Using the OED to investigate the implications of Douglas’s lexical choices in the Eneados

The Eneados, written by Gavin Douglas in 1513, is the first full translation of the Aeneid in either the English or Scottish literary tradition. It is notable for the difficulty and variety of its language, and it is one of the first instances where ‘Scots’ is used as a linguistic identifier.

Megan Bushnell, DPhil candidate at the University of Oxford (English Faculty), talks about her analysis comparing Douglas’ lexis and his use of certain etymologies with other Scottish poets of the time, aiming to quantify Douglas’ use of these etymologies and specify claims about the quality of his language, to determine whether his choices are unusual, and consider if Douglas’ use of ‘Scots’ as a language identifier is motivated by his linguistic practice.

Megan has created digital files of the Eneados and its source text, along with a corpus of work by Scots Makars and Chaucer. The Palice of Honour, also by Douglas, was included for comparison. She has collaborated with the Oxford English Dictionary to provide etymological tagging for these files to allow for the statistical analysis of lexical sources.

Join us to find out how a corpus-based approach informed by OED data is being used to examine these points, as well as the influence of context and etymology in Douglas' work.

This session covered:
• How this project was conceived and the digital files built
• A statistical profile of the lexical sources, including factors such as part-of-speech and coinages
• An in depth look at how Douglas uses words of certain etymology and how that compares to other authors
• A reflection on the challenges and pitfalls of this method
• What Megan wished she knew before she started
• What the future looks like

This is for anyone interested in:
• Similar projects, using the OED or not
• Scottish Makars and Scots as a literary language
• Translation methods, and factors influencing the outcomes
• Combining linguistic and literary methodologies

OED,Oxford University,Faculty of English,Eneados,Douglas Gavin,translation,Aeneid,Scots,Scottish Makars,Scottish poets,etymology,