This book is part of a series that presents the 'cultural and political context' (p. vii) of sele... more This book is part of a series that presents the 'cultural and political context' (p. vii) of selected highpoints of Western drama, and the series is 'primarily aimed at students of the theatre' (p. xii). With this as his brief, Beer (B.) has chosen Sophocles as the classical playwright around which to structure his discussion of the wider context of fifth-century Greek tragedy. And in this he succeeds admirably. His introductory chapters form a comprehensive but readable account of the various components of the production of Greek tragedy and its political, religious etc. context. Although this information can be found in other introductions to Greek tragedy, its comprehensiveness is an advantage for those 'students of the theatre' who may not been aware of the other available introductions. After the three introductory chapters, B. has a chapter per play, in which he summarises the action and shows how the contemporary socio-political context resonates within it. B. achieves what he sets out to do: the book provides a good account of the political context of Sophocles' plays pitched at a level suited to undergraduates.
convincing if greater evidence for such a political mood in 458 ... had been adduced. B.’s int... more convincing if greater evidence for such a political mood in 458 ... had been adduced. B.’s interest is in situating this political stance in a wider context of Greek mythological thinking, and this section of the book is more successful. The examination of global con·ict myths and the resolution through peitho makes good use of a range of material, and argues convincingly that Aeschylus’ muthopoesis is part of a wider literary tradition. B. well notes the importance of the festival context not just to stabilize the μnal scenes of the trilogy, but also in the divine, Dionysiac atmosphere. This thoughtful analysis of the mythological patterns of the trilogy contrasts the earlier disregard for literary concerns, which indicates a structural problem with the book as a whole. The two projects do not μt together as well as they might. The argument that the trilogy works within mythologtical patterns of reconciliation is forced to cast o¶ its appreciation of literary mechanisms in order to tie its concerns to the political realities of 458 ... The book will undoubtedly be a useful touchstone for those wishing to apprise themselves of the impact of historical research in this area, and includes a number of concise summaries of other perspectives, particularly the discussion of Christian Meter’s views in Chapter 5. It is an ambitious project which engages with a range of intersecting debates, but the reader looking for a current survey of relevant literary work on the Oresteia will be disappointed. The book displays a rather naive approach to ‘reading’ the text and the author’s intentions, and fails to take account of the di¶erent critical strategies which have been applied to tragedy in recent decades. The book’s greatest value lies in its emphasis on the mythological foundation for dramatic innovation and manipulation.
The Celtic Hypothesis attributes some of the major linguistic changes in Old and Middle English t... more The Celtic Hypothesis attributes some of the major linguistic changes in Old and Middle English to influence from the Brythonic languages that were spoken in Britain at the time of the Anglo-Saxon immigrations beginning in the fifth century. The hypothesis focuses on features of English that do not exist, or are not common, in the other Germanic languages but resemble features in the Celtic languages. From the evidence we have of the socio-political relationships between the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons, the likely language contact situations are compatible with Thomason and Kaufman's (1988) 'substratum interference' and van Coetsem's (1988) 'imposition', by which morpho-syntactic features are transferred from one language (L1) to another (L2) through imperfect second-language acquisition. The fact that the social situation was compatible with Brythonic influence on English does not mean, however, that the linguistic features in early English claimed by the proponents of the Celtic Hypothesis as showing Brythonic influence were actually influenced in this way. My purpose is to evaluate the Celtic Hypothesis in the light of the evidence and modern theories of language change due to contact. This thesis focuses on three features that have played a prominent role in the Celtic Hypothesis: (1) the dual paradigm of be (bēon and wesan) in Old English, (2) the periphrastic construction do + infinitive and (3) the periphrastic progressive construction be +-ing, the last two of which began to be grammaticalised in Middle English. I collect independent evidence from a selection of Middle Welsh texts of the parallel constructions: (1) the dual paradigm of bot 'be', (2) the periphrastic construction gwneuthur 'do' + verbal noun and (3) the periphrastic construction bot 'be' + particle + verbal noun. While the proponents of the Celtic Hypothesis provide examples of these constructions from several Brythonic languages including Middle Welsh, they give few examples and do not discuss the variability of the evidence according to date, region or genre. My own research confirms that the dual paradigms of be and bot do form a close parallel, but it also shows that the Old English dual paradigm is unlikely to have arisen due to Brythonic influence. My findings also show that evidence for the construction of gwneuthur 'do' + verbal noun is problematic: while it is very common in Middle Welsh prose narratives, it is very rare in the early prose annals and the earliest poems. Evidence for the progressive construction in early Welsh is similarly problematic: while it is regularly used in Colloquial Modern Welsh as bod 'be' + particle + verbal noun, it is by no means common in Middle Welsh. By looking at a wider range of Middle Welsh evidence, I demonstrate the limitations of the evidence relied on by proponents of the Celtic Hypothesis. This may lead to better substantiated arguments for the hypothesis in the future. Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 8 Significance of the research 8 The Brythonic languages Methodology Chapter 2 The rise of the Celtic Hypothesis Introduction: Why now? Language contact theories Early language contact theories Recent language contact theories Language contact theories and the Celtic Hypothesis Diglossia Conclusion Periphrasis with ober in Modern Breton Periphrasis with ober in Middle Breton Periphrasis with gruthyl in Middle Cornish Periphrasis with gwneuthur in Middle Welsh Section 5: Middle Welsh evidence and the Celtic Hypothesis Periphrasis with gwneuthur in Middle Welsh: date, region, genre Region Word order in Middle Welsh periphrasis with gwneuthur Genre Section 6: Conclusion Chapter 5 Part 2: The evaluation Section 4: The Brythonic periphrastic construction with 'be' Modern Welsh bod 'be' + yn + VN Modern Breton bezañ 'be' + PT + VN Middle Cornish bos 'be' + PT + VN The Middle Welsh constructions: yn + VN with or without bot Section 5: The issues The atypicality of the Progressive in English The prepositional construction Section 6: Conclusion Chapter 6 Conclusion Appendix 1 on Brythonic texts and manuscripts Early Welsh texts The manuscripts Early Cornish and Breton texts Appendix 2 on the contact situation in Britain from the mid-fifth century Bibliography 1485 and then by the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542 (A. R. Thomas 1992b: 252). Chapter 2: The rise of the Celtic Hypothesis Introduction: Why now? In this chapter I outline theories of language change in contact situations that form the background to the Celtic Hypothesis. The important point to establish is whether, as the Brythonic Celtic speakers acquired the target language of early English, there was any opportunity for large-scale influence on the English language. Until recently, the idea that early English might have been influenced by Brythonic to any significant degree would not have seemed plausible for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was believed that the Britons living in the south and east of Britain had been killed or had fled to the West. In his De excidio et conquestu Britanniae written in the sixth century, Gildas provides literary evidence of the wholesale slaughter of the Britons in the English-held areas. Other early texts such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (beginning in the ninth century) and Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (written around 731) appear to support Gildas. Bede, for instance, describes a 'great slaughter' of the Britons at the Battle of Chester (2.2). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recounts the slaughter of 4000 Britons and the flight of the rest from Kent in 457 CE, the slaughter of twelve British leaders in 465, the flight of Britons from another battle in 473, and further slaughter and flight in 477. These early works were unanimous in indicating that the British Celts were killed by or fled from the invading Germanic tribes. Furthermore, on the linguistic side, the lack of Brythonic loan words in English in contrast with those of Scandinavian and Norman French languages seemed to confirm the written accounts. What little borrowing from Brythonic into English there was tended to be words connected to geographical features such as Modern English coombe, glen, Avon, Dover and other river and place names; such restricted lexical borrowing is familiar to us in Australia with words such as billabong taken from an Aboriginal language. As Hickey (2010: 8) notes, until the mechanisms of language contact had been more fully explored, there was a general assumption that the more prestigious language could influence the less prestigious, but not vice versa. Even where some similarities in morphology and syntax were noted, the late appearance of such similarities appeared to rule out the possibility of any significant Brythonic influence on English. Chapter 3: The dual paradigm of be If thou beest not immortal, look about you.
This book is part of a series that presents the 'cultural and political context' (p. vii) of sele... more This book is part of a series that presents the 'cultural and political context' (p. vii) of selected highpoints of Western drama, and the series is 'primarily aimed at students of the theatre' (p. xii). With this as his brief, Beer (B.) has chosen Sophocles as the classical playwright around which to structure his discussion of the wider context of fifth-century Greek tragedy. And in this he succeeds admirably. His introductory chapters form a comprehensive but readable account of the various components of the production of Greek tragedy and its political, religious etc. context. Although this information can be found in other introductions to Greek tragedy, its comprehensiveness is an advantage for those 'students of the theatre' who may not been aware of the other available introductions. After the three introductory chapters, B. has a chapter per play, in which he summarises the action and shows how the contemporary socio-political context resonates within it. B. achieves what he sets out to do: the book provides a good account of the political context of Sophocles' plays pitched at a level suited to undergraduates.
convincing if greater evidence for such a political mood in 458 ... had been adduced. B.’s int... more convincing if greater evidence for such a political mood in 458 ... had been adduced. B.’s interest is in situating this political stance in a wider context of Greek mythological thinking, and this section of the book is more successful. The examination of global con·ict myths and the resolution through peitho makes good use of a range of material, and argues convincingly that Aeschylus’ muthopoesis is part of a wider literary tradition. B. well notes the importance of the festival context not just to stabilize the μnal scenes of the trilogy, but also in the divine, Dionysiac atmosphere. This thoughtful analysis of the mythological patterns of the trilogy contrasts the earlier disregard for literary concerns, which indicates a structural problem with the book as a whole. The two projects do not μt together as well as they might. The argument that the trilogy works within mythologtical patterns of reconciliation is forced to cast o¶ its appreciation of literary mechanisms in order to tie its concerns to the political realities of 458 ... The book will undoubtedly be a useful touchstone for those wishing to apprise themselves of the impact of historical research in this area, and includes a number of concise summaries of other perspectives, particularly the discussion of Christian Meter’s views in Chapter 5. It is an ambitious project which engages with a range of intersecting debates, but the reader looking for a current survey of relevant literary work on the Oresteia will be disappointed. The book displays a rather naive approach to ‘reading’ the text and the author’s intentions, and fails to take account of the di¶erent critical strategies which have been applied to tragedy in recent decades. The book’s greatest value lies in its emphasis on the mythological foundation for dramatic innovation and manipulation.
The Celtic Hypothesis attributes some of the major linguistic changes in Old and Middle English t... more The Celtic Hypothesis attributes some of the major linguistic changes in Old and Middle English to influence from the Brythonic languages that were spoken in Britain at the time of the Anglo-Saxon immigrations beginning in the fifth century. The hypothesis focuses on features of English that do not exist, or are not common, in the other Germanic languages but resemble features in the Celtic languages. From the evidence we have of the socio-political relationships between the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons, the likely language contact situations are compatible with Thomason and Kaufman's (1988) 'substratum interference' and van Coetsem's (1988) 'imposition', by which morpho-syntactic features are transferred from one language (L1) to another (L2) through imperfect second-language acquisition. The fact that the social situation was compatible with Brythonic influence on English does not mean, however, that the linguistic features in early English claimed by the proponents of the Celtic Hypothesis as showing Brythonic influence were actually influenced in this way. My purpose is to evaluate the Celtic Hypothesis in the light of the evidence and modern theories of language change due to contact. This thesis focuses on three features that have played a prominent role in the Celtic Hypothesis: (1) the dual paradigm of be (bēon and wesan) in Old English, (2) the periphrastic construction do + infinitive and (3) the periphrastic progressive construction be +-ing, the last two of which began to be grammaticalised in Middle English. I collect independent evidence from a selection of Middle Welsh texts of the parallel constructions: (1) the dual paradigm of bot 'be', (2) the periphrastic construction gwneuthur 'do' + verbal noun and (3) the periphrastic construction bot 'be' + particle + verbal noun. While the proponents of the Celtic Hypothesis provide examples of these constructions from several Brythonic languages including Middle Welsh, they give few examples and do not discuss the variability of the evidence according to date, region or genre. My own research confirms that the dual paradigms of be and bot do form a close parallel, but it also shows that the Old English dual paradigm is unlikely to have arisen due to Brythonic influence. My findings also show that evidence for the construction of gwneuthur 'do' + verbal noun is problematic: while it is very common in Middle Welsh prose narratives, it is very rare in the early prose annals and the earliest poems. Evidence for the progressive construction in early Welsh is similarly problematic: while it is regularly used in Colloquial Modern Welsh as bod 'be' + particle + verbal noun, it is by no means common in Middle Welsh. By looking at a wider range of Middle Welsh evidence, I demonstrate the limitations of the evidence relied on by proponents of the Celtic Hypothesis. This may lead to better substantiated arguments for the hypothesis in the future. Contents Chapter 1 Introduction 8 Significance of the research 8 The Brythonic languages Methodology Chapter 2 The rise of the Celtic Hypothesis Introduction: Why now? Language contact theories Early language contact theories Recent language contact theories Language contact theories and the Celtic Hypothesis Diglossia Conclusion Periphrasis with ober in Modern Breton Periphrasis with ober in Middle Breton Periphrasis with gruthyl in Middle Cornish Periphrasis with gwneuthur in Middle Welsh Section 5: Middle Welsh evidence and the Celtic Hypothesis Periphrasis with gwneuthur in Middle Welsh: date, region, genre Region Word order in Middle Welsh periphrasis with gwneuthur Genre Section 6: Conclusion Chapter 5 Part 2: The evaluation Section 4: The Brythonic periphrastic construction with 'be' Modern Welsh bod 'be' + yn + VN Modern Breton bezañ 'be' + PT + VN Middle Cornish bos 'be' + PT + VN The Middle Welsh constructions: yn + VN with or without bot Section 5: The issues The atypicality of the Progressive in English The prepositional construction Section 6: Conclusion Chapter 6 Conclusion Appendix 1 on Brythonic texts and manuscripts Early Welsh texts The manuscripts Early Cornish and Breton texts Appendix 2 on the contact situation in Britain from the mid-fifth century Bibliography 1485 and then by the Acts of Union of 1536 and 1542 (A. R. Thomas 1992b: 252). Chapter 2: The rise of the Celtic Hypothesis Introduction: Why now? In this chapter I outline theories of language change in contact situations that form the background to the Celtic Hypothesis. The important point to establish is whether, as the Brythonic Celtic speakers acquired the target language of early English, there was any opportunity for large-scale influence on the English language. Until recently, the idea that early English might have been influenced by Brythonic to any significant degree would not have seemed plausible for a number of reasons. Firstly, it was believed that the Britons living in the south and east of Britain had been killed or had fled to the West. In his De excidio et conquestu Britanniae written in the sixth century, Gildas provides literary evidence of the wholesale slaughter of the Britons in the English-held areas. Other early texts such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (beginning in the ninth century) and Bede's Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum (written around 731) appear to support Gildas. Bede, for instance, describes a 'great slaughter' of the Britons at the Battle of Chester (2.2). The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recounts the slaughter of 4000 Britons and the flight of the rest from Kent in 457 CE, the slaughter of twelve British leaders in 465, the flight of Britons from another battle in 473, and further slaughter and flight in 477. These early works were unanimous in indicating that the British Celts were killed by or fled from the invading Germanic tribes. Furthermore, on the linguistic side, the lack of Brythonic loan words in English in contrast with those of Scandinavian and Norman French languages seemed to confirm the written accounts. What little borrowing from Brythonic into English there was tended to be words connected to geographical features such as Modern English coombe, glen, Avon, Dover and other river and place names; such restricted lexical borrowing is familiar to us in Australia with words such as billabong taken from an Aboriginal language. As Hickey (2010: 8) notes, until the mechanisms of language contact had been more fully explored, there was a general assumption that the more prestigious language could influence the less prestigious, but not vice versa. Even where some similarities in morphology and syntax were noted, the late appearance of such similarities appeared to rule out the possibility of any significant Brythonic influence on English. Chapter 3: The dual paradigm of be If thou beest not immortal, look about you.
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