French Lessons in Late-Medieval England presents two fifteenth-century manuals designed to support facility in French among the English, the Liber donati and Commune parlance. These texts treat the grammar, lexis, and orthography of French as well as compiling a selection of entertaining dialogues that model the language in action. Together, they paint a vivid picture of the kinds of French that English learners might desire to wield and of the high levels of fluency that they could achieve. Critten's comprehensive introduction discusses his materials' relevance both for histories of language education and for recent reassessments of the longevity of French in medieval England. His pairing of first-time modern-English translations with facing-page original text makes these fascinating works newly available for a twenty-first-century audience.
- COVER
- Contents
- Series Editors’ Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Abbreviations
- Introduction
- The Teaching and Reference Materials and the Currency of French
- Teachers and Learners: Identities, Aims, Locations
- Teachers and Learners: Methods and Outcomes
- The Liber donati and Commune parlance: Topics and Texts
- The Liber donati and Commune parlance: Manuscript Context
- Early Modern Developments
- Further Reading
- Using This Volume
- LIBER DONATI
- PART A: GRAMMAR, PRONUNCIATION AND LEXIS
- [1. Personal and demonstrative pronouns and adjectives]
- [2. Pronunciation, spelling, and morphological notes]
- [3. Conjugated verbs with pronunciation, spelling,
and morphological notes]
- [4. French infinitives with Latin equivalents]
- [5. Adverbs, prepositions, and other parts of speech
with French equivalents]
- [6. Days of the week and feast days]
- [7. Cardinal and ordinal numbers]
- PART B: DIALOGUES
- [1. Salutations]
- [2. News from France]
- [3. En route to London]
- [4. Securing lodging; provisions for horses]
- [5. A conversation with the lady of the house]
- [6. Further provisions for horses]
- [7. Paying the bill]
- [8. The market at Winchester]
- [9. A mother’s request for help]
- [10. A would-be apprentice’s French]
- COMMUNE PARLANCE
- [1. Opening prayer]
- [2. The human body]
- [3. Furnishing a house]
- [4. Going on a journey]
- [4.1. Preparations]
- [4.2. The good-bye meal]
- [4.3. On the road; asking the way and the time]
- [4.4. A love song]
- [4.5. Janyn at the inn]
- [4.6. At the market; fish]
- [4.7. Evening at the inn; a story]
- [5. The digger and the gardener]
- [6. The baker and his apprentice]
- [7. The draper and his apprentice]
- [8. At the dubber’s]
- [9. Two stable boys]
- [10. Different greetings; news from Orleans]
- [11. Consoling a child]
- [12. Turning away a beggar]
- [13. Two companions at an inn]
- [14. Dialogues between traders]
- [15. Asking the time and the way]
- [16. Asking for lodging; giving a message]
- [17. At the scrivener’s]
- [18. Asking the way; delivering a present]
- [19. Different greetings according to the time of day]
- [20. Dialogue with an ill man]
- [21. Dialogue with a foreigner]
- [22. A tailor and his new master]
- [23. Two companions at an inn again]
- Commentary and Notes
- Textual Notes
- Bibliography
Text
Audio
Adobe DRM
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