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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 and includes an exercise based on a reading of an Occitan text that has been edited afresh for this volume. An accompanying compact disc includes discussion of the pronunciation of the language, with illustrations from the texts in the book.

This handbook was produced with the aim of providing students with an introduction to Old Irish literature as well as to the language. One of the notable Old Irish stories is used as the basic text. Examples of poems, and of the glosses, supplement it. All are thoroughly annotated. The grammatical information provided in these annotations is summarized in grammatical sections dealing with specific constructions and forms. The first fifty of these sections are descriptive; many of the same matters are discussed in the second fifty section from a historical point of view. A final glossary includes references to all words occurring in the texts. The apparatus was accordingly designed to permit a relatively easy approach to a very difficult language.

Presents twenty-seven graded readings, each accompanied by a vocabulary and an explanation of grammatical details; the final chapter provides a sample of the Codex Argenteus. Among the readings, the first seven are in effect preliminary exercises. The remaining twenty readings represent the Gothic Bible and the Skeireins.

Presents reading selections from Marie de France's lai ""Fresne"" and selections in two major literary dialects of Old French-Anglo-Norman and Picard. These are followed by chapters on Old French morphology and syntax; phonology sections are included at the end of each chapter. Contains a glossary, an index, and a select bibliography.