Linguistic Corpus of Medieval Gascon

FAIN: FB-50145-04

Thomas T. Field
University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD 21250-0001)

The diachronic study of the grammar of Gascon, a nearly untouched field, has the potential of helping to resolve a number of issues in Romance and general linguistics. However, the researcher who wishes to work on the language today has difficulty in accessing the written texts that remain to us from earlier periods. Many have never been published. Those that did appear in print were often published in local French journals that are virtually inaccessible today. Without these texts, particularly the medieval documents, the historical linguistics of Gascon lacks a solid foundation for empirical research. This project proposes the development of a digital corpus of texts in Gascon from the twelfth century to the beginning of the sixteenth century. Prepared in XML format according to the guidelines of the Text Encoding Initiative and with the verbs tagged for tense/aspect/mood, etc., these documents will be usable in multiple ways, across media and on all systems, including the web. The corpus thus constituted will be a foundation for multiple studies of change in the grammar of Gascon.

Associated Products

Annual Lipitz Lecture: If That Language May Be Dying, Why Are You Studying It? (Public Lecture or Presentation)
Title: Annual Lipitz Lecture: If That Language May Be Dying, Why Are You Studying It?
Abstract: Current interest in endangered languages provides an opportunity to reflect on the ways in which linguistics tackles the study of language. These are more varied than outsiders tend to assume and leave linguists uncertain about how they fit into C.P. Snow’s “two cultures” schema of science and the humanities. Professor Field will provide examples from his work on the history and current status of Gascon.
Author: Field, Thomas T.
Date: 05/12/2010
Location: Albin Kuhn Library, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Primary URL: http://my.umbc.edu/events/3114
Primary URL Description: Announcement of the event
Secondary URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6bpun2GcU0&feature=results_video&playnext=1&list=PLD1F5BDEB65C2DB95
Secondary URL Description: Video of lecture

Langue et société au 13e siècle à la lumière du Corpus électronique du gascon médiéval. (Book Section)
Title: Langue et société au 13e siècle à la lumière du Corpus électronique du gascon médiéval.
Author: Field, Thomas
Editor: Rieger, Angelica
Abstract: The new Electronic Corpus of Medieval Gascon provides a catalogue of existing documents from the région, a tool that facilitates the empirical study of one of the least well-understood varieties of Romance, and a base for exploring the cultural processes that underly literacy in a Medieval society. Ultimately, it allows for new ways of envisioning centers of cultural interest and axes of communication in the Medieval world.
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://www.shaker.eu/en/content/catalogue/index.asp?lang=en&ID=8&ISBN=978-3-8440-0406-9
Primary URL Description: Publisher's announcement
Publisher: Shaker (Aachen, Germany)
Book Title: L’Occitanie invitée de l’Euregio. Liège 1981 – Aix-la-Chapelle 2008 : Bilan et perspectives
ISBN: 978-3-8440-040

Au delà du texte: l'apport de la linguistique de corpus à l'étude de l'ancien gascon (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Au delà du texte: l'apport de la linguistique de corpus à l'étude de l'ancien gascon
Author: Field, Thomas
Abstract: Presentation of the Electronic Corpus of Medieval Gascon, a tool for the empirical study of the least well-understood variety of Occitan.
Date: 02/28/2008
Conference Name: Special session for Laboratoire CLL-ERSS, Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France

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