- •Contents
- •List of Figures
- •List of Tables
- •List of Symbols and Conventions
- •Acknowledgements
- •Introduction
- •1. English as a Changing Language
- •1.1 Introduction
- •1.2 Sound Change
- •1.3 Lexical Change
- •1.4 Semantic Change
- •1.5 Morphological Change
- •1.6 Syntactic Change
- •1.7 Study Questions
- •2.1 Introduction
- •2.2 The Roots of English and Proto-Indo-European
- •2.3 Meeting the Ancestors I
- •2.4 Meeting the Ancestors II
- •2.5 Study Questions
- •3.1 Introduction
- •3.2 Social History
- •3.3 Anglo-Saxon Literature
- •3.4 The Language of Old English
- •3.6 Study Questions
- •4.1 Introduction
- •4.2 Social History
- •4.3 Middle English Literature
- •4.4 The Language of Middle English
- •4.5 Contact and Change: Middle English Creolization?
- •4.6 Study Questions
- •5.1 Introduction
- •5.2 Social History
- •5.3 Early Modern English Literature
- •5.4 The Language of Early Modern English
- •5.5 Contact and Change: English in Barbados
- •5.6 Study Questions
- •6. Modern English, 1700 onwards
- •6.1 Introduction
- •6.2 The Eighteenth Century and the Rise of the Prescriptive Tradition
- •6.4 The Twenty-First Century and Beyond: Where Will English Boldly Go?
- •6.5 Conclusion
- •6.6 Study Questions
- •Bibliography
- •Index
THE HISTORY OF
ENGLISH
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THE HISTORY OF
ENGLISH
Ishtla Singh
PART OF HACHETTE LIVRE UK
First published in Great Britain in 2005 by Hodder Education, part of Hachette Livre UK, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BH
http://www.hoddereducation.com
© 2005 Ishtla Singh
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronically or mechanically, including photocopying, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without either prior permission in writing from the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying. In the United Kingdom such licences are issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency: Saffron House,
6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
The advice and information in this book are believed to be true and
accurate at the date of going to press, but neither the authors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility or liability for any errors or omissions.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN: 978 0 340 80695 1
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Typeset in 11/12 pt. Goudy by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Manchester Printed and bound in India
What do you think about this book? Or any other Hodder Education title? Please send your comments to www.hoddereducation.com
Contents
List of Figures |
vii |
|
List of Tables |
ix |
|
List of Symbols and Conventions |
xi |
|
Acknowledgements |
xiii |
|
Introduction |
1 |
|
1. |
English as a Changing Language |
5 |
|
1.1 Introduction |
5 |
|
1.2 Sound Change |
6 |
|
1.3 Lexical Change |
9 |
|
1.4 Semantic Change |
19 |
|
1.5 Morphological Change |
24 |
|
1.6 Syntactic Change |
30 |
|
1.7 Study Questions |
36 |
2. |
Language Families and the Pre-history of English |
39 |
|
2.1 Introduction |
39 |
|
2.2 The Roots of English and Proto-Indo-European |
41 |
|
2.3 Meeting the Ancestors I |
52 |
|
2.4 Meeting the Ancestors II |
59 |
|
2.5 Study Questions |
64 |
3. |
Old English, 500–1100 |
66 |
|
3.1 Introduction |
66 |
|
3.2 Social History |
67 |
|
3.3 Anglo-Saxon Literature |
73 |
|
3.4 The Language of Old English |
75 |
|
3.5 Doing Anglo-Saxon Gender: Heroic Men and Monstrous Women |
92 |
|
3.6 Study Questions |
100 |
4. |
Middle English, 1100–1500 |
103 |
|
4.1 Introduction |
103 |
|
4.2 Social History |
104 |
|
4.3 Middle English Literature |
112 |
|
4.4 The Language of Middle English |
113 |
vi The History of English |
|
|
|
4.5 Contact and Change: Middle English Creolization? |
127 |
|
4.6 Study Questions |
136 |
5. |
Early Modern English, 1500–1700 |
139 |
|
5.1 Introduction |
139 |
|
5.2 Social History |
140 |
|
5.3 Early Modern English Literature |
147 |
|
5.4 The Language of Early Modern English |
148 |
|
5.5 Contact and Change: English in Barbados |
167 |
|
5.6 Study Questions |
173 |
6. |
Modern English, 1700 onwards |
174 |
|
6.1 Introduction |
174 |
|
6.2 The Eighteenth Century and the Rise |
|
|
of the Prescriptive Tradition |
177 |
|
6.3 Nineteenth-Century Contact and Change: |
|
|
The Case of Singlish |
188 |
|
6.4 The Twenty-First Century and Beyond: |
|
|
Where Will English Boldly Go? |
198 |
|
6.5 Conclusion |
202 |
|
6.6 Study Questions |
203 |
Bibliography |
207 |
|
Index |
215 |
|
|
|
|
List of Figures
1.1 |
The Southern Vowel Shift |
7 |
2.1 |
Indo-European cognates for daughter |
46 |
2.2 |
The Indo-European family |
51 |
5.1 |
The Great Vowel Shift |
154 |
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