Bettina Breitenberger

Gawain in Middle English and Middle High German. A Cross Linguistic Study of Nouns and Adjectives in Regard to Semantic Features Bettina Breitenberger

Bachelor Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,3, University of Augsburg, language: English, abstract: Gawain was seen as the perfect Arthurian knight this image of him can be found in the works of Middle High German writers as well as Middle English ones. But is Gawain depicted in exactly the same way in those two cultures or do the authors focus on different aspects of his personality? Where are the differences and similarities in the nouns and adjectives used to describe the protagonist? Do some expressions only occur for a distinct user, like the narrator? And additionally, are there nouns and adjectives which only appear before or after a certain event? In order to find an answer to this question, "Sir Gawain and the Green Knight" by the Gawain-Poet and "Parzival" by Wolfram von Eschenbach were analyzed.