Students who pass this course:
• possess up-to-date knowledge on the historical phonology of Old Irish and Middle Welsh
• can reconstruct forward and backward between Insular Celtic, Middle Welsh, and Old Irish
• can conduct basic research on a linguistic topic
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As Old Irish and Middle Welsh are the earliest well-attested Celtic languages, they form the basis of all work in Medieval Celtic Studies. This course focusses on their historical developments from roughly the beginning of the 1st century AD until the early Middle Ages (for Irish) or later Middle Ages (for Welsh), and the relative chronology of these developments.
In this course we will read articles and book chapters by a wide variety of leading scholars in Celtic Studies on the developments of the early Celtic languages of the British Isles. This reading will be supplemented by frequent exercises designed to cement the learning process through application of the readings to concrete problems.
In addition, students will pick a topic at the beginning of the block that will serve as their research topic for the class. During the course of the block, the readings and exercises will inform the students’ views on their research topic. At the end of the block, students will give an oral presentation on their chosen topic and write a short paper discussing the issues in a broader context. In addition to this assessment, there will be a take-home final that will test students’ ability to apply the concepts learned during the course to a novel problem or problems.
Career orientation:
This course will help students refine their competency in data analysis as well as enhance their oral and written communicative skills.
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