ECTS credits ECTS credits: 6
ECTS Hours Rules/Memories Student's work ECTS: 99 Hours of tutorials: 3 Expository Class: 24 Interactive Classroom: 24 Total: 150
Use languages Spanish, Galician, English
Type: Ordinary Degree Subject RD 1393/2007 - 822/2021
Departments: English and German Philology
Areas: English Philology
Center Faculty of Philology
Call: Second Semester
Teaching: With teaching
Enrolment: Enrollable
At the end of the course, students should gain knowledge and understanding of Old English and Middle English linguistic structures (orthography, pronunciation, phonology, morphology, syntax, lexis, and dialects). Likewise, they are expected to gain sufficient linguistic skills to translate Old and Middle English texts and to conduct sociolinguistic, phonological, lexical, morphological, syntactic and textual-discoursive analyses.
The subject provides a sociolinguistic overview of the periods known as Old and Middle English and consist of two main parts:
A) A theoretical part, in which basic concepts about the orthographic, phonological, lexical and morphosyntactic system of the periods are presented.
B) A practical part, in which a selection of relevant texts from the Old and Middle English periods will be presented for translation and philological analysis. In particular, the anthology of texts could include, among others, The Battle of Maldon, The Seafarer, The Wanderer, Beowulf, Peterborough Chronicle, Cursor Mundi, and The Fox and the Wolf.
1. Old English:
1.1. Socio-historical context and dialects of Old English.
1.2. Old English manuscripts.
1.3. The alphabet and spelling system of Old English.
1.4. The phonological system of Old English.
1.5. The lexicon of Old English (word formation strategies and borrowings).
1.6. Old English grammar:
- The nominal system (nouns, pronouns, determiners, adjectives, adverbs and case system).
- The verbal system (typology of verbs and inflections).
- Old English syntax (word order and subordination).
2. Middle English:
2.1. Socio-historical context and dialects of Middle English: the rise of a written standard.
2.2. Middle English manuscripts.
2.3. The phonological system of Middle English.
2.4. The lexicon of Middle English (word formation strategies and borrowings).
2.5. Middle English grammar:
- The nominal system (nouns, pronouns, determiners, adjectives, adverbs).
- The verbal system (typology and inflections).
- Middle English syntax (word order and subordination).
OLD ENGLISH
Manual:
*Baker, P. S. 2003. Introduction to Old English. Oxford: Blackwell.
Grammars and anthologies:
Hogg, R (ed.). 1992. The Cambridge History of the English Language, vol. I: The Beginnings to 1066. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hogg, R. 2002. An Introduction to Old English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Lass, R. 2012. Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Marsden, R. 2004. The Cambridge Old English Reader. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mitchell, B. 1995. An Invitation to Old English and Anglo-Saxon England. Oxford: Blackwell.
Mitchell, B. & F. C. Robinson. 2012. A Guide to Old English (8ª edición). Oxford: Blackwell.
Dictionaries:
Bosworth, J. & T. N. Toller. 1891-1921. An Anglo-Saxon dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Clark-Hall, J. R. 1975. A Concise Anglo-Saxon dictionary. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
MIDDLE ENGLISH:
Manual:
*Iglesias Rábade, L. 2003. Handbook of Middle English: Grammar and Texts. Munich. Lincom Europa.
Grammars and anthologies:
Blake, N.F. (ed.). 1992. The Cambridge History of the English Language, vol. II: 1066-1476. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Brunner, K. 1970. An Outline of Middle English Grammar. Oxford: Blackwell.
Horobin, S. & J. Smith. 2002. An Introduction to Middle English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Johnson, K. 2016. A History of Early English: An Activity-based Approach. London: Routledge.
Jordan, R. 1975. Handbook of the Middle English Grammar: Phonology. Paris: Mouton.
Roseborough, M. M. 1970. An Outline of Middle English Grammar. Westport: Greenwood Press.
Van Gelderen, E. 2017. Analyzing Syntax through Texts: Old, Middle, and Early Modern English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Dictionaries:
Kurath, H. et al. 1952-. Middle English Dictionary. Anne Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Mayhew, A.L., W.W. Skeat & M. Everson. 2009. A Concise Dictionary of Middle English: From 1150 to 1580. Mayo, Irlanda: Evertype.
