Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English

Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English PDF

Author: Donka Minkova

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2003-03-13

Total Pages: 422

ISBN-13: 1139433172

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This 2003 study uses evidence from early English verse to reconstruct the course of some central phonological changes in the history of the language. It builds on the premise that alliteration reflects faithfully the acoustic identity and similarity of stressed syllable onsets. Individual chapters cover the history of the velars, the structure and history of vowel-initial syllable onsets, the behaviour of onset clusters, and the chronology and motivation of cluster reduction (gn-, kn-, hr-, hl-, hn-, hw-, wr-, wl-). Examination of the patterns of group alliteration in Old and Middle English reveals a hierarchy of cluster-internal cohesiveness which leads to new conclusions regarding the causes for the special treatment of sp-, st-, sk- in alliteration. The analysis draws on phonetically based Optimality-Theoretic models. The book presents valuable information about the medieval poetic canon and elucidates the relationship between orality and literacy in the evolution of English verse.

Language Change and Variation from Old English to Late Modern English

Language Change and Variation from Old English to Late Modern English PDF

Author: Merja Kytö

Publisher: Peter Lang

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 436

ISBN-13: 9783034303729

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This collection reflects Minoji Akimoto's concern with studies of change in English that are theoretically-informed, but founded on substantial bodies of data. Some of the contributors focus on individual texts and text-types, among them literature and journalism, others on specific periods, from Old English to the nineteenth century, but the majority trace a linguistic process - such as negation, passivisation, complementation or grammaticalisation - through the history of English. While several papers take a fresh look at manuscript evidence, the harnessing of wideranging electronic corpora is a recurring feature methodologically. The linguistic fields treated include word semantics, stylistics, orthography, word-order, pragmatics and lexicography. The volume also contains a bibliography of Professor Akimoto's writings and an index of linguistic terms.

Early Modern English

Early Modern English PDF

Author: Alexander Bergs

Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG

Published: 2017-10-23

Total Pages: 344

ISBN-13: 3110525062

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This volume provides a comprehensive account of Early Modern English, organized by linguistic level. The volume not only presents detailed outlines of the traditional language levels, it also explores key questions and debates, such as do-periphrasis, the Great Vowel Shift, pronouns and relativization, literary language (including the language of Shakespeare), and sociolinguistics, including contact and standardization.

Reconstructing Alliterative Verse

Reconstructing Alliterative Verse PDF

Author: Ian Cornelius

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-07-20

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1108211089

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The poetry we call 'alliterative' is recorded in English from the seventh century until the sixteenth, and includes Caedmon's 'Hymn', Beowulf, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and Piers Plowman. These are some of the most admired works of medieval English literature, and also among the most enigmatic. The formal practice of alliterative poets exceeded the conceptual grasp of medieval literary theory; theorists are still playing catch-up today. This book explains the distinctive nature of alliterative meter, explores its differences from subsequent accentual-syllabic forms, and advances a reformed understanding of medieval English literary history. The startling formal variety of Piers Plowman and other Middle English alliterative poems comes into sharper focus when viewed in diachronic perspective: the meter was in transition; to understand it, we need to know where it came from and where it was headed at the moment it died out.

Optimality Theory and Language Change

Optimality Theory and Language Change PDF

Author: D.E. Holt

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 490

ISBN-13: 9401001952

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This work discusses many optimization and linguistic issues in great detail. It treats the history of a variety of languages, including English, French, Germanic, Galician/ Portuguese, Latin, Russian, and Spanish and shows that the application of Optimality Theory allows for innovative and improved analyses. It contains a complete bibliography on OT and language change. It is of interest to historical linguists, researchers into OT and linguistic theory, and phonologists and syntacticians with an interest in historical change.

Research Methods in Language Variation and Change

Research Methods in Language Variation and Change PDF

Author: Manfred Krug

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-10-24

Total Pages: 539

ISBN-13: 1107469848

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Methodological know-how has become one of the key qualifications in contemporary linguistics, which has a strong empirical focus. Containing 23 chapters, each devoted to a different research method, this volume brings together the expertise and insight of a range of established practitioners. The chapters are arranged in three parts, devoted to three different stages of empirical research: data collection, analysis and evaluation. In addition to detailed step-by-step introductions and illustrative case studies focusing on variation and change in English, each chapter addresses the strengths and weaknesses of the methodology and concludes with suggestions for further reading. This systematic, state-of-the-art survey is ideal for both novice researchers and professionals interested in extending their methodological repertoires. The book also has a companion website which provides readers with further information, links, resources, demonstrations, exercises and case studies related to each chapter.

Alliteration in Culture

Alliteration in Culture PDF

Author: Jonathan Roper

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2011-06-21

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 0230305873

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Alliteration occurs in a wide variety of contexts in stress-initial languages, including Icelandic, Finnish and Mongolian. It can be found in English from Beowulf to The Sun . Nevertheless, alliteration remains an unexamined phenomenon. This pioneering volume takes alliteration as its central focus across a variety of languages and domains.

Old English Metre

Old English Metre PDF

Author: Jun Terasawa

Publisher: University of Toronto Press

Published: 2011-01-01

Total Pages: 177

ISBN-13: 1442611294

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Old English Metre offers an essential framework for the critical analysis of metrical structures and interpretations in Old English literature. Jun Terasawa's comprehensive introductory text covers the basics of Old English metre and reviews the current research in the field, emphasizing the interaction between Old English metre and components such as word-formation, word-choice, and grammar. He also covers the metre-related problems of dating, authorship, and the distinction between prose and verse. Each chapter includes exercises and suggestions for further reading. Appendices provide possible answers to the exercises, tips for scanning half-lines, and brief definitions of metrical terms used. Examples in Old English are provided with literal modern English translations, with glosses added in the first three chapters to help beginners. The result is a comprehensive guide that makes important text-critical skills much more readily available to Old English specialists and beginners alike.

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