Instructions: Inscribe a one-page poem using the Old English (OE) language features below. The poem will have at least 6-8 unrhymed lines. Place the Present-Day English (PDE) forms below the OE morphemes (see BEL pp. 137-138). Provide a separate plain English translation. Post the poem and translaton on the blog spot no later than October 7.
1 point for Thematic Features: Write an autobiographical poem, or write an elegy about one of your ancestors, in Old English. The tone is reverent.
1 point for Onomastic Features: As a title, create an OE given name for you or your relative. The name will be a compound of one Old English proto-theme and one Old English deutero-theme. Create a surname for you or your relative. The name will consist of an English County place name.
2 points for Lexical Features: Use at least 8 different Old English etymologies from the Oxford English Dictionary, the American Heritage Dictionary appendix of IE roots, or another OE word-hoard of your choice. Use at least one OE loanword from Latin and one OE loanword from Old Norse. (BEL 115-127)
2 points for Grammatical Features: Use inflectional affixes on nouns and adjectives for cases (nominative, accusative, dative, genetive); grammatical genders (masculine, feminine, and neuter); and numbers (singular and plural). Use inflectional affixes on verbs for tenses (present and preterite); persons (1st, 2nd, and 3rd); and moods (indicative, imperative, subjunctive). (BEL 97-101, 103-104)
1 point for Syntactic Features: Each line has two half-lines (2 hemi-stitches) that correspond to phrase or clause boundaries. (BEL 107-111)
1 point for Prosodic Features: Each line has primary stress on the root syllable of at least 4 key words, with at least 2 stressed syllables in each half-line. The lines can be as long as you like in terms of words and syllables. (BEL 88)
1 point for Phonological Features: Two key words of the first half-line begin with the same consonant as the first key word of the second half-line. The last stressed word in the second half-line does not alliterate; it begins with a different sound. (BEL 82-89)
1 point for Format Features: Illuminate your manuscript or find a good font for OE. (BEL 89-93)
Total: 10 items worth one point each for a total of 10 percentage points.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Blog 1 Instructions: Option A, Indo-European
Instructions: Write a one-page poem using Indo-European roots and features from the appendix of the American Heritage Dictionary, or from other sources. Place corresponding English morphemes under the Indo-European roots. Provide a separate plain English translation. Post the poem and translation on the blog spot, no later than October 7.
1 point for Thematic Features:
How to Kill a Dragon; Praise of a Hero; The Shepherd-King; Grains and Grapes; Protecting Women, Children, & Animals; Eternal Renown; Language of Poets/ Gods; Weaver of Words.
2 points for Phonological Features:
Repetition of sounds at initial, central, and final positions within and across lines: alliteration, consonance, homeoteleuton, paramoeon, assonance, rime.
Repetition of words across lines (horizontally and/or vertically): ring-composition, word-binders, line-binders, verse-binders, frames, inversions.
2 points for Morphological & Grammatical Features:
Use of inflectional affixes for nouns and adjectives: case, number.
Use of inflectional affixes for verbs: present/past; 1st, 2nd, 3rd person; singular/plural.
1 point for Syntactic Features:
Standard SOV word order for main clauses (subject-object-verb), and flexible word order variations of the SOV order for dependent clauses.
4 points for Semantic Features:
Use 2 simple formulas (see IE poetics handout).
Use 2 complex formulas: 1 kenning and 1 merism.
Total: 10 items worth 1 point each for a total of 10 percentage points.
Indo-European Literary Features
from How to Kill a Dragon by Calvert Watkins
1. (p.38) Two different levels within the lexicon of a language:
“language of the gods” “language of men”
aesthetically marked aesthetically unmarked
language of poets (early Irish bérla na filed) language of prose
“tongue of angels” (1 Corinthians 13:1) “tongue of men”
2. (p. 39) Boundary sensitive:
Verse lines correspond to sentence, clause, phrase boundaries.
Play of figures for initial, second, pre-final, and final positions.
Sensitive vertically and horizontally.
“Beauty lies at the edge where simplicity and complexity, symmetry and asymmetry, order and chaos, contend with one another.” (Neumann)
3. (p. 40) Non-configurational vs. configurational:
separation; disjunction of constituents adjoined constituents – NA, NG, split NP
flexible word orders set word orders
distinctive movement rules governed by movement rules
creation; freedom; complexity; asymmetry; chaos; liberal; agency; variation convention; standard; simplicity; symmetry; order; conservative; law; repetition
4. (p. 41) Formulas:
Traditional themes – hero slays the dragon, bard memorializes hero/king/lord/Lord, and others.
Formulaic figures – sounds
syntax
senses
Set phrases –
PROTECT MEN and LIVESTOCK
WIVES, CHILDREN, and CATTLE
IMPERISHABLE FAME
The LORD is my SHEPHERD (= “king”)
Taxonomy of Formulaic Phrase Types
I. Simple (function: nominators; designators; symbolic signs).
1. Quantifiers (function: totality of notion).
a. Argument + Negative Argument (with negation morphemes).
