Language Interaction in the St Gall Priscian Glosses

The St Gall Priscian codex, Stiftsbibliothek, MS 904, is well known for its rich collection of glosses: as well as c. 3200 symbol glosses, there are more than 9400 verbal glosses, of which more than 3400 contain Old Irish, the remainder being entirely in Latin. However, any simple opposition between Irish and Latin glosses would ignore a much more complex interaction between Irish, Latin, and indeed Greek, in the manuscript. This study aims to characterise the variety of types of language-switching that occur: within individual glosses, more or less encompassed by the term ‘code-switching’, between adjacent glosses, and between related manuscripts. It aims to contribute towards a broader understanding of the relationship between Latin and Irish, and between classical and vernacular languages, in the scholarly culture of the early middle ages.