Medieval English (ca600-1500) in a multilingual context

Multiculturalism and multilingualism have been part of British culture since the island received its name in classical times and continue to be key components in perceptions of British identity. During medieval times, understood here as the period from ca600 to ca1500, Britain saw the interaction of peoples speaking languages belonging to different branches of Indo-European, the most important for the purposes of the history of English being, besides English itself, various Celtic languages, Latin, French, Old Norse (the language of various groups of Scandinavian marauders and settlers) and other continental Germanic languages.

The main objective of this network is to reassess the impact that language contact during the medieval period had on the evolution of the English language in terms of both its vocabulary and its formal structure, and to explore what medieval texts can tell us about how our medieval ancestors understood and dealt with multilingualism in their everyday lives. Methodological advances in the various fields of historical linguistics and literary criticism, and the recent realisation of the significance for the study of historical multilingualism of non-literary documents, as well as present-day heritage languages and urban vernaculars developed in multilingual contexts make this reassessment particularly timely.

The network will facilitate the interaction between scholars working on various fields related to the study of the linguistic features and textual cultures of medieval English; we will also enable dialogue with scholars researching the linguistic effects of modern multilingualism. This will allow us to:

1. Share the outcomes of methodological advances, thanks to the fact that the network will include scholars working on past and current projects which have themselves revolutionised our understanding of language contact between English and other languages (e.g. the Gersum Project: The Scandinavian Influence on English Vocabulary, www.gersum.org; and A Bilingual Thesaurus of Everyday Life in Medieval England, soon to be publicly available online; The Oxford English Dictionary, www.oed.com).

2. Re-evaluate complex linguistic changes which can only be explained through the detailed understanding of the linguistic features of English and the various languages it came into contact with, and analyse the linguistic and sociolinguistic impact of such contact. Vocabulary is the level of linguistic analysis where the influence of language contact is often clearer but the formal structure of English also changed at a dramatic pace as a result of language contact. A fourteenth-century English speaker would not have been able to understand a tenth-century text, while a twenty-first-century reader can make sense of a text by Shakespeare or even Chaucer with relative ease.

3. Challenge the 'text-book account' of the nature and impact of language contact on medieval English, in terms of the extent of the impact of medieval multilingualism on the linguistic structure of English, speakers' perception and strategic use of foreign linguistic material in English, and the sociolinguistic status of the various languages. While accounts in textbooks in other areas of linguistics (e.g. first and second language acquisition) have evolved significantly in the last thirty years, that is not the case for textbooks focusing on the history of the English language because the atomisation of the field does not facilitate the integration of results arising from new linguistically and culturally informed research.

4. Explore in further detail the multifaceted nature of how the effects of multilingualism were represented in both literary and non-literary texts (such as legal texts and administrative records) by bringing together scholars working on a wide-range of areas, including the study of manuscripts, spelling and writing practices, legal and administrative language, literary style and socio-cultural networks.

We aim to disseminate our work to a wide range of audiences and, at the same time, engage with them in mutually beneficial dialogue. All the activities outlined below have been agreed with the relevant stakeholders.

PUBLISHERS AND LEXICOGRAPHERS

Through Durkin, Pagan and Nijdam, our activities will inform the lexicographic work being undertaken by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for its 3rd edition, the Anglo-Norman Dictionary and the Old Frisian project of the Fryske Akademy. These are key resources for the study of the lexical impact of medieval multilingualism on English and are widely available, either freely on the internet or through research / public libraries (in the case of the OED). Engaging with lexicographers will also allow us to co-produce knowledge by sharing methodological advances.

ARCHIVES AND MUSEUMS

Our partnership with The National Archives (TNA), through Tompkins, will enable us to gain a better understanding of the documents available for the study of the manifestations and effects of medieval multilingualism and current views about how best to engage a twenty-first century audience with such texts. This knowledge will be very helpful for the development of hands-on activities for a family day to be held at TNA and to be prepared and delivered in collaboration between TNA staff and members of the network (Sylvester and the network administrator).
Foster Evans and Fulton will deliver a public lecture on multilingualism in medieval Wales organised in conjunction with National Museum Cardiff; the lecture will contribute to the Museum's ongoing research into the medieval court at Anglesey.

CIVIL SOCIETIES AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC

Recent socio-political events (e.g. the EU referendum) indicate that there is currently great interest amongst the British public in multilingualism and multiculturalism, and their relationship to identity. Various media appearances by members of the network similarly suggest that there is general appetite for non-technical discussions regarding their impact on English. Through the activities outlined in this section we aim to increase awareness of the socio-cultural value of multilingualism and multiculturalism, unite communities by celebrating diversity, and giving a sense of empowerment to often marginalised members of society. These activities (particularly the school visits, the workshop at Glasgow's West End Festival and our social media presence) will also enable us to form communities of practice, where different perspectives, knowledge and personal experiences will inform discussions about past and present multilingualism.

Through well-established engagement strategies at Cardiff University, Pons-Sanz will deliver a lecture as part of the Exploring the Past free lecture series, and, together with Foster Evans, will facilitate two one-afternoon sessions on past and current multilingualism through the 'SHARE (viz. School of History, Archaeology and Religion) with Schools' initiative, which works with secondary schools in some of the most deprived and culturally diverse communities in Cardiff; creative writing activities will be a key element of these sessions.

Russell will deliver a public lecture on the linguistic and literary effects of multilingualism in medieval Wales as part of the public lecture series organised by the Honourable Society of the Cymmrodorion.

Hough and Kopaczyk will lead a workshop on the interaction between Scots and English at Glasgow's West End Festival, Glasgow's largest cultural event, engaging a wide range of audiences.

We will also disseminate the outcomes of the network's discussions through new media: Facebook and Twitter accounts, and a blog hosted by Wordpress.com.

As noted above, many key members of the network are already involved in other projects and networks; accordingly, this network's work will feed further into their impact agendas.