Navigation auf zora.uzh.ch

Search ZORA

ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive)

Survival and loss of Old English religious vocabulary between 1150 and 1350

Timofeeva, Olga (2018). Survival and loss of Old English religious vocabulary between 1150 and 1350. English Language and Linguistics, 22(2):225-247.

Abstract

Middle English religious vocabulary is radically different from that of the previous period: while Old English is characterised more by lexical pattern replication of Latin (and Greek) etyma, Middle English is the period of matter replication. Due to the intake of new French religious words, English lexemes and also whole word families undergo semantic transformation and lexical replacement. Other terms, however, survive from the Old English period into the present day, resisting contact-induced pressure. This study shows that the survival of old lexemes into Middle English is largely determined by the extent of their diffusion and frequency of occurrence before the Norman Conquest. It is postulated that two kinds of inherited Old English lexis should be distinguished in the Middle English period: (i) established terms that had belonged to the West Saxon standard and were still preserved in general use by the lower regular clergy, parish priests and the faithful at large, and (ii) terms of limited currency that had failed to spread outside local communities with strong ties and survived for a short time after the Conquest in smaller religious foundations. The innovation and spread of new francophone religious lexis was conditioned by the new preaching practices that began to develop in Europe in the wake of the Fourth Lateran Council and the emergence of mendicant orders. Preachers of the new type were the multilingual innovators who generated new lexis in English and at the same time were instrumental in its diffusion, serving as weak ties between the various levels of the medieval society. Urban middle classes, on the other hand, were the most likely English-speaking early adopters of new norms.

Additional indexing

Item Type:Journal Article, refereed, original work
Communities & Collections:06 Faculty of Arts > English Department
Dewey Decimal Classification:820 English & Old English literatures
Scopus Subject Areas:Social Sciences & Humanities > Language and Linguistics
Social Sciences & Humanities > Linguistics and Language
Uncontrolled Keywords:Old English, Middle English, French, religious vocabulary, social networks
Language:English
Date:July 2018
Deposited On:27 Aug 2018 14:43
Last Modified:19 Oct 2024 01:36
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
ISSN:1360-6743
OA Status:Hybrid
Publisher DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/S1360674318000114
Download PDF  'Survival and loss of Old English religious vocabulary between 1150 and 1350'.
Preview
  • Content: Accepted Version
  • Language: English

Metadata Export

Statistics

Citations

Dimensions.ai Metrics
2 citations in Web of Science®
5 citations in Scopus®
Google Scholar™

Altmetrics

Downloads

174 downloads since deposited on 27 Aug 2018
29 downloads since 12 months
Detailed statistics

Authors, Affiliations, Collaborations

Similar Publications