Stratmann, F. 1891. A Middle English Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
ONLINE RESOURCES:
http://www.oldenglishaerobics.net/
https://lrc.la.utexas.edu/eieol/engol
https://arts.gla.ac.uk/STELLA/apps/web/eoe/
https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/~cr30/vocabulary/
http://english.nsms.ox.ac.uk/oecoursepack/
https://medievalfleming.wordpress.com/2015/08/28/free-fully-digitized-m…
https://www.bl.uk/medieval-literature/articles/middle-english
https://adoneilson.com/eme/index.html
http://www.sd-editions.com/CantApp/GP/
Basic: CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5
General: CG1, CG8
For further information consult the “Memoria de Verificación” on the following link: https://www.usc.gal/export9/sites/webinstitucional/gl/servizos/sxopra/m…
The contents of the subject will be taught over three weekly sessions, devoted both to lectures (presentation of the course contents) and seminars (translations and linguistic analyses of relevant texts from the periods, intended to put into practice the contents tackled in the lectures). Students are expected to actively participate in the different sessions, as well as in the activities proposed.
Both in the ordinary (May/June) and in the extraordinary (June/July) exam period, the degree of achievement of the course objectives by the students will be assessed through several procedures, as detailed below:
FIRST (May/June) AND SECOND OPPORTUNITY (June/July): the distribution of percentages will be as follows:
1) CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT (40%) – oral and written activities to be done either individually or in group, in class or through the virtual platform:
1.1. Translations and linguistic analyses (individual work): 15%
1.2. Active participation in the different sessions: 5%
1.3. Oral presentation and written essay on one of the units of the course, previously agreed upon with the lecturer: 20%
2) FINAL EXAM (60%) – the final exam will consist of:
2.1. Translations of Old and Middle English Texts.
2.2. Linguistic analysis (orthographic, phonological, lexical, morphological and syntactic) of Old and Middle English texts.
IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS:
1) The students who have not not submitted the continuous assessment tasks will lose the corresponding percentage in the final mark of the subject. For students who are unable to participate (for a duly justified reason) in any assessable classroom activity, the provisions of Title 1, Article 1.3 of the"Regulamento de asistencia a clase nas ensinanzas oficiais de grao e máster da USC" of 25 November 2024 will be applied:
"(...) de realizarse nas sesións de aula actividades que teñan algún tipo de ponderación na cualificación final da materia, o/a estudante que non asista aelas por unha causa xustificada poderá compensar a súa ausencia na forma en que se determine polo profesorado da materia".
2) In the case of students who follow the continuous assessment system but do not sit the final exam, the ‘“Normativa de permanencia nas titulaciónsde grao e mestrado da USC’, of 5 July 2012, states in article 5.2 that the grade of students who do not sit the final exam or who do not pass the continuous assessment will be SUSPENSO ('fail'), unless they do not sit the final exam or do not take the continuous assessment, in which case it will be NO PRESENTADO ('absent').
3) Students officially exempt from class attendance and/or those students who are resitting the subject and cannot attend class for a justified reason may opt to take just the final exam (100% of their mark). In case of choosing this assessment option, they must contact the lecturer indicating their choice in the first two weeks of class. Failure to do so will result in the application of the default assessment system (continuous assessment).
4) In case of fraudulent performance of exercises or tests, the provisions contained under art. 16 of "Normativa de avaliación do rendemento académico dos estudantes e revisión das cualificacións" will apply:
“A realización fraudulenta dalgún exercicio ou proba esixida na avaliación dunha materia implicará a cualificación de suspenso na convocatoria correspondente, con independencia do proceso disciplinario que se poida seguir contra o/a alumno/a infractor. Considerarase fraudulenta, entre outras, a realización de traballos plaxiados ou obtidos de fontes accesibles ao público sen reelaboración ou reinterpretación e sen citas aos autores e das fontes”.
5) All the exercises and tests will be done in English. Overall correctness in language and in the use of formal conventions is indispensable. Grammatical mistakes will be penalised.
150 hours, of which 48 correspond to in-class hours (lectures, interactive classes), 3 to tutoring, 3 to assessment, and 96 to personal and autonomous work by students outside the classroom.
Attendance and active participation in the tasks proposed.
Zeltia Blanco Suarez
Coordinador/a- Department
- English and German Philology
- Area
- English Philology
- zeltia.blanco [at] usc.es
- Category
- Professor: Temporary PhD professor
| Tuesday | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 09:00-10:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | English | B06 |
| 10:00-11:00 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | English | B06 |
| Wednesday | |||
| 09:00-10:00 | Grupo /CLE_01 | English | B10 |
| 05.28.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | C06 |
| 05.28.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | C06 |
| 07.02.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLIS_01 | C06 |
| 07.02.2026 09:30-13:30 | Grupo /CLE_01 | C06 |