One of the functions of the dative is to mark non-prototypical subjects, i. e. subjects that somehow deviate from the agentive prototype. The Germanic languages, as all subbranches of Indo-European (cf. Barðdal et al. 2012. Reconstructing constructional semantics: The dative subject construction in Old Norse‐Icelandic, Latin, Ancient Greek, Old Russian and Old Lithuanian.

Sarcasm, often obvious in spoken language, is notoriously difficult to detect in texts, and all the more so when language, culture, and temporal distance hinder the process of decoding tone and intent while reading. Yet it cannot be ignored, since sarcasm, variously defined, appears in premodern texts and at times plays a pivotal role in dialogue and narrative. This volume grapples with these ambiguous, ambivalent layers of usually-ironic wordplay, ranging in time from the early Middle Ages through the seventeenth century and geographically across Europe and the Arabic-speaking world in fourteen contributions primarily treating the medieval period in Europe west of the Oder.

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Jan Mohr’s 2014 Habilitationsschrift for the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München appears in here revised form with seven chapters that examine minne through the lens of sociology of knowledge as a ‘semantic resource’ in courtly society and for the formation of roles within that society. Minnesang in the widest sense constitutes the objects of study and encompasses the early Minnelieder and canzonas, as well as the later medieval poets such as the Mönch von Salzburg and the later Minnereden genre. Recent handbooks and editions have facilitated access to the wider Minnesang corpus examined here, particularly via <?page nr="419"?>comparative approaches to the grouping of Tagelieder – Winterlieder (Neidhart) – erzählende Minnereden.