TIGER XENOPHON
Books on Germanic Languages
A Comparative Germanic Grammar
Edouard Prokosch
A Comparative Germanic Grammar, Prokosch's acknowledged masterpiece, offers the student a comprehensive introduction to the phonology and morphology of the Germanic languages. It is accessible yet thorough.
Eduard Prokosch (1876-1938) was the Sterling Professor of Germanic Languages at Yale University. He had previously taught at the University of Chicago, the University of Texas, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bryn Mawr College and New York University. Professor Prokosch died in an automobile accident while this book was in galley proof.
Publication March 2009 356pp Pbk List Price £14.00 / $20.00 ISBN 978-1-904799-42-9
A Middle High German Primer
Joseph Wright
Middle High German embraces the High German language from about 1100 to 1500. It is divided into three dialect groups: Upper German, Franconian and East Middle German. This book restricts itself to Upper German between about 1200 and 1300.
As well as a grammar and glossary, the primer provides texts from Berthold von Regensburg, the Swabian Lantrehtbuoch, Hartman von Ouwe, Walther von der Vogelweide, Reinmar, Ulrich von Lichtenstein, Das Niebelungenlied and Wolfram von Eschenbach.
Joseph Wright (1855–1930) started work at the age of six as a donkey-boy in the local stone quarry. The next year he went to work in a woolen mill. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Wright tired of relying on his literate workmates for news and taught himself to read. Soon he was attending night school, and he later started his own night school, the money from which supported his study of Mathematics and German at the University of Heidelberg. After further studies at London, Heidelberg and Leipzig, he became a lecturer at Oxford, and eventually Professor of Comparative Philology. Among his many books was the English Dialect Dictionary.
Publication March 2008 228pp Pbk List Price £12.99 / $26.00 ISBN 978-1-904799-6-9
Grammar of the Gothic Language
And the Gospel of St Mark, Selections from the Other Gospels and the Second Epistle to Timothy with Notes and Glossary
Joseph Wight
Although it has no modern descendants, Gothic is a language of considerable importance in the study of the Germanic languages, including English. The surviving texts consist mostly of the New Testament translations commissioned by the fourth-century Bishop Wulfila (Ulfilas). Extracts from these texts are included in this book.
Joseph Wright (1855–1930) started work at the age of six as a donkey-boy in the local stone quarry. The next year he went to work in a woollen mill. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Wright tired of relying on his literate workmates for news and taught himself to read. Soon he was attending night school, and he later started his own night school, the money from which supported his study of Mathematics and German at the University of Heidelberg. After further studies at London, Heidelberg and Leipzig, he became a lecturer at Oxford, and eventually Professor of Comparative Philology. Among his many books was the English Dialect Dictionary.
Publication Feb. 2008 356pp Pbk List Price £17.50 / $32.00 ISBN 978-1-904799-42-9
An Anglo-Saxon Reader in Prose & Verse
Henry Sweet
Despite the many years which have passed since Sweet first published his Anglo-Saxon Reader, it remains a particularly appealing and useful anthology for the student of Old English. It contains extracts from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People, as well as poems (including part of Beowulf), riddles, charters and the Preface from King Alfred’s translation of Gregory’s Pastoral Care. Although most texts are in West Saxon, examples of Northumbrian, Mercian and Kentish dialects have also been included.
Henry Sweet (1845-1912) was a leading expert on phonetics and Old English and was partly the basis for the character of Henry Higgins in Shaw's Pygmalion. He was appointed Reader in Phonetics at the University of Oxford in 1901.
Publication May 2008 420pp Pbk List Price £14.99 / $30.00 ISBN 978-1-904799-28-3
An Anglo-Saxon Primer
Henry Sweet
Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Primer is possibly the most popular Old English textbook ever written, and with good reason. It is brief and accessible without being unduly simplistic. Students will find that the grammar and glossary make the sample texts far less daunting than they might expect, and will give them the confidence to read more widely in Old English.
Henry Sweet (1845–1912) was a leading expert on phonetics and Old English and was partly the basis for the character of Henry Higgins in Shaw's Pygmalion. He was appointed Reader in Phonetics at the University of Oxford in 1901.