Vedic: “the seen and the unseen”
b. Argument + Counter Argument (with antonyms).
Greek: “gods above and below”
2. Qualifiers (function: intensification).
a. Argument + Negative Counter-Argument (litotes, with negation morphemes).
Old Persian: “true and not false” = “absolutely true”
b. Argument + Synonymous Argument (non-litotes; with synonyms).
Old English: “safe and sound” = “very safe”
Greek: “prayer and incantations” = “earnest prayer”
II. Complex (function: connectors; symbolic and indexical signs).
1. Kenning A + B = C (metaphoric, relation of similarity, relational, often genitive).
Greek “horse of the sea” =
Old Irish “milk of grain” =
Hittite “dog of the river” =
Greek “house carrier” =
Old English “shepherd of the people” =
2. Merism C: A, B (metonymic, relation of contiguity, copulative, synecdoche).
Hittite: “barley and spelt” =
Hittite: “grain and grapes” =
Greek: “bread and wine” =
Scriptural:“bread and water” =
1 point for Thematic Features:
How to Kill a Dragon; Praise of a Hero; The Shepherd-King; Grains and Grapes; Protecting Women, Children, & Animals; Eternal Renown; Language of Poets/ Gods; Weaver of Words.
2 points for Phonological Features:
Repetition of sounds at initial, central, and final positions within and across lines: alliteration, consonance, homeoteleuton, paramoeon, assonance, rime.
Repetition of words across lines (horizontally and/or vertically): ring-composition, word-binders, line-binders, verse-binders, frames, inversions.
2 points for Morphological & Grammatical Features:
Use of inflectional affixes for nouns and adjectives: case, number.
Use of inflectional affixes for verbs: present/past; 1st, 2nd, 3rd person; singular/plural.
1 point for Syntactic Features:
Standard SOV word order for main clauses (subject-object-verb), and flexible word order variations of the SOV order for dependent clauses.
4 points for Semantic Features:
Use 2 simple formulas (see IE poetics handout).
Use 2 complex formulas: 1 kenning and 1 merism.
Total: 10 items worth 1 point each for a total of 10 percentage points.
Indo-European Literary Features
from How to Kill a Dragon by Calvert Watkins
1. (p.38) Two different levels within the lexicon of a language:
“language of the gods” “language of men”
aesthetically marked aesthetically unmarked
language of poets (early Irish bérla na filed) language of prose
“tongue of angels” (1 Corinthians 13:1) “tongue of men”
2. (p. 39) Boundary sensitive:
Verse lines correspond to sentence, clause, phrase boundaries.
Play of figures for initial, second, pre-final, and final positions.
Sensitive vertically and horizontally.
“Beauty lies at the edge where simplicity and complexity, symmetry and asymmetry, order and chaos, contend with one another.” (Neumann)
3. (p. 40) Non-configurational vs. configurational:
separation; disjunction of constituents adjoined constituents – NA, NG, split NP
flexible word orders set word orders
distinctive movement rules governed by movement rules
creation; freedom; complexity; asymmetry; chaos; liberal; agency; variation convention; standard; simplicity; symmetry; order; conservative; law; repetition
4. (p. 41) Formulas:
Traditional themes – hero slays the dragon, bard memorializes hero/king/lord/Lord, and others.
Formulaic figures – sounds
syntax
senses
Set phrases –
PROTECT MEN and LIVESTOCK
WIVES, CHILDREN, and CATTLE
IMPERISHABLE FAME
The LORD is my SHEPHERD (= “king”)
Taxonomy of Formulaic Phrase Types
I. Simple (function: nominators; designators; symbolic signs).
1. Quantifiers (function: totality of notion).
a. Argument + Negative Argument (with negation morphemes).
Vedic: “the seen and the unseen”
b. Argument + Counter Argument (with antonyms).
Greek: “gods above and below”
2. Qualifiers (function: intensification).
a. Argument + Negative Counter-Argument (litotes, with negation morphemes).
Old Persian: “true and not false” = “absolutely true”
b. Argument + Synonymous Argument (non-litotes; with synonyms).
Old English: “safe and sound” = “very safe”
Greek: “prayer and incantations” = “earnest prayer”
II. Complex (function: connectors; symbolic and indexical signs).
1. Kenning A + B = C (metaphoric, relation of similarity, relational, often genitive).
Greek “horse of the sea” =
Old Irish “milk of grain” =
Hittite “dog of the river” =
Greek “house carrier” =
Old English “shepherd of the people” =
2. Merism C: A, B (metonymic, relation of contiguity, copulative, synecdoche).
Hittite: “barley and spelt” =
Hittite: “grain and grapes” =
Greek: “bread and wine” =
Scriptural:“bread and water” =
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