Herbert Schendl
University of Vienna
Email: herbert dot schendl at univie dot ac dot at

Medieval macaronic sermons: a comparative study of code-switching strategies in medieval England and on the continent

Medieval sermons frequently show code-switching, i.e. the mixing of languages, mainly of Latin and English, and a large number of such texts have survived from the Middle English period. They typically show intersentential switching, i.e. the switching between sentences and clauses, predominantly using Latin quotations in an English sermon, in general with a clear discourse function. Linguistically more interesting are the substantial number of so-called ‘macaronic sermons’ from the late Middle English period, texts which show intrasentential switching of Latin and English, i.e. the switching within clauses and constituents (cf. Wenzel 1994). The function of individual intrasentential switches in macaronic sermons is often unclear and that of macaronic sermons in general is controversial. From a grammatical point of view, however, the switching strategies used, in particular the syntactic patterns of switching are highly interesting and ask for a comparison with modern code-switching practice (see Schendl 2000).

However, macaronic sermons are not restricted to medieval England, but are equally found on the continent with languages such as German, Italian and Spanish mixed with Latin (see the recent extensive study by Kämmerer 2006). The aim of the present paper is to compare the linguistic strategies used in macaronic sermons from medieval England with those from different European countries to find out whether they use similar strategies or differ in the syntactic integration and functional range of foreign-language material. In case of similarity or even identity of switching strategies, we would face the intriguing question whether this is due to more or less universal linguistic strategies of code-switching or rather to a European tradition of macaronic sermons.

References

• Kämmerer, Carmen. 2006. Codeswitching in Predigten des 15. Jahrhunderts. Berlin.
• Schendl, H. 2000. “Syntactic constraints on code-switching in medieval texts”. In: I. Taavitsainen et al. (eds.), Placing Middle English in Context. Berlin, 67-86.
• Schendl, H. 2002. “Mixed-language texts as data and evidence in English historical linguistics“. In: D. Minkova & R. Stockwell (eds.), Studies in the history of the English language. A millenial perspective. Berlin, 51-78.
• Wenzel, S. 1994. Macaronic sermons. Bilingualism and preaching in late-medieval England. Ann Arbor.

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