{"product_id":"prosody-in-medieval-english-and-norse","title":"Prosody in Medieval English and Norse","description":"\u003cp\u003eHow can we reconstruct the rhythms and cadences – the prosody – of past languages? \u003cem\u003eProsody in Medieval English and Norse\u003c\/em\u003e approaches this problem by comparing two closely related languages with a long written history in the Middle Ages. Through a series of case studies on vowel reductions and alliterative verse forms, Kaster identifies important continuities in the internal rhythmic structure of words and explores the enduring role of the \u003cem\u003ebimoraic trochee\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe main rhythmic building block of these languages, the \u003cem\u003ebimoraic trochee\u003c\/em\u003e, shapes both linguistic change and poetic structure. The \u003cem\u003ebimoraic trochee\u003c\/em\u003e played a defining role in the loss of many unstressed vowels that took place in English and Norse in the 6th and 7th centuries, and continued to influence vowel reductions in later English. In alliterative poetry, the \u003cem\u003ebimoraic trochee\u003c\/em\u003e explains previously opaque restrictions against using certain words in certain metrical contexts, especially the controversial Kaluza's law in Beowulf and Craigie's law in the Poetic Edda. Together, these case studies allow prosodic change and stability to be traced over time.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Oxford University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54263184097624,"sku":"9780197267462","price":112.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780197267462.jpg?v=1765386042","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/prosody-in-medieval-english-and-norse","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}