Recent scholarship
John Arderon's De judiciis urinarum
Javier Calle-Martín
U of Liverpool P, 2020
A synoptic edition of the English version of John Arderon’s De judiciis urinarum containing the commentary on Giles of Corbeil’s Carmen de urinis as preserved in Glasgow University Library, MS Hunter 328, from the early 15th century, and Manchester University Library, MS Rylands Eng. 1310, from the 16th century. A semi-diplomatic transcription, accompanied by a glossary, notes and introduction, the latter containing the textual transmission of the text, a codicological/palaeographic description together with the analysis of the scribal language.
‘The nursemaid, the mother and the prostitute'
Mercedes Salvador-Bello
Manchester U P, 2020
It is firmly established that Anglo-Latin riddles were known on the Continent. The extent of their influence, however, remains unresearched. This chapter, 'The nursemaid, the mother, and the prostitute: Tracing an insular riddle topos on both sides of the English Channel', attends to the fruitful exchange of riddles on both sides of the English Channel and focuses on the metaphor of the nursemaid breastfeeding numerous children, a prostitute sharing her physical charms, as well as wine and food, with many men?
Of ye Olde Englisch Langage and Textes
Rodrigo Pérez Lorido et al.
Peter Lang, 2020
This edited collection tackles different aspects of Old and Middle English language and literature: English diachronic linguistics, OE metrics, corpus research with paleography in focus, the interplay language-register, and the periodology of Older Scots; literary and translatorial issues (the impact of Latin ‘quis’ on ME, translating Beowulf into Galician, a reinterpretation of Chaucer’s Knight’s Tale, and the structure of medieval miscellaneae) are addressed in the last part. Edited by Rodrigo Pérez Lorido, Carlos Prado Alonso and Paula Rodríguez-Puente.The Dynastic Drama of Beowulf
Francis Leneghan
D S Brewer, 2020
A strikingly original approach to Beowulf, linking its structure to the dynastic fortunes of the royal houses of the Scyldings, Scylfings and Hrethlings. It highlights the work's often-overlooked originality, by inserting the monster-slaying Beowulf into royal legend and providing explanations for features of the poem that have never been satisfactorily explained. It also brings into focus the poet's debt to biblical paradigms of kingship and considers how the Anglo-Saxons came to read Beowulf as their own Book of Kings.British Battles, 493-937
Andrew Breeze
Anthem, 2020
One of the most revolutionary books on war in Britain. It deals with 13 conflicts, either locating them correctly or explaining some of the aspects which have puzzled historians: Mount Badon (493) at Braydon, Wiltshire; battles of the legendary 'King Arthur' (536-7) in southern Scotland or the borders; 'Degsastan' (603) at Dawyck, on the River Tweed, Scotland; Maserfelth (642) at Forden, on the Welsh border; the Viking victory of 'Alluthèlia' (844) at Bishop Auckland, near Durham; and the English triumph of Brunanburh (937) at Lanchester, also near Durham.
‘Another look at OE zero derivation and alternations'
Javier Martín Arista
ATLANTIS 41/1, 2019
This article offers an overview of zero derivation in Old English, a description of the vocalic alternations that hold between zero derived nouns, adjectives and weak verbs and their bases of derivation as well as an account of the significance of alternations in the wider context of the evolution of the lexicon of English. Alternations are quantified and related to i-mutation and word-formation processes by distinguishing direct from reverse alternations and alternations with a strong verb source from alternations with a weak verb target.‘Spelling focusing and proto-standardisation'
Juan Camilo Conde-Silvestre
Studia Neophil. 91/1, 2019
The analytical construct known as community of practice is used in sociolinguistic research into variation in connection with the construction of identity and social meaning. It is also crucial in the diffusion of standard as well as non-standard practices. The paper 'Spelling Focusing and Proto-Standardisation in a Fifteenth-century English Community of Practice' intends to reconstruct a 15th-c community of practice on the evidence afforded by the Stonor Letters, paying particular attention to the reduced frequency of spelling variants in them. This perspective can help view historical proto-standardisation in a new light, one which associates it with processes of identity construction.
‘Two possible emendations of Beowulf 2088A'
Rafael J Pascual
Notes & Queries 66/1, 2019
It has long been recognized that there are two different levels of theological knowledge in Beowulf. While the narrator and his 8th-c Anglo-Saxon audience are aware of Christian eschatology and scriptural history, these are unknown to the 5th- and 6th-century pre-Christian Scandinavian characters in the poem. To be sure, certain characters, like Hrothgar and Beowulf, evince the natural theistic wisdom that is universally accessible to pagans, but revealed knowledge is beyond their understanding. At the beginning of the poem, for example, the poet affirms to the audience outside the story that Scyld Scefing went after his death ‘into the Lord’s keeping’ (on Frēan wǣre, l. 27b), ...Coordinación y elipsis en Inglés Antiguo
Rodrigo Pérez Lorido
Universidad de Oviedo, 2019
Ellipsis is one of the most complex linguistic phenomena, since not only syntactic and semantic phenomena intervene in its genesis, but also pragmatic, prosodic and psycholinguistic factors. It is precisely for that reason that ellipsis constitutes an excelent element of diagnosis on the nature of languages and its either syntactic or pragmatic nature. In this work ellipsis has been used as a method to evaluate a series of hypotheses about Old English language (850-1100 AD), about whose grammatical nature there is still no absolute consensus and around whose linguistic status there are still heated debates.
Variation in english Legal discourse
Teresa Fanego and Paula Rodríguez-Puente
John Benjamins, 2019
A comprehensive overview of the research carried out over the past 30 years in the field of legal discourse, how it has been shaped by developments in corpus linguistics and register analysis, and by the emergence of historical pragmatics. Part I (together with the introductory chapter) offers a wide spectrum of the latest approaches to the synchronic analysis of cross-genre and cross-linguistic variation in legal discourse. Part II addresses diachronic variation, illustrating how multi-dimensional analysis, move analysis, collocation analysis, and Darwinian models of language evolution can uncover new understandings of diachronic linguistic phenomena.
‘On the colonial element in Joseph Wright's English Dialect Dictionary'
Javier Ruano-García
International Journal of Lexicography 32/1, 2019
This paper takes a preliminary approach to the colonial element of Joseph Wright’s English Dialect Dictionary (1896-1905). Drawing on the electronic version of the dictionary that has recently been launched, it examines the entries which refer to the colonial usage of words documented in British dialects, considering the links that Wright made with Australia, Canada, Newfoundland, and New Zealand, as well as the isolated evidence recorded on items used in South Africa and the West Indies.
‘The history of the Way construction revisited'
Teresa Fanego
English Language and Linguistics 23/3, 2019
The emergence and development of the Way construction was famously examined by Israel (1996) in a study which traced the modern form of the construction to three senses or subschemas, namely manner of motion (He stumbled his way to the front door), means of motion (He dug his way out of the prison) and incidental activity (He whistled his way out of the room). The present article moves beyond the late ME period –the starting point of Israel's research– and looks at the precursors of the Way construction since OE times, as well as its interaction with the Intransitive Motion construction (IMC) (He walked into the room).
