The English Language A Linguistic History

by Brinton, Laurel J.; Arnovick, Leslie K.

• ISBN13: 9780195422054
• ISBN10: 0195422058
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-02-09
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

"Rooted in formal linguistics and designed for students with no background in languages or linguistics this text is ideal for full- and half-year courses in the history of the English language."--BOOK JACKET.

Table of Contents

List of Tables, Figures, and Sample Texts	xiii
Preface	xvii
1 Studying the History of English	1	(27)
Overview	1	(1)
Objectives	1	(1)
Why Study the History of English?	2	(2)
A Definition of Language	4	(1)
The Components of Language	5	(4)
Linguistic Change in English	9	(6)
The Periods of English	9	(4)
An Example of Linguistic Change	13	(2)
The Nature of Linguistic Change	15	(3)
The Inevitability of Change	15	(2)
The Arbitrary Nature of the Linguistic Sign	17	(1)
The Origin of Language	18	(2)
Attitudes Toward Linguistic Change	20	(2)
Linguistic Corruption	20	(1)
Prescriptivism versus Descriptivism	21	(1)
Resources for Studying the History of English	22	(4)
General Dictionaries	22	(1)
Historical and Etymological Dictionaries	23	(1)
Historical Grammar and Syntax	23	(1)
Concordances and Historical Corpora	24	(2)
Recommended Web Links	26	(1)
Further Reading	26	(1)
Further Viewing	27	(1)
2 The Sounds and Writing of English	28	(27)
Overview	28	(1)
Objectives	28	(1)
The Sounds of English	29	(19)
The Phonetic Alphabet	29	(1)
The Phoneme	29	(1)
The Production of Speech	30	(1)
Consonants	31	(2)
The Consonant Sounds of English	33	(6)
Vowels	39	(2)
The Vowels of English	41	(5)
Stress	46	(2)
The Writing of English	48	(5)
The History of Writing	48	(2)
The Origin of the Alphabet	50	(3)
Recommended Web Links	53	(1)
Further Reading	53	(2)
3 Causes and Mechanisms of Language Change	55	(34)
Overview	55	(1)
Objectives	56	(1)
Causes of Change	56	(8)
Internal	56	(2)
External	58	(6)
Mechanisms of Phonological Change	64	(6)
Determining Sounds from Written Records	64	(1)
The Nature of Sound Change	64	(1)
Types of Sound Change	65	(5)
Mechanisms of Morphological and Syntactic Change	70	(6)
Analogy	70	(3)
Grammaticalization	73	(1)
Conservative and Innovative Changes	74	(2)
Mechanisms of Semantic Change	76	(11)
Types of Semantic Change	77	(9)
Some Generalizations About Semantic Change	86	(1)
Recommended Web Links	87	(1)
Further Reading	88	(1)
4 The Indo-European Language Family and Proto-Indo-European	89	(32)
Overview	89	(1)
Objectives	89	(1)
Classification of Languages	90	(4)
Typological Classification	90	(3)
Genealogical Classification	93	(1)
Language Families	94	(1)
The Indo-European Language Family	94	(10)
The Discovery of Indo-European	95	(1)
The Branches of Indo-European	96	(1)
Satem Languages	97	(4)
Centum Languages	101	(3)
Proto-Language	104	(1)
Reconstruction	104	(5)
Proto-Indo-European	109	(9)
Linguistic Features	109	(6)
Society	115	(1)
Homeland	116	(2)
Nostratic Theory	118	(1)
Recommended Web Links	119	(1)
Further Reading	119	(1)
Further Viewing	120	(1)
5 Germanic and the Development of Old English	121	(32)
Overview	121	(1)
Objectives	121	(1)
Proto-Germanic	122	(4)
Grammatical and Lexical Changes from PIE to Germanic	126	(4)
Phonological Changes from PIE to Germanic	130	(13)
Grimm's Law	130	(6)
Verner's Law	136	(2)
Accent Shift and Ordering of Changes	138	(1)
Vowel Changes	139	(2)
Second Sound Shift and Mechanisms of Change	141	(2)
A Brief History of Anglo-Saxon England	143	(5)
The Germanic Settlement of England	144	(2)
The Christianization of the Anglo-Saxons	146	(1)
The Scandinavian Invasions of England	147	(1)
The Records of the Anglo-Saxons	148	(3)
The Dialects of Old English	148	(2)
The Written Records of Old English	150	(1)
Recommended Web Links	151	(1)
Further Reading	152	(1)
6 The Sounds and Words of Old English	153	(29)
Overview	153	(1)
Objectives	153	(1)
The Orthographic System of Old English	154	(1)
The Phonological System of Old English	154	(11)
Consonants	154	(5)
Vowels	159	(3)
Sound Changes	162	(3)
The Word Stock of the Anglo-Saxons	165	(11)
