Semantic field of ANGER in Old English

330 Pages·2015·2.26 MB·English

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Izdebska, Daria Wiktoria (2015) Semantic field of ANGER in Old
English. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

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The Semantic Field of ANGER in Old English

mgr
Daria Wiktoria Izdebska

Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy in English Language

English Language
School of Critical Studies
College of Arts
University of Glasgow

January 2015
Abstract
This thesis examines representations of ANGER in Old English by analysing occurrences of
eight word families (YRRE, GRAM, BELGAN, WRĀÞ, HĀTHEORT, TORN, WĒAMŌD
and WŌD) in prose and poetry. Through inspection of 1800 tokens across c. 400 texts, it
determines the understanding of how ANGER vocabulary operates in the Old English
lexicon and within the broader socio-cultural context of the period. It also helps refine the
interpretations of wide-ranging issues such as authorial preference, translation practices,
genre, and interpretation of literary texts. The thesis contributes to diachronic lexical
semantics and the history of emotions by developing a replicable methodology that
triangulates data from different sources.
Chapter 1 introduces the field of study and shows the approaches to emotions as
either universal or culturally-determined. It discusses previous analyses of ANGER in Old
English and proposes a cross-linguistic, semasiological approach, which minimises
ethnocentric bias. Categorisations and conceptualisations are not identical between
languages, and Old English divides the emotional spectrum differently from Present-Day
English. Chapter 2 presents the methodology, which draws on approaches from historical
semantics and corpus linguistics, integrating methods from cognitive linguistics,
anthropology and textual studies. Chapters 3 to 10 investigate each of the eight word
families, analysing all occurrences in relation to grammatical category, collocations, range
of meanings, and referents. Cognates in Germanic and other Indo-European languages, and
Middle English and Early Modern English reflexes are examined to trace diachronic
development. The thesis determines recurrent patterns of usage, distribution between text
types, and socio-cultural significance. Specific passages from Old English from a range of
genres are analysed and discussed. Each family is found to have a distinct profile of usage
and distribution. Chapter 11 examines ANGER in the Old English translation of Gregory’s
Regula pastoralis. This text exhibits usage not found in later prose or in poetry. The Cura
pastoralis also presents a different framework for understanding and conceptualising
ANGER to the one found in Latin. Finally, Chapter 12 synthesises my findings and
considers them comparatively. These word families differ in usage, conceptual links,
referents, and even authorial preferences. Most common portrayals of ANGER in Old
English involve one of the three themes: ANGER AS VICE, WRATH OF GOD and ANGER AS
HOSTILITY.
The thesis demonstrates that a detailed analysis of lexical usage is essential for
understanding larger conceptual structures within a language, and that this in turn aids the
analysis of literary texts and understanding of Anglo-Saxon psychologies.
Table of Contents
Abstract .................................................................................................................................. 2
List of Tables.......................................................................................................................... 8
List of Figures ...................................................................................................................... 10
Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 11
List of Abbreviations............................................................................................................ 12
Typographic Conventions .................................................................................................... 13
Chapter 1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 14
1.1 Understanding Emotions ............................................................................ 14
1.2 ANGER - Linguistic Methodologies ............................................................ 15
1.3 ANGER in Old English ................................................................................ 20
Chapter 2 Methodology .................................................................................................. 23
2.1 Data ............................................................................................................ 23
2.1.1 Selection of Lexical Material ............................................................... 23
2.1.2 Selection of Texts ................................................................................. 26
2.2 Challenges .................................................................................................. 27
2.2.1 Approach .............................................................................................. 27
2.2.1 Word Definitions .................................................................................. 28
2.2.2 Dating, Diachronic Change and Borrowings in Old English ............... 28
2.2.3 Stylistic Concerns ................................................................................. 29
2.2.4 Incomplete and Selective Data Set ....................................................... 30
2.3 How the Data was Approached .................................................................. 30
2.3.1 Corpus-driven Data-Mining and Family Overview ............................. 31
2.3.2 Lexicographic Data .............................................................................. 32
2.3.3 Diachronic Development ...................................................................... 33
2.3.4 Etymological Data ................................................................................ 33
2.3.5 Prose and Poetry – Distribution ............................................................ 34
2.3.6 Referents ............................................................................................... 35
2.3.7 Collocations, Co-occurrences, Near-synonyms and Antonyms ........... 35
2.3.8 Conceptualisations ................................................................................ 36
2.3.9 Case Studies ......................................................................................... 37
2.4 Advantages (and Disadvantages) of the Proposed Methodology ............... 37
Chapter 3 YRRE .............................................................................................................. 39
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 39
3.2 Lexicographic Data and Etymology ........................................................... 39
3.2.1 YRRE word family in Old English ........................................................ 39
