History of English Language(ENG 404)

Course Tutor: Rabia Mahmood

My BioThis is Rabia Mahmood Lecturer from Comsats Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad. I did my Masters in English from Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan in 2005. Then I completed my M.Phil with a distinction and Ph.D. course work again with distinction securing 77% marks from the same university. I am currently involved in teaching at Graduate and Post graduate level. I have diverse expertise in different fields of Linguistics and Language Studies. Having firm groundings in Research, I am pursuing my Ph.D. in Linguistics as well.

Bio Contd….

• I have also done Bachelor of Education in 2005 form Allama Iqbal Open University. I joined BZU as lecturer in 2007 and COMSATS in May 2011. My five research papers have been accepted in international conferences in countries like India, Iran, Turkey, Malaysia and Australia. I was also awarded travel grant by HEC. I have been an active participant and resource person at numerous national and international conferences.

History of English Language (ENG 404)

Course Description:

• A Historical study of English Periods• Basic concepts of language and language

change, including semantics (how words mean), phonology (where sounds come from and how they are made), morphology (how words are formed), orthography (spelling), and syntax (how words are put together)

Course Description

• Prehistory of English, including the Indo-European language family and where English fits into it.

• Chronologically moves through Old English (before 1100), Middle English (12th-15th centuries), Early Modern English (16th-18th centuries), and Modern English (18th century-present)

• Historical events such as invasions, revolutions political and intellectual, immigration, emigration and cultural assimilation as shaping forces in the living entity of the language

Course Objectives• To acquaint the student with the historical development of

English from Indo- European language to the present state.• To study the linguistic, political, social, intellectual and

other factors that has contributed to the change of English over time.

• To emphasize the linguistic changes that led to the development of English from the Old and Middle varieties to the contemporary variety.

• To introduce the phonetic, morphological and syntactic changes of English.

Learning Outcomes• a comprehension of the mechanisms of language change and

an acceptance of the inevitable nature of language change• a knowledge of the origins of English and its place in respect

to other languages of the world• awareness of several problems in the origin and nature of

language• knowledge of general features of Old and Middle English• a recognition of the major stages in the development of

English from a synthetic to an analytic language• an understanding of how the current state of the English

language has resulted from historical change

Course Contents

16 weeks & 32 Lectures

Week 1 (Introduction)

• Course Outline• Language• What is language?• Characteristics of language• Levels of language• How many Languages?• How many speakers?

Week 2 (The Origins of Language)Different Theories of the origins of language• The Bow-Wow Theory• The Pooh-Pooh Theory• The Ding-Dong Theory• The Yo-he-ho Theory• The la-la Theory

• Early Experiments• Children of the Wild• Scientific Approaches• The evidences from Paleontology

Week 3 (Families of Languages)

• Family Trees• The Comparative Method• Types of Classification• Genetic Classification• Typological Classification• The Problems in Classification

Week 4 (Pre- History)

• Proto-Indo-European• Language Reconstruction: Cognates• The Laryngeal Theory• Indo-European Varieties• The Indo-European Family• Detailed History of one IE Family (Celtic)

Periods of Development

• Early (5th-9th c)• Old (9th-12th c)• Middle (12th- 15th c)• Modern (16th-20th c)

Week 5 (The Primitive Old English Period)

• Other Families• Uralic• Caucasian• Palaeosiberian• Altaic• Dravidian• Austro-Asiatic• Tai• Sino-Tibetan• The Languages of China, Africa, Afro-Asiatic• Austronesian• Indo-Pacific Languages• The languages of America• Australian Aboriginal Languages• Consonant Changes in Primitive Old English

Week 6 (The Old English Period)• The Heptarchy• A brief linguistic Description of Old English• Characteristics of Old English• Spellings and Pronunciation• Word-Stock• Grammar• Foreign influences on Old English• Celtic Influence• Latin Influence• Scandinavian Influence• Vikings and Their Influence on English

Week 7 (Middle English Period)• Historical Background of Normandy

A. Origins of Normandy and etmology of name B. 912 pact between Rollo and Charles the Simple C. Adaptability of Scandinavians

• Events Leading up to the Battle of Hastings A. Danish line of Cnut dies out in 1042 B. Edward restored to throne C. Edward dies childless D. Harold, son of Godwin, is elected King of England E. William's claim to the throne

• The Battle of Hastings A. Harold fights King of Norway B. Harold's and William's battle strategies C. Harold's death D. Depiction in Bayeux Tapestry E. William takes England by force

• Effects on the English Language A. Attitude towards English 1. a matter of social distinction 2. the fate of England at William's death 3. division of England with William's successors and continued foreign influence 4. attitude of indifference for church and nobility 5. ultimate fusion 6. French as language of court; English as language of masses

• The loss of Normandy in 1204 A. King John Lackland angers King Phillip of France B. King John loses title as Duke of Normandy

• Repercussions for aristocrats with landholdings in England and France A. voluntary relinquishment and divisions as two options B. King Louis' decree of 1244 C. consequences: after 1250, nobility of England consider themselves "English"

• Continued French influence under Henry III 1. under Peter des Roches 2. Henry III's marriage to Eleanor of Provence 3. death of Henry III's mother

• English reaction to foreigners: A. Provisions of Oxford (1258) and Baron's War (1258-65)

Week 8 (Middle English period Contd……)• The Thirteenth Century:

