122250 AR MA+MEd Advanced Course in Linguistics - Focus: Historical (2023S)

In this course, we explore the universe of Middle English texts, including literary masterpieces such as "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight", Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales", or Langland's "Piers Plowman, religious texts (such as legends of Saints), or more mundane genres such as scientific, historical or legal texts. Our primary aim is to learn to deal with pre-modern varieties of English, but if we come to appreciate Middle English literature in the process, or learn something about medieval culture, no harm will be done either.

The first part of the course will introduce Middle English and give participants the chance to practice the reading and the analysis of Middle English writing.

During that phase, participants will also choose the texts they want to focus on.

During the second part, participants will introduce one another to their chosen texts, present a passage in detail, and chair a discussion on the linguistic difficulties involved in understanding it properly.

At the end of the course, participants will submit a written in-depth analysis of a short passage of their chosen text. That analysis will involve a translation, a morpho-syntactic gloss, as well as a commentary on syntactic, phonological, or other features of the passage that are of special interest.