of the disambiguating role of the context , in many cases not proved an obstacle of the continued use of lexical items, and lexical displacement occured in numerous cases no homonymy was present. To account for these, other factors will have to be looked for.
2. Internal displacement
A number of words of Old English origin (including certain early loans from Latin) were given up at an earlier or later date without there being any pressure from 'outTheir function was taken over by other items which had, together with them, formed part of the lexicon of Old English. In the following sample, the German word added in brackets is derived from the same source as the lost Old English item (which is not to say, of course, that the two can in any case be considered as completely identical in meaning). The Old English word which has replaced the lost item (in some or all of its meanings) is placed after the German word. Compare examples like the-following:
eofor, EME ever (Eber; boar < OE bar), e(o)sol (Esel; ass < assa), hana (Hahn; cock < cocc), frox/forsc, ME fros(c)h (Frosch; frog < frozza, ME frogge), heced/ h ced (MLG heket, Hecht; pike < pic 'point', the fish being so named from its pointed snout); zafol/zealfol (Gabel; fork < forca, force, ME forke), feal(le), ME falle (cp falle, or mows trappe) (Falle; trap < tr ppe), mur (< Lat) (Mauer; wall < we(a)ll(<Lat)); ciosoi/cisel, ME chesel/chisel/cheselstone (Kiesei; pebble < p bbel), mere (cf Lake Windermere) (Meer; sea < s ); leop (Lied: song < sanz/sonz); scyld (Schuld; guilt <zylt); ME fonke/funke (cf a fonk of fuyr) (Funke; spark, ME a sparke of fyre < spearca); epm, EME eрет (Atem; breath < br p), ceole (OHG kela, Kehle; throat < prota), h(e)als, ME hals (Hals; neck < ME nekke < OE hnecca [cp MHG nac(ke) and ge-nicke], with throat < ME prote < OE prota being available to denote the front part of the neck as well as the passage through it to the lungs or stomach, and nape < EME naupe, in the nape of the neck, to refer to the back of the neck (Genick, Nacken)). Compare Middle English examples like:
aboute his hals an anker was put
if a mylne stoon be put about his nekke
his hals breke
pat abbot brak his nekke and deide
in two scho cutte hir owene hals
hire throte on two he kulte
For verbs compare examples like the following:
Die an!adiedan(toten;kill < OE *cyllan), leran, ME lere(n) (lehren; teach < t can) sceadian, etc. (shaden; harm, do harm to > OE heam <n>), snidan (schneiden; cut < OE *cyttan, ME cutten, kitten, ketten), zrafan, ME graven (1. begraben, vergraben, eingraben; bury < ME birien, burien, berien < OE byrzan; 2. graben, umgraben, etc.; dig < ?), and others. Compare ME:
clerkes hem lerede Aslronomige and arsmetike
the maister lesith his tyme to lerе whanne the disciple wol not here
pere ben manye pilgrytmes graven; gravyn or beryyd
let him be beried in my grave beside me
byryyn or gravn or hydde vndur the grounde
why burieth a man his goodes?
pai grove a pitte by fore my face
the pit which the princes diggeden.
he grove pe erde and sew it all him selve
thei myght noght digge the erthe for hardenesse of the roche
The adjectives so lost include, for example, scyldiz, ME schuldi, etc. (schudig; guilty < zyltiz), sw r(e), etc. (schwer; heavy, etc. < hefiz), st zel (steil; steep steap), sw(e)art (schwarz; black < bl c), and others.
3.Displacement of native words by loans from other languages
Lexical borrowing from Scandinavian, French and Latin resulted in a substantial number of cases in the ousting of semantically equivalent or similar words of native origin (as well as of certain Old English or pre-Old English loans from Latin). The list of lexical items which were replaced by Scandinavian loan-words includes among others the following: fenetier (< Lat) (besides eaz-pyrl [lit. 'hole, aperture for the eye(s)'] > EME ei(e)-thirl, etc), ME and EModE fenester (reinforced by OF fenestre) (Fenster; window < ME windoze, windowe), ofer (Ufer; bank); torn (beside eorre, ierre > ME erre, irre, etc.) (Zorn; anger < ME anger; beside wrath < ME wrарре, wrathe < OE wr ppu); niman, ME nimen (nehmen; take < LOE tacan, ME tdke(n)), and others. Compare the following Middle English sentences:
I ranne to pe fenestre of my chaumbre
as sche atte a fenestre wyndowe lay (1410)
pe prince he nom wip him
in armes him no man nam, pat he downe ...ne caste
(26) Symeon ... tok hym ine hys earmes
Among the much larger group of Old finally taken by loans from French or Latin, respectively, there were many which Were originally shared by English and German and have been preserved to the present day in Modern German. For example:
stund (Slunde; hour < ME (h)ure,(h)oure , wiznes (Ewigkeit; eternity < ME eternite), Angle ldu/elde, ME elde (Alter; age < ME age),