A. Shifting emphasis of French and English B. French becomes cultivated tongue: 1. used in law courts and parliaments 2. used by educated and in universities 3. used by polite society as second language C. many French words enter the language during this time

• The Fourteenth Century:French is in decline because A. Anglo-French is seen as inferior B. the Hundred Year's War C. Rise of the Middle Class 1. the Black Death 2. the Peasant's Revolt 3. rise of the bourgeois class 4. Statute of Pleading-- 1362 5. the Wycliffite Bible 6. English in schools 7. English as choice in writing

Middle English Language• . Leveling of Inflections• II. Effects of the Norman Conquest

A. Grammatical: the Conquest allows the language to evolve as spoken by the lower classes. B. Vocabulary English is trilingual (Latin, French, and English)

• III. Influence from the Low Countries• IV. Middle English Dialects

A. four principal dialects B. rise of Standard English 1. location 2. population 3. Oxford and Cambridge 4. importance of London English 5. Caxton

Week 9 (The Early Modern English Period)• Important historical events that distinguish Early Modern

English A. printing press B. the Tudor dynasty (1485) C. exploration D. separation of church and state E. education (especially under reign of Elizabeth I) F. exploration, trade, and British expansion G. scientific endeavors (The Royal Society founded in 1660) H. the first daily newspaper established in London (1702) I. Defoe's Robinson Crusoe (sometimes labeled the first English novel) J. Johnson's dictionary 1755 K. The American Revolution (1755-83) (first independent nation of English speakers)

• II. Problems of vernacular languages throughout Europe A. recognition over Latin 1. Revival of Learning 2. translations 3. Ciceronianisms 4. Protestant Reformation B. orthography (The Great Vowel Shift) C. enrichment of vocabulary

• III. sixteenth-century purists object to three classes of words A. inkhorn terms B. overseas language C. Chaucerisms

Week 10 (Early Modern Forms, Syntax and Usage)

• Forms and Usage• I. Eighteenth-Century Purism

A. Standardize (ascertain): According to Johnson, ascertain means "a settled matter, an established rule." The term is used in this sense in Swifts's Proposal for Correcting, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue. B. Refine: fallacious notion that contemporary language was corrupt and must by rid of "imperfections," such as the following noted by Swift: 1. recent innovations, especially shortened words 2. tendency to contract verbs 3. words in vogue, especially those used by fops C. Fix: establish a permanent form

• . Attempts to form an Academy: A. Examples of French and Italian Academies B. earliest suggestions for an English Academy C. Important Voices for the Academy 1. Dryden, 1664 2. Defoe, 1697 3. Swift's Proposal 4. Robert Lowth (and purism) D. Increasing skepticism in the 18th century E. Substitutions for an Academy 1. dictionary 2. grammar

• III. Johnson's Dictionary• IV. 18th Century Grammarians and Rhetoricians

A. Grammarians (Cooke, Murray, Sheridan, Priestley, Lowth) B. Rhetoricians (Sheridan, Campbell, Baker) C. The aims and goals of grammarians and rhetoricians attempting to ascertain English 1. Codified principles of language 2. Reduced language to rule 3. Settled disputed points and decided on usage 4. Pointed out and corrected common errors D. How did they settle rules? 1. reason 2. etymology 3. example of the Classics 4. doctrine of usage (late 18th century, Priestley and Campbell)

Week 11 (English Varieties)• Three Periods of European Immigration

A. Jamestown in 1607 to the end of Colonal times (@1787) B. Expansion of 13 colonies west of Appalachains to Civil War (1860) C. post Civil War

• II. Hispanic and Aisan Immigration• III. English Immigration from the time of the 13 colonies• IV. Characteristics of American English

A. high degree of uniformity B. archaism C. distinct vocabulary

• V. National Consciousness (Webster, Cooper, Franklin)• VI. Controversy over Americanisms• VII. American Dialects

A. Hans Kurath's World Geography (1949) B. the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada

• VIII. American Contributions to Linguistics A. H. L. Mencken's 1919 American Language B. Leonard Bloomfield's 1933 Language C. Noam Chomsky's 1957 Grammar C. recent contributions

Week 12 (Word Meanings)

• . A. Modern Influences• II. How is vocabulary increased?

1. borrowings 2. self-explaining compounds 3. compounds from Greek and Latin elements 4. prefixes and suffixes 5. coinages 6. common words from proper nouns 7. old words with new meanings 8. influence of journalism

• III.. Semantics 1. generalization 2. restriction 3. degeneration 4. regeneration

• . Types of Speech 1. Spoken Standard 2. Written Standard 3. Vulgar or Illiterate Speech

• V. English in the Empire• VI. Spelling Reform (late 19th century)

1. 1840, Phonetypic Journal (Pittman and Ellis) 2. 1870, English Philological Society 3. 1898, the National Education Association 4. 1930, R. E. Zachirisson's ANGLIC 5. 1940, New Spelling by the British Simplified Spelling Society 6. Axel Wijk

• VII. Purist Efforts and the Oxford English Dictionary

Week 13 (World Englishes)

• Concept of Pidgin and Creole• Varieties of English• English as Lingua Franca

Week 14 (The Status of English Language in Today’s World)

• Multilingualism• Bilingualism• Code-Switching• Code Mixing

Week 15 (From Language to Linguistics)

• Early History• Greeks• The Romans• The Indians• The Middle Ages• The Renaissance

Week 16 (Twentieth Century