An Introduction to Old Occitan
- Author: William D. Paden
- Pages: xxvi & 610
- Published: 1998
- ISBN: 9781603290548 (Paperback)
“[T]his is a work of impeccable scholarship, which manages to convey a great deal about troubadour language and culture.”
Accompanying lessons, readings, and songs available online for free.
An Introduction to Old Occitan is the only textbook in print for learning the language used by the troubadours in southern France during the Middle Ages. Each of the thirty-two chapters discusses a subject in the study of the language (e.g., stressed vowels, subjunctive mood) and includes an exercise based on a reading of an Occitan text that has been edited afresh for this volume. An essential glossary analyzes every occurrence of every word in the readings and gives cognates in other Romance languages as well as the source of each word in Latin or other languages. The book also contains a list of prefixes, infixes, and suffixes and a dictionary of proper names.
“This hefty and scholarly book is very welcome and deserves a place in every university library.”
—Modern Language Review