Contact effects on the technical lexis of Middle English: A semantic hierarchic approach

In the context of multilingualism in later medieval Britain, the influx of French termi-nology into the emerging technical vocabulary of Middle English is likely to have pro-duced synchronous synonyms. For functional reasons, some native terms are expected to be dropped from the language, others to undergo differentiation through semantic shift. A significant proportion of the French borrowings are often seen as having been new technical terms, but earlier historical research on the nature of technical vocabulary in English has not clearly characterised this lexical domain; ways are therefore explored here of identifying technical terminology in this period. Definitions contained in histori-cal dictionaries, principally the Middle English Dictionary, provide the main diagnostic, specificity of meaning. As a case study, borrowings in a technical register are examined using the terms contained in the sub-domain ‘Instruments’ within the Middle English vocabulary for Building (extracted from the Bilingual Thesaurus of Everyday Life in Medieval England project) supplemented with lexis from the Historical Thesaurus. Uti-lizing the components of meaning in the Middle English Dictionary and the Oxford English Dictionary definitions, the lexical items are classified into semantic hierarchies as was done for the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary. In addition to dates of first usage, etymological information about the lexical items is included in the semantic hierarchies, allowing analysis of patterns of replacement by borrowed terms at different levels of the lexicon. It is found that the impact of French on the na-tive lexicon in this dataset is most evident at the superordinate and basic levels of the lexicon, where we find almost equal numbers of native and borrowed terms, while at the hyponymic level native terms are in the vast majority. The study provides an insight into the vocabulary of speakers of the Middle English period with a high level of expe-rience and expertise in technical fields and the findings suggest a resistance to borrowed vocabulary not at the lowest section of the social stratum, but rather by the class of skilled workers

The Role of Technical Vocabulary in the Construction of the Medieval Romance Text Type

This paper seeks to discover in what sense we can classify vocabulary items as technical terms in the later medieval period. In order to arrive at a principled categorization of technicality, distribution is taken as a diagnostic factor: vocabulary shared across the widest range of text types may be assumed to be both prototypical for the semantic field, but also the most general and therefore least technical terms since lexical items derive at least part of their meaning from context, a wider range of contexts implying a wider range of senses. A further way of addressing the question of technicality is tested through the classification of the lexis into semantic hierarchies: in the terms of componential analysis, having more components of meaning puts a term lower in the semantic hierarchy and flags it as having a greater specificity of sense, and thus as more technical. The various text types are interrogated through comparison of the number of levels in their hierarchies and number of lexical items at each level within the hierarchies. Focusing on the vocabulary of a single semantic field, DRESS AND TEXTILES, this paper investigates how four medieval text types (wills, sumptuary laws, petitions, and romances) employ technical terminology in the establishment of the conventions of their genres

Blunder, Error, Mistake, Pitfall: Trawling the OED with the Help of the Historical Thesaurus

The paper considers the lexis of error and examines its use across time in relation to the writing and spelling of English, to grammar and pronunciation. Discussion focuses first on the earliest records of notions of correctness in English language usage, from Ælfric forwards to the emergence of standard English, from the sixteenth century’s growing worries about copiousness and purity of diction to eighteenth-century concerns to prescribe and rule the language. The historical overview is complemented by consideration of the data drawn together by the Glasgow Historical Thesaurus project, its evidence taken from the Oxford English Dictionary and the Dictionary of Old English Corpus. For earlier centuries, there are by far fewer relevant citations, often buried within words wide in reference. With the help of the Historical Thesaurus we drill down to view how views of language mistakes and errors have changed over the centuries of the recorded history of English

A Bilingual Thesaurus of Everyday Life in Medieval England: Some Issues at the Interface of Semantics and Lexicography

This paper reports on issues at the interface between semantics and lexicography that arose out of the data collection and classification of vocabulary in Anglo-Norman and Middle English in order to create a bilingual thesaurus of everyday life in medieval England. The Bilingual Thesaurus project is based at Birmingham City University and the University of Westminster. Issues to be resolved included the definition of an occupational domain; the creation of a methodology of data collection; the delimitation of domain-specific vocabulary; making distinctions between sense and usage; and the categorisation of the lexical items. Some of these issues are general to thesaurus-making, some are specific to the making of historical thesauruses, while some are unique to the production of a thesaurus of two languages whose use overlapped for several centuries in the late medieval period in England

Lexical Borrowing in the Middle English period: A multi-domain analysis of semantic outcomes

The Middle English period is well known as one of widespread lexical borrowing from French and Latin, and scholarly accounts traditionally assume that this influx of loanwords caused many native terms to shift in sense or to drop out of use entirely. The study analyses an extensive dataset, tracking patterns in lexical retention, replacement and semantic change, and comparing long-term outcomes for both native and non-native words. Our results challenge the conventional view of competition between existing terms and foreign incomers. They show that there were far fewer instances of relexification, and far more of synonymy, during the Middle English period than might have been expected. When retention rates for words first attested between 1100-1500 are compared, it is loanwords, not native terms, which are more likely to become obsolete at any point up to the nineteenth century. Furthermore, proportions of outcomes involving narrowing and broadening (often considered common outcomes following the arrival of a co-hyponym in a semantic space) were low in the Middle English period, regardless of language of origin

Lone other-language items in later medieval texts

This paper addresses the use in medieval texts of ‘lone other-language items’ (Poplack and Dion 2012), considering their status as loans or code-switches (Durkin 2014; Schendl and Wright 2011). French-origin and English-origin lexemes in Middle English, respectively, were taken from the Bilingual Thesaurus of Everyday Life in Medieval England, a source of loan words chosen for its sociolinguistic representativeness and studied via Middle English Dictionary citations and textbase occurrences. Four criteria were applied for whether they should be treated as code-switches or as loans: the textual context in which the item appears, the adoption of target language verbal morphology, the length of attestation within the target language of individual lexical items (Matras 2009), and the integration of items into the syntactic structure of nominal phrases in conflict sites for code-switching (Poplack et al. 2015). Results provide little support for code-switching as the channel for the integration of lone other-language items, suggesting rather that individual items of foreign origin were immediately borrowed, consistently with Poplack and Dion’s (2012) treatment of contemporary contact phenomena

Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Five Hot Springs in Eritrea

Eritrea has a number of hot springs whose physicochemical characteristics are not documented. This study examined the thermal and chemical features of five hot springs located in the eastern escarpment of Eritrea. Field data and water samples were collected from five hot springs namely; Akwar and Maiwooi near Gahtelai, Garbanabra and Gelti near Irafayle at the Gulf of Zula and Elegedi in Alid volcanic center. The water temperatures at source varied from 49.5°C to 100°C while pH levels ranged from 6.97 to 7.54. Elegedi had significantly higher temperature (p < 0.05) than the other four hot springs. Strong correlation was observed between electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solid (TDS), salinity, sodium, potassium, calcium and chloride (R2 > 0.9) as well as between temperature and sulphate levels (R2 = 0.96). Evident clustering was noted at p < 0.05, using Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS), between the three locations of the hot springs. Akwar and Maiwooi, situated close to each other, clustered together, Garbanabra and Gelti, which were characterized by higher salinity levels, formed a separate cluster. Elegedi, characterized by high temperature (100°C), sulphate (979.7 mg/l) and NH4+ (196.33 mg/l) levels, clustered separately. Akwar and Maiwooi had high bicarbonate (345 mg/l and 393 mg/l) and fluoride (8.20 mg/l and 6.48 mg/l) levels which are above WHO limits. Electrical conductivity (23,133 mS/cm), total dissolved solid (15,552 mg/l), sodium (3,800 mg/l), potassium (198 mg/l), calcium (1,653 mg/l) and chloride (5,946 mg/l) levels in Garbanabra and Gelti hot springs exceeded WHO limits. Bromine (74.8 mg/l in Garbanabra and 45.2 mg/l in Gelti) and boron (2.21 mg/l in Garbanabra and 1.55 mg/l in Gelti) levels were also above standard limits set for potable water. Maiwooi (1.20) and Elegedi (1.10) were depositional while Akwar water (-0.71) was slightly corrosive. The corrosive nature of the water sample from Akwar, is a public health concern. The waters from the five Eritrean hot springs are thus not fit for human consumption. In addition, the use of thermal spring water for recreational purposes should be closely monitored. Keywords: key words, hot springs, physicochemical, Eritre

Quarterly technical reports for Lake Edward, George, and Kazinga Channel, October-December 2006

Geo-reference information on physical and chemical characteristics of Lake Edward, George, Kwania, Inventory

Eating Well While Dining Out: Collaborating with Local Restaurants to Promote Heart Healthy Menu Items

Background: Because Americans commonly consume restaurant foods with poor dietary quality, effective interventions are needed to improve food choices at restaurants. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate a restaurant-based intervention to help customers select and restaurants promote heart healthy menu items with healthful fats and high-quality carbohydrates. Methods: The intervention included table tents outlining 10 heart healthy eating tips, coupons promoting healthy menu items, an information brochure, and link to study website. Pre- and postintervention surveys were completed by restaurant managers and customers completed a brief “intercept” survey. Results: Managers (n = 10) reported that the table tents and coupons were well received, and several noted improved personal nutrition knowledge. Overall, 4214 coupons were distributed with 1244 (30%) redeemed. Of 300 customers surveyed, 126 (42%) noticed the table tents and, of these, 115 (91%) considered the nutrition information helpful, 42 (33%) indicated that the information influenced menu items purchased, and 91 (72%) reported that the information will influence what they order in the future. Discussion: The intervention was well received by restaurant managers and positively influenced menu item selection by many customers. Translation to Health Education Practice: Further research is needed to assess effective strategies for scaling up and sustaining this intervention approach