The Continuity of Germanic Vocabulary in English	165	(1)
Borrowing in Old English	166	(6)
Word Formation in Old English	172	(4)
Stress	176	(3)
Recommended Web Links	179	(1)
Further Reading	180	(2)
7 The Grammar of Old English	182	(47)
Overview	182	(1)
Objectives	182	(1)
The Nominal System	183	(23)
The Grammatical Categories of the Noun	183	(1)
Pronouns	184	(3)
Nouns	187	(6)
Demonstratives, Adjectives, and Adverbs	193	(7)
Agreement	200	(1)
Case Usage	201	(5)
The Verbal System	206	(9)
Verb Classes	207	(3)
The Grammatical Categories of the Verb	210	(1)
Inflectional Endings of the Verb	211	(4)
Syntax	215	(12)
Verbal Periphrases	215	(3)
Word Order	218	(9)
Recommended Web Links	227	(1)
Further Reading	227	(1)
Further Viewing	228	(1)
8 The Rise of Middle English: Words and Sounds	229	(36)
Overview	229	(1)
Objectives	229	(1)
French and English in Medieval England	230	(6)
The Norman Conquest	230	(2)
The Establishment of French	232	(2)
The Re-establishment of English	234	(2)
The Word Stock of Middle English	236	(6)
French Influence	236	(3)
Latin Influence	239	(3)
The Written Records of Middle English	242	(5)
Middle English Dialects	242	(5)
Middle English Literature	247	(1)
Orthographic Changes	247	(4)
Consonant Changes	251	(3)
Vowel Changes	254	(8)
Qualitative Changes	254	(2)
Quantitative Changes	256	(6)
Recommended Web Links	262	(1)
Further Reading	263	(2)
9 The Grammar of Middle English and Rise of a Written Standard	265	(42)
Overview	265	(1)
Objectives	265	(1)
Vowel Reduction and Its Effects	266	(3)
Grammatical Developments in Middle English	269	(26)
Adjectives and Nouns	269	(5)
Pronouns	274	(3)
Loss of Grammatical Gender	277	(3)
Verbs	280	(6)
Syntax	286	(9)
Change from Synthetic to Analytic	295	(2)
Middle English as a Creole?	297	(2)
The Rise of a Standard Dialect	299	(6)
Recommended Web Links	305	(1)
Further Reading	305	(2)
10 The Sounds and Inflections of Early Modern English	307	(38)
Overview	307	(1)
Objectives	307	(1)
The Great Vowel Shift	308	(7)
Nature of the Shift	308	(1)
Details of the Shift	309	(6)
Changes in the Short Vowels and Diphthongs	315	(4)
Changes in Consonants	319	(4)
Renaissance Respellings	323	(2)
Changes in Nominal Inflected Forms	325	(9)
Nouns	325	(2)
Pronouns	327	(7)
Case Usage	334	(3)
Changes in Verbal Inflected Forms	337	(6)
Verb Classes	337	(3)
Inflectional Endings	340	(3)
Recommended Web Links	343	(1)
Further Reading	344	(1)
11 Early Modern English Verbal Constructions and Eighteenth-Century Prescriptivism	345	(36)
Overview	345	(1)
Objectives	345	(1)
Early Modern English Syntax	346	(11)
Reflexive and Impersonal Verbs	346	(2)
The Subjunctive and the Modal Auxiliaries	348	(1)
Verbal Periphrases	349	(3)
Do	352	(2)
Word Order	354	(3)
The Rise of Prescriptivism	357	(4)
Renaissance Concerns About the Language	357	(1)
Social, Linguistic, and Philosophical Reasons for Prescriptivism	358	(1)
Important Prescriptive Grammarians of the Eighteenth Century	359	(2)
Aims of the Eighteenth-Century Grammarians	361	(3)
Ascertainment	361	(1)
An Academy	362	(2)
Methods of the Eighteenth-Century Grammarians	364	(8)
Authority	365	(1)
Model of Latin	366	(1)
Etymology	367	(1)
Reason	368	(4)
The Question of Usage	372	(3)
Dictionaries	375	(4)
Recommended Web Links	379	(18)
Further Reading	397
Further Viewing	380	(1)
12 Modern English	381	(66)
Overview	381	(1)
Objectives	381	(1)
Grammatical and Lexical Changes Since Early Modern English	382	(10)
Grammatical Changes	382	(4)
Modern Borrowings	386	(3)
The Oxford English Dictionary	389	(3)
The Development of National Varieties	392	(23)
British versus North American English	395	(7)
Canadian English	402	(5)
Australian and New Zealand English	407	(3)
African English	410	(3)
Caribbean English	413	(2)
Important Regional Varieties	415	(21)
English in the British Isles	415	(8)
English in the United States	423	(13)
Changes in Progress	436	(2)
Neologisms	436	(2)
Grammatical Changes	438	(5)
Recommended Web Links	443	(1)
Further Reading	444	(2)
Further Viewing	446	(1)
Exercise Key	447	(42)
Glossary of Linguistic Terms	489	(18)
References	507	(10)
Index	517