Introductory Masterclass on Old and Middle Irish for Beginners (Workshop)

Harbour Centre 1510

Organizers:
Joey McMullen (Centenary University)
Georgia Henley (Saint Anselm College)

Old Irish is widely regarded as one of the most difficult Indo-European languages, famous for its (absurdly) complicated verbal system - this workshop will serve as a very basic introduction to Old and Middle Irish, with a focus on pronunciation and word recognition. We will begin with the essentials of pronunciation, including the effects of initial mutations (lenition, nasalization), with a focus on personal names from well-known prose tales and concept words (dindshenchas, óenach, fír flathemon, immram, etc.) important for teaching. We will then provide a basic overview of grammatical features, ultimately with the goal that one will come away from the seminar with enough knowledge to identify a passage in an edited text for quotation and, ideally, with a head start toward looking up lexical items in eDil (or another dictionary). If time permits, we will begin to translate a poem (eg., “Messe ocus Pangur Bán” - the famous poem about a scholar and his cat) at the end of the workshop. We will also offer a suggested “syllabus” and other beginner-level resources to continue learning Old Irish at home, on your own.