3.2.2 YRRE word family in Middle English .................................................. 43
3.2.3 Etymology – Indo-European and Other Germanic Languages ............ 44
3.3 Discussion .................................................................................................. 45
3.3.1 Poetry .................................................................................................... 45
3.3.2 Prose ..................................................................................................... 61
3.3.3 Conclusions .......................................................................................... 82
Chapter 4 GRAM ............................................................................................................. 83
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................ 83
4.2 Lexicographic Data and Etymology ........................................................... 83
4.2.1 GRAM word family in Old English ...................................................... 83
4.2.2 GRAM word family in Middle English and Early Modern English ..... 88
4.2.3 Etymology – Indo-European and Other Germanic Languages ............ 89
4.3 Discussion .................................................................................................. 91
4.3.1 Poetry .................................................................................................... 91
4.3.2 Prose ..................................................................................................... 96
4.3.3 Conclusions ........................................................................................ 113
Chapter 5 BELGAN ....................................................................................................... 115
5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 115
5.2 Lexicographic Data and Etymology ......................................................... 115
5.2.1 BELGAN word family in Old English ................................................ 115
5.2.2 BELGAN word family in Middle English and Early Modern English .....
............................................................................................................ 119
5.2.3 Etymology – Indo-European and Other Germanic Languages .......... 120
5.2.4 The Cardiocentric Hydraulic Model and ANGER IS SWELLING
conceptualisation ........................................................................................................ 122
5.3 Discussion ................................................................................................ 123
5.3.1 Poetry .................................................................................................. 123
5.3.2 Prose ................................................................................................... 133
5.3.3 Conclusions ........................................................................................ 145
Chapter 6 WRĀÞ ........................................................................................................... 146
6.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 146
6.2 Lexicographic Data and Etymology ......................................................... 146
6.2.1 WRĀÞ word family in Old English .................................................... 146
6.2.2 WRĀÞ word family in Middle English, Early Modern English and
Present-Day English ................................................................................................... 150
6.2.3 Etymology – Indo-European and Other Germanic Languages .......... 151
6.3 Discussion ................................................................................................ 152
6.3.1 Poetry .................................................................................................. 152
6.3.2 Prose ................................................................................................... 160
6.3.3 Conclusions ........................................................................................ 164
Chapter 7 TORN ........................................................................................................... 165
7.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 165
7.2 Lexicographic Data and Etymology ......................................................... 165
7.2.1 TORN word family in Old English ..................................................... 165
7.2.2 Etymology – Indo-European and Other Germanic Languages .......... 169
7.3 Discussion ................................................................................................ 171
7.3.1 Poetry and Prose ................................................................................. 171
7.3.2 An NSM explication ........................................................................... 186
7.3.3 Conclusions ........................................................................................ 187
Chapter 8 HĀTHEORT ................................................................................................. 189
8.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 189
8.2 Lexicographic Data and Etymology ......................................................... 189
8.2.1 HĀTHEORT word family in Old English ........................................... 189
8.2.2 HĀTHEORT word family in Middle English ..................................... 192
8.2.3 Etymology – Old English and Other Germanic Languages ............... 192
8.3 Discussion ................................................................................................ 200
8.3.1 Poetry and Prose ................................................................................. 200
8.3.2 Conclusions ........................................................................................ 216
Chapter 9 WĒAMŌD .................................................................................................... 217
9.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 217
9.2 Lexicographic Data and Etymology ......................................................... 217
9.2.1 WĒAMŌD word family in Old English .............................................. 217
9.2.2 WĒAMŌD word family in Middle English ........................................ 218
9.2.3 Etymology – Other Germanic Languages .......................................... 219
9.3 Discussion ................................................................................................ 221
9.3.1 Prose ................................................................................................... 221
9.4 Conclusions .............................................................................................. 228
Chapter 10 WŌD ............................................................................................................. 229
10.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 229
10.2 Lexicographic Data and Etymology ..................................................... 229
10.2.1 WŌD word family in Old English .................................................... 229
10.2.2 WŌD word family in Middle English and Early Modern English ... 235
10.2.3 Etymology – Indo-European and Other Germanic Languages ........ 237
10.3 Discussion ............................................................................................. 238
10.3.1 Prose and Poetry ............................................................................... 239
10.3.2 Conclusions ...................................................................................... 261
Chapter 11 ANGER in Individual Texts and in the Pastoral Care .................................. 262
11.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 262
11.2 The Old English Pastoral Care ............................................................ 268
11.2.1 Gregory the Great and his Regula pastoralis ................................... 268
11.2.2 Old English Pastoral Care – Context and Nature of the Translation ....
.......................................................................................................... 269
11.2.3 ANGER-words in the Old English Cura pastoralis ........................... 271
11.2.4 Correlations between Latin and Old English ................................... 274
11.2.5 Select Passages ................................................................................. 279
11.3 Conclusions ........................................................................................... 294
Chapter 12 Analysis and Conclusions ............................................................................ 296
12.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 296
12.2 Data ....................................................................................................... 296
12.2.1 Distribution ....................................................................................... 296
12.2.2 Diachronic development ................................................................... 300
12.2.3 Comparison of Word Families ......................................................... 302
12.2.4 Relations between the families ......................................................... 317
12.2.5 Further Considerations ..................................................................... 319
12.2.6 Conclusions ...................................................................................... 319
List of References .............................................................................................................. 320
List of Tables
Table 2.1 – Member lexemes of ANGER word families ........................................................ 24
Table 2.2 – Some other word families denoting ANGER ...................................................... 26
Table 3.1 – Distribution of word categories for YRRE ........................................................ 40
Table 3.2 – Frequency of lexeme occurrences for YRRE..................................................... 40
Table 3.3 – Occurrences of YRRE in poetry ........................................................................ 46
Table 3.4 – Occurrences of YRRE in prose .......................................................................... 62
Table 4.1 – Distribution of word categories for GRAM ....................................................... 84
Table 4.2 – Frequency of lexeme occurrences for GRAM ................................................... 84
Table 4.3 – Occurrences of GRAM in poetry ....................................................................... 91
Table 4.4 – Collocations of GRAM in poetry ....................................................................... 93
Table 4.5 – Occurrences of GRAM word family in prose texts ........................................... 97
Table 5.1 – Distribution of word categories for BELGAN ................................................. 116
Table 5.2 – Frequency of lexeme occurrences for BELGAN ............................................. 116
Table 5.3 – Occurrences of BELGAN in poetry ................................................................. 124
Table 5.4 – Occurrences of BELGAN in prose .................................................................. 134
Table 6.1 – Distribution of word categories for WRĀÞ ..................................................... 147
Table 6.2 – Frequency of lexeme occurrences for WRĀÞ ................................................. 147
Table 6.3 – Occurrences of WRĀÞ in poetry ..................................................................... 153
Table 6.4 – Occurrences of WRĀÞ in prose ....................................................................... 161
Table 7.1 – Distribution of word categories for TORN ...................................................... 166
Table 7.2 – Frequency of lexeme occurrences for TORN .................................................. 166
Table 7.3 – Occurrences of TORN in poetry and prose ..................................................... 172
Table 7.4 – Collocations and co-occurrences of TORN and their conceptual categories .. 175
Table 8.1 – Distribution of word categories for HĀTHEORT ........................................... 190
Table 8.2 – Frequency of lexeme occurrences for HĀTHEORT ........................................ 190
Table 8.3 – Occurrences of HĀTHEORT in poetry and prose ........................................... 201
Table 9.1 – Distribution of word categories for WĒAMŌD............................................... 217
Table 9.2 – Frequency of lexeme occurrences for WĒAMŌD ........................................... 217
Table 9.3 – Occurrences of WĒAMŌD in prose ................................................................ 222
Table 10.1 – Distribution of word categories for WŌD ..................................................... 230
Table 10.2 – Frequency of lexeme occurrences for WŌD ................................................. 230
Table 10.3 – Occurrences of WŌD in poetry and prose .................................................... 240
Table 11.1 – Texts with eleven or more ANGER-words occurrences ................................. 263
Table 11.2 – Total number of ANGER-words occurrences in poetry .................................. 266
Table 11.3 – Ratio of occurrences of ANGER-words per line ............................................. 266
Table 11.4 – Distribution of word families in Cura pastoralis.......................................... 272
Table 11.5 – Chapters of Cura pastoralis with four or more occurrences of ANGER-words
............................................................................................................................................ 274
Table 11.6 – Latin and Old English vocabulary for ANGER in Cura pastoralis................. 278
Table 12.1 – Distribution of word categories for all ANGER word families ....................... 297
Table 12.2 – Semantic development of word families from eOE to PDE ......................... 301
Table 12.3 – Comparison between word families .............................................................. 303