Essentials of Early English: Old, Middle and Early Modern English

by Smith,Jeremy J.

• ISBN13: 9780415342599
• ISBN10: 0415342597
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2005-07-26
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Completely revised and updated, this new edition improves the highly successfulEssentials of Early Englishthat went before it. InEssentials of Early EnglishJeremy Smith presupposes almost no knowledge whatsoever and covers the vast subject in one neat volume. The book covers the three key stages of Early English: Old, Middle and Early Modern. Accessible and user-friendly, the new edition brings the story up to the present day with a new section entitled 'From Early Modern English to Late Modern English' and includes web links, facsimiles of texts, and a new further reading section. Grammatical aspects are fully detailed and explained, and example texts with accompanying notes make this book ideal for any student studying English language or literature.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
PART I DESCRIPTION	1	(152)
1 Introduction	3	(14)
1.1 About this book	4	(1)
1.2 English and its origins	5	(2)
1.3 External history	7	(3)
1.4 Internal history	10	(4)
1.5 Introducing English historical linguistics	14	(1)
1.6 A preliminary illustration	15	(2)
2 Describing language	17	(28)
2.1 Introduction	18	(1)
2.2 The levels of language	19	(1)
2.3 Speech and writing	20	(1)
2.4 Phonetics and phonology	20	(8)
2.5 Grammar and lexicon	28	(17)
3 Old English	45	(44)
3.1 Introduction	46	(1)
3.2 Spelling and pronunciation	47	(3)
3.3 Syntax	50	(16)
3.4 Paradigms	66	(17)
3.5 Lexicon	83	(2)
3.6 Appendix I: From Early to Late West Saxon	85	(2)
3.7 Appendix II: On OE dialects	87	(2)
4 Middle English	89	(34)
4.1 Introduction	90	(2)
4.2 Spelling and pronunciation	92	(4)
4.3 Syntax	96	(12)
4.4 Paradigms	108	(8)
4.5 Lexicon	116	(2)
4.6 Appendix: On ME dialects	118	(5)
5 Early Modern English	123	(30)
5.1 Introduction	124	(1)
5.2 Spelling and pronunciation	125	(6)
5.3 Syntax	131	(10)
5.4 Paradigms	141	(7)
5.5 Lexicon	148	(2)
5.6 Appendix: Evidence for EModE dialects	150	(3)
PART II ILLUSTRATIVE TEXTS	153	(66)
Section A Old English Texts	155	(14)
(1) The Man Who Built His House on Sand	156	(1)
(2) Abraham and Isaac	157	(1)
(3) From The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle	158	(1)
(4) Daniel	159	(1)
(5) Cæmon's Hymn	160	(1)
(6) From The Dream of the Rood	160	(3)
(7) From Ælfric's Life of King Oswald	163	(2)
(8) From Beowulf	165	(3)
(9) From Beowulf	168	(1)
Section B Middle English Texts	169	(24)
(1) From The General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales	170	(2)
(2) From The Pardoner's Tale	172	(4)
(3) From The Parson's Tale	176	(2)
(4) From The Peterborough Chronicle	178	(2)
(5) From Sir Orfeo	180	(2)
(6) From Sir Gawain and the Green Knight	182	(2)
(7) From John Lydgate, A Balade in Commendation of Our Lady	184	(1)
(8) From The Guildhall Letter-Book (1418)	185	(1)
(9) From William Caxton's Preface to his edition of The Morte Darthure (1485)	186	(1)
(10) From William Caxton's Preface to the Eneydos (1490)	187	(1)
(11) From Sir Thomas Malory, The Morte Darthur	188	(1)
(12) A letter from Margaret Paston	189	(4)
Section C Early Modern English Texts	193	(26)
(1) From Loues Labour's Lost	195	(2)
(2) From As You Like It	197	(1)
(3) From The Tragedie of King Lear	198	(2)
(4) From The Tragedie of Julius Cæsar	200	(2)
(5) From The Tragedie of Hamlet	202	(1)
(6) From The Tragedie of Richard the Third	203	(2)
(7) From The Tragedie of Macbeth	205	(1)
(8) From the Authorised Version of the Bible (1611)	206	(2)
(9) From John Milton's Areopagitica (1644)	208	(1)
(10) From John Dryden, All for Love or, the World Well Lost (1677/1678)	209	(2)
(11) From E.K.'s Preface to Spenser's Shepheardes Calender (1579)	211	(1)
(12) From A Letter of Syr J. Cheke (1557)	212	(1)
(13) From Richard Mulcaster's The First Parte of the Elementarie (1582)	213	(1)
(14) From George Puttenham, 'Of Language', in The Arte of English Poesie (1589)	214	(1)
(15) From The Letters of Lady Brilliana Harley (1642)	215	(1)
(16) From The Tryall of Ralph Hall and Mary his wife (1665)	216	(3)
PART III BIBLIOGRAPHY, GLOSSARY AND THEMATIC INDEX	219
Annotated Bibliography	221	(6)
Old English Glossary	227	(18)
Thematic Index	245