The English Language: A Linguistic History

The English Language is an essential survey of the development of the language from its Indo-European past to the present day. Now in a third edition, this text offers enhanced discussion of the socio-historical and cultural contexts of the English language, new approaches to the history of English, and an anthology of specimen texts from the four major periods of English: Old, Middle, Early Modern, and Modern.

Table of Contents:
Preface Abbreviations 1. Studying the History of English Why Study the History of English? A Definition of Language The Components of Language Linguistic Change in English The Nature of Linguistic Change The Origin of Language Attitudes toward Linguistic Change Resources for Studying the History of English 2. Sounds and Sound Change in English The Sounds of English Sound Change The Writing of English 3. Causes and Mechanisms of Language Change Causes of Change Morphological and Syntactic Change Semantic Change Pragmatic Change 4. The Indo-European Language Family and Proto-Indo-European Classification of Languages Language Families The Indo-European Language Family Proto-Language Reconstruction Proto-Indo-European 5. Germanic and the Development of Old English Proto-Germanic Grammatical and Lexical Changes from PIE to Germanic Phonological Changes from PIE to Germanic A Brief History of Anglo-Saxon England The Records of the Anglo-Saxons 6. The Words and Sounds of Old English The Word Stock of the Anglo-Saxons The Orthographic System of Old English The Phonological System of Old English Stress A Closer Look at the Language of an Old English Text 7. The Grammar of Old English The Nominal System The Verbal System Syntax A Closer Look at the Language of an Old English Text 8. The Rise of Middle English: Words and Sounds French and English in Medieval England The Word Stock of Middle English The Written Records of Middle English Orthographic Changes Consonant Changes Vowel Changes A Closer Look at the Language of a Middle English Text 9. The Grammar of Middle English and Rise of a Written Standard The Effects of Vowel Reduction Grammatical Developments in Middle English Comparison of a Middle English and an Old English Text Change from Synthetic to Analytic Middle English as a Creole? The Rise of a Standard Dialect A Closer Look at the Language of a Middle English Text 10. The Words, Sounds, and Inflections of Early Modern English Early Modern English Vocabulary The Great Vowel Shift Changes in the Short Vowels and Diphthongs A Closer Look at the Language of an Early Modern English Text Changes in Consonants Renaissance Respellings Changes in Nominal Inflected Forms Case Usage Changes in Verbal Inflected Forms A Closer Look at the Language of an Early Modern English Text 11. Early Modern English Verbal Constructions and Eighteenth-Century Prescriptivism Early Modern English Syntax Late Modern English and the Rise of Prescriptivism Aims of the Eighteenth-Century Grammarians Methods of the Eighteenth-Century Grammarians The Question of Usage Dictionaries 12. Modern English Grammatical and Lexical Changes in Late Modern English Changes in Progress The Effect of New Media on English 13. Varieties of English The Development of National Varieties Important Regional Varieties of the British Isles English as a Global Language Appendix A: Quick Reference Guide Appendix B: Timeline of Significant Historical, Social, Literary, and Linguistic Events in the History of English Appendix C: Anthology of Readings (NEW) Exercise Key Glossary of Linguistic Terms Works Cited Index

About the Author :
Laurel J. Brinton specializes in English language studies, with particular interest in grammaticalization and historical pragmatics. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California. In addition to co-authoring The English Language: A Linguistic History, she has co-edited the two-volume English Historical Linguistics: An International Handbook (Mouton) and is the co-editor of English Language and Linguistics (Cambridge University Press). Leslie K. Arnovick specializes in English language studies, with particular interest in historical pragmatics. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to co-authoring The English Language: A Linguistic History, she has also written several monographs profiling Medieval English and diachronic pragmatics.

Review :
"The English Language is particularly good at the phonological history of the language from IE forward. . . . [it] covers very well the history of morphological and syntactic change in English. . . . The amount of detail in formal description on the IE and General Germanic periods is very satisfying, and I don't know of any parallel in alternative textbooks. At the other end of the timeline, the amount of detail and the accuracy in the treatment of Canadian varieties of English is also very satisfying, and, again, I don't know of any parallel in alternative textbooks." --Michael Cummings, York University "Brinton and Arnovick is based on sound and up-to-date linguistic scholarship, frequently cited directly in the text, which inspires confidence. . . . Very readable and engaging." --Murray McGillivray, University of Calgary From previous editions: "The book is well-organized and clear . . . without assuming a lot of knowledge on the part of students." --Richard J. Moll, University of Western Ontario "Brinton and Arnovick's book is, I think, the best textbook in its field." --John Considine, University of Alberta