Published by De Gruyter Mouton

Volume 6 Issue s2 - Special Issue: Historical Language Contact in English / Issue Editors: Nikolaos Lavidas and Alexander Bergs

June 2020

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Research articles

Publicly Available June 1, 2020

On historical language contact in English and its types: state of the art and new directions

Nikolaos Lavidas, Alexander Bergs

Article number: 20200010

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Abstract

This article presents the state of the art of current research on the different types of language contact in early English. The article’s main aim is to show what kinds of phenomena have been investigated until now as possible areas of transfer/borrowing from other languages. We examine the main contact scenarios in Old and Middle English, which involve Latin, Celtic, French and Old Norse. We locate unanswered questions and underexamined hypotheses of historical language contact. We argue that the articles of the Special Collection on Language Contact in the History of English open new directions in the way we can investigate the role of early language contact in the development of English. New methodologies of research, the role of bilingualism in language change but also of the written types of contact, and the various domains of change in grammar, lexicon, and pragmatics offer insights into old and new hypotheses on scenarios of language contact.

June 1, 2020

English and Celtic: contact-induced change in history

Raymond Hickey

Article number: 20190037

Abstract

This paper offers an overview of current research into the contact between English and Celtic, both in its historical and geographical dimensions. It attempts to classify contact scenarios by their type and the linguistic effects they engender. A number of examples are discussed which illustrate typical contact effects, and generalizations are made about contact-induced language change which can be taken to apply to further cases of language contact beyond the anglophone world.

June 1, 2020

Impersonal and reflexive uses of Middle English psych verbs under contact influence with Old French

Carola Trips

Article number: 20190016

Abstract

This article discusses the relation between impersonal constructions and the reflexive use of psych verbs of the admire -type (Levin 1993) copied from Old French to Middle English. The outset of the study is an observation made by van der Gaaf (1904) which was commented on by Fischer (1992) concerning the reflexive use of verbs like remembren (Old French remembrer ) in the course of the development of impersonal constructions to personal constructions. My aim is to answer the following questions: First, was the reflexive use of verbs copied from Old French new to the Middle English system? Second, what is the syntactic and semantic relation between ME impersonal and OF reflexive constructions? I will first examine the reflexive construction in Old English and Old French to answer the first question. I will then deal with the second question taking a closer look at both constructions in Middle English. Supported by lexicon-based and corpus-based small-scale studies of the psych verb remembren I will provide an analysis of the syntactic and semantic properties of the verb in both constructions and show that what they have in common is an intransitive structure where the subject is an experiencer , and middle semantics. I will finally address possible effects of language contact through translations, before I conclude.

June 1, 2020

A pragmatic study of oath swearing in late Anglo Norman and Middle English

Emily Reed

Article number: 20180057

Abstract

Profanity has attracted much scholarly attention for the reason that swearing, oaths, and insults “manifest language use in its most highly charged state” (Taavitsainen 1997: 815). This article examines the possible functions of swearing per membra Christi [by Christ’s limbs], starting with a particularly revealing example from a group of late medieval pedagogical dialogues, the Manières de langage . Taking the perlocutionary reaction to this utterance as a starting point, the wider phenomenon of swearing on the body parts of Christ in both Middle English and Anglo Norman will be explored. This behaviour was initially conceptualised (and widely condemned) as an act of blasphemy, the notion of dismembering Jesus being especially widespread. However, this article also concerns itself with the emotive interjectory function of swearing oaths on God and Christ, and will posit that this behaviour is caught in a long process of pragmaticalisation during the high and late Middle Ages. This research supports the view of a bidirectional channel of influence between Middle English and Anglo Norman, and suggests a similar trajectory of both pragmatic development and language attitudes.

June 1, 2020

An empirical perspective on the contact between English and French: a case study on substitutive complex prepositions

Christophe Béchet

Article number: 20180051

Abstract

Historical language contact has generally been approached qualitatively through the examination of different linguistic and extralinguistic factors. By contrast, frequency patterns, although widely acknowledged in other linguistic fields, have not received a great deal of attention in the contact linguistics literature. This paper attempts to bridge this methodological gap through the application of an experimental procedure borrowed from the field of learner corpus research and areal linguistics. In a pilot study on the well-known case of language contact between English and French, the potential contact effects of French on English with regard to the use of substitutive complex prepositions of the PNP type are investigated, using probabilistic multifactorial modeling. The goal is to show in what ways and to what extent English conforms to French in the use of in lieu of and in place of , but also the extent to which it deviates from the Romance language, assuming from the outset that French served as the model language. This approach to historical language contact methodologically enriches an ever-growing paradigm and also illustrates empirically what has been conceptualized as frequency effects in usage-based Construction Grammar.

June 1, 2020

Old and Middle English translations of Greek and Semitic words in the Latin version of St John’s Gospel

Lidija Štrmelj

Article number: 20180056

Abstract

The majority of Greek and Semitic words found in the Latin version of St John’s Gospel express specific biblical terms, closely connected with Jewish and Christian religion and culture, but almost entirely unknown to most of the English population until the evangelisation that took place in the 7 th century. The comparison of the Old and Middle English translations of the Latin source text presented here attempts to identify the procedures and methods which both Old and Middle English translators used to make the Latin items understandable to their audience, as well as to explain the reasons for the differences between the translations, where possible.

About this journal

Objective
Linguistics Vanguard is a new channel for high quality articles and innovative approaches in all major fields of linguistics. This multimodal journal is published solely online and provides an accessible platform supporting both traditional and new kinds of publications. Linguistics Vanguard seeks to publish concise and up-to-date reports on the state of the art in linguistics as well as cutting-edge research papers. With its topical breadth of coverage and anticipated quick rate of production, it is one of the leading platforms for scientific exchange in linguistics. Its broad theoretical range, international scope, and diversity of article formats engage students and scholars alike.

Topics
All topics within linguistics are welcome. The journal especially encourages submissions taking advantage of its new multimodal platform designed to integrate interactive content, including audio and video, images, maps, software code, raw data, and any other media that enhances the traditional written word. The novel platform and concise article format allows for rapid turnaround of submissions. Full peer review assures quality and enables authors to receive appropriate credit for their work. The journal publishes general submissions as well as special collections. Ideas for special collections may be submitted to the editors for consideration (linguistics.vanguard@degruyter.com)