
Old English scribes used two kindes of letters: the runes and the letters of the Latin alphabet. The bulk of the OE material – OE manuscripts – is written in the latin script. The use of Latin letters in English differed in some points from their use in Latin, for the scribes made certain modifications and additions in order to indicate OE sounds.
6. Sources
1. Ильиш Б. А. История английского языка. – 5-е издание. – М.: Высшая школа, 1968. – 418с.
2. Расторгуева Т. А. История английского языка. – 2-е изд., стер. – М.: «Изд. Астрель», 2003. – 348с. – на англ. языке.
3. Садовник-Чучвага Н. В. Короткий курс з історії англійської мови. – Чернівці: «Рута», 2009. – 57с.
4. http://article.ranez.ru/id/668/
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rune