Principles and Applications of Medieval Dialectology (P01070)

? Credit Points : 20 ? SCQF Level : 11 ? Acronym : PPL-P-EN0051

The course provides an introduction to (a) the techniques for the investigation of medieval vernaculars, which show high degrees of variation in their extant texts; (b) the theoretical framework underpinning historical dialectology, its methodology and applications. The questionnaire method of dialectal analysis will be compared and contrasted with the more recent techniques of corpus linguistics, in particular the lexico-grammatical tagging of texts. The course will concentrate on medieval English and Scots texts but will also draw on materials from Old French and Middle Dutch (for which no prior knowledge is assumed).

Venue
Monday & Thursday: 2.01 Dugald Stewart Building

? Keywords : Historical linguistics,
Historical dialectology
Middle English
Older Scots
Palaeography
Corpus linguistics

Entry Requirements

none

Subject Areas

Home subject area

Language Sciences, (School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences, Schedule I)

Other subject areas

European Languages and Cultures - Common Courses, (School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures, Schedule G)

Delivery Information

? Normal year taken : Postgraduate

? Delivery Period : Semester 2 (Blocks 3-4)

? Contact Teaching Time : 3 hour(s) per week for 9 weeks

First Class Information

Date	Start	End	Room	Area	Additional Information
12/01/2009	10:00	11:00			1.01 Dugald Stewart Building

All of the following classes

Type	Day	Start	End	Area
Lecture	Monday	10:00	12:00	Central
Lecture	Thursday	11:10	12:00	Central

Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes

Increased understanding of the extent of regional and temporal variation in medieval vernacular texts

Knowledge and understanding of the theoretical underpinning of historical dialectology, especially as it relates to Middle English and Older Scots, and first hand observation of some of the problems inherent in the discipline

Basic knowledge and understanding of medieval scribal copying practices and their implications for the linguistic status of the resulting texts

Ability to analyse and localise Middle English and Older Scots texts

Ability to evaluate critically the strengths and weaknesses of techniques of description and analysis