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IMC 2020: Sessions

Session 1728: From Old English to Middle English, III: Rethinking 'Transitional' English

Thursday 9 July 2020, 14.15-15.45

Organisers:Mark J. Faulkner, School of English Literature, Language & Linguistics, University of Sheffield
Rachel Fletcher, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Moderator/Chair:Christine Wallis, School of English, University of Sheffield
Paper 1728-a'Late', 'Impure', and 'Norman Saxon': Transitional English Sources in Dictionaries of Old English
(Language: English)
Rachel Fletcher, School of Critical Studies, University of Glasgow
Index terms: Historiography - Modern Scholarship, Language and Literature - Old English, Medievalism and Antiquarianism
Paper 1728-bContinuing a Tradition: Vernacular Documentary Production after the Conquest
(Language: English)
Kathryn A. Lowe, School of Critical Studies (English Language), University of Glasgow
Index terms: Charters and Diplomatics, Language and Literature - Old English, Manuscripts and Palaeography
Paper 1728-cA Tough Hnutu to Crack: Using the Dictionary of Old English Corpus to Get Big Data for Major 'Transitional' English Sound Changes
(Language: English)
Mark J. Faulkner, School of English Literature, Language & Linguistics, University of Sheffield
Index terms: Computing in Medieval Studies, Language and Literature - Old English, Language and Literature - Middle English
Abstract

The transition from Old to Middle English in the course of the long 12th century (c. 1050-1225) has been described as 'the most dramatic change in the English language', yet also as 'the textual black hole'’ in its history. This is the third of three sessions examining language on the border between Old and Middle English. These papers offer new ways of thinking about what the language of this period was like and how it might be studied. They address issues of categorisation and reliability in existing resources, the significance of overlooked documentary texts, and innovative methods for collecting data.