Language Contact and Semantic Development in Late Medieval English
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Louise Sylvester
About this book
The multilingual context of medieval Britain has been a focus of historical linguistic scholarship for some time, but Middle English has often been examined in isolation. This book analyzes a large dataset of English vocabulary from the late Middle Ages, a time when the language was gaining new importance, with attention paid to parallel lexical developments in French and Latin. It explores lexical and semantic innovations and losses, and its findings challenge the notion that native and borrowed words were in competition during the period. The book presents a new picture of ongoing bilingualism in the late medieval period and a growth in vocabulary that heralded the beginnings of standardization in English.
Author / Editor information
Louise Sylvester, Megan Tiddeman and Richard Ingham, University of Westminster, London; Kathryn Allan; University College, London.
Topics
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Frontmatter
I -
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Acknowledgements
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Contents
VII -
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Abbreviations
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Introduction
1 -
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The sociohistorical context of multilingualism
15 -
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Overview of the data
32 -
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Loanwords in the semantic hierarchy
58 -
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The effect of loanwords on the native lexis
83 -
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Polysemy and sense-sharing
109 -
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Metaphor and metonymy
136 -
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Text types and semantic integration
157 -
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Bilingualism and polysemy
180 -
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Conclusions: Semantic change and language contact
195 -
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References
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Index of words in Middle English
215 -
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Index of words in other languages and varieties
221 -
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Index
223
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