1. Pragmatic Variation in the History of German
 
This project investigates the different manifestations of speech acts in Old Saxon and Old, Middle, and Early New High German.

The project began with a focus on temporal deixis, examining how adverbs like nu were used in foundational Germanic texts to structure narrative and interaction. This foundational work provided the groundwork for exploring broader pragmatic phenomena, including directives, explicit performatives, and expressions of gratitude.

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Key milestones in the project include:

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       2019

• ​Temporal Deixis in Old Saxon and Old High German: The Adverb nu in the Hêliand and Evangelienbuch.
  Published in Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur.
  This study analyzed the pragmatic use of temporal deixis to understand narrative coherence and interaction in early Germanic texts

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       2023

• 'Ih gebiude dir, wurm!' Directives in Old Saxon and Old High German.

        Published in Journal of Historical Pragmatics.

        This article explored the use of directives to uncover patterns of power and politeness in Old Saxon and Old High German

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• 'Face' in retrospective: The use of “thanks” and “to thank” In Old Saxon and Old High German. 

        Published in Lodz Papers in Pragmatics.

        This study examined the expression of gratitude in hierarchical contexts, revealing how politeness strategies reflected social             dynamics.

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Forthcoming

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•   Explicit Performatives in Old Saxon and Old High German: A Comparative Study.
    To be published in International Review of Pragmatics.
    This study investigates the use of explicit performatives, contributing to the understanding of speech act development in            historical Germanic languages.

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•   When the Germans Became ‘Polite’: Direct and Indirect Strategies in the Middle and Early New High     German           Corpora.
    Book chapter in John Benjamins Series: Pragmatics and Beyond.
    This chapter focuses on the emergence and evolution of politeness strategies in Middle and Early New High German,                 bridging linguistic pragmatics and cultural shifts.

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