The term «water» in English medieval medical texts (fifteenth century): A textual analysis of the corpus
Keywords:
water, corpus linguistics, code-switching, medieval medical texts, recipesAbstract
This paper explores the term water in 15th-century English texts in the corpus Middle Medical Texts. To do this, computational linguistic tools for the identification, quantification and analysis of the word water and its variant Latin word aqua in the medical texts under scrutiny are used. In addition, I focus on the different lexical templates containing the term water, such as water of X and Adj + water. It is particularly interesting the occurrence of this term in disjunctive constructions, i.e. water or X, which introduce liquid alternatives in medicinal preparations, the presence of which are explained in cultural, social and medical terms. Finally, I concentrate on the description of the textual transmission of medieval well-known medicinal waters, such as water of life, and St. Giles’ water.
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