An Outline of the Phonology and Morphology of Old Provençal

An Outline of the Phonology and Morphology of Old Provençal

1. The language here studied is, in the main, that used by the poets of Southern France during the 12th and 13th centuries. The few works that we have earlier than the 12th century must, of course, be utilized for such information as they afford concerning the process of linguistic change; and lacking words or forms must occasionally be sought in writings later than the 13th. Prose literature, moreover, should not be neglected, as it greatly enlarges our vocabulary and throws much light on local divergences. The modern dialects need be cited only to determine the geographical distribution of variations. 2. The extent of the Provenal territory is sufficiently indicated by the map on p. viii. The upper black line separates Provenal on the northwest and north from French, on the northeast from Franco-Provenal; on the east are the Gallo-Italic dialects. The lower black line divides Provenal on the southwest from Basque, on the south from Spanish, on the southeast from Catalan. The boundary line between French and Provenal must be determined somewhat arbitrarily, as there is no distinct natural division; the several[2] linguistic characteristics of each idiom do not end at the same point, and thus one language gradually shades into the other. The line shown on the map is based on the development of free accented Latin a, which remains a in Provenal, but is changed to e in French. The limits of other phonetic phenomena may be found in Suchiers maps at the back of Vol. I of Grbers Grundriss. There may be seen also a large map showing the place of Provenal among the Romance languages. Consult, furthermore, P. Meyer in Romania, XXIV, 529. 3. The Spanish and Gallo-Italic frontiers are more clearly defined, and Basque is entirely distinct. Franco-Provenal and Catalan, on the other hand, are closely related to Provenal and not always easy to divide from it. Catalan, in fact, is often classed as a Provenal dialect; but it is sufficiently different to be studied separately.[2] Franco-Provenal, rated by some philologists as an independent language, has certain characteristics of Provenal and certain features of French, but more of the latter; in some respects it is at variance with both. The Gascon, or southwest, dialects of Provenal differ in many ways from any of the others and present not a few similarities to Spanish[3]; they will, however, be included in our study. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 49692
Author: Grandgent, C. H. (Charles Hall)
Release Date: Aug 13, 2015
Format: eBook
Language: English