Dr Nike Stam

Research Interests

Old Irish, Middle Irish, bilingualism, code-switching, glossaries, Félire Óengusso

Biographical Sketch

Nike completed both her BA in Celtic Studies and her RMA in Medieval Studies at Utrecht University. In 2012, she embarked on her PhD project ‘Language choice as part of intellectual culture’ at the same university. In this project, she analysed instances of Irish-Latin code-switching in the commentary to the Félire Óengusso (Bodleian, Rawlinson B505). She was awarded her doctorate with distinction in 2017, while also lecturing in the undergraduate program of Celtic Studies. In September 2018, she joined the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies as a post-doctoral scholar.

Current Project

In her current project, Nike is continuing her work on the commentary to the Félire Óengusso, expanding the analysis of the bilingual glosses to include material from UCD A7, Bodleian Laud 610, Leabhar Breac (RIA 23P16), and the Brussels manuscripts. She intends to analyse how the individual scribes of the commentary dealt with the code-switching they encountered in their source texts. For this analysis, she will combine a linguistic analysis of the code-switches with approaches from philology and palaeography.

Publications

A Typology of Code-switching in the Commentary to the Félire Óengusso. LOT Publications. 2017. (https://www.lotpublications.nl/a-typology-of-code-switching-in-the-commentary-to-the-f%c3%a9lire-%c3%b3engusso)

‘Strategy of Accident: Code-switching in the Commentary to the Félire Óengusso’. Conference proceedings of ‘Code-Switching in Medieval Ireland and England’ in: Münchener Forschungen zur historischen Sprachwissenschaft 18, Hempen Verlag. 71–94. 2018.

With Tom ter Horst:
‘Visual diamorphs: the importance of language neutrality in code-switching from medieval Ireland.’ Language Contact and Bilingualism 15, De Gruyter Mouton. 223–242. 2018.

‘Meertalige middeleeuwen: taalwisselingen in de marges’. Madoc 29/3, 139–147. 2015.

Other:

Irish-Latin Code-switching in a Medieval Irish Commentary, Journal: Mittelalter. Interdisziplinäre Forschung und Rezeptionsgeschichte, 4. 2017. https://mittelalter.hypotheses.org/11165.

Review of Elizabeth Boyle and Deborah Hayden, Authorities and Adaptations. Kelten 69, 17. 2015.

Alex Hijmans: ‘Het Iers heeft zich aan zijn stoffige imago ontworsteld’ (interview) Kelten 53, 17–18. 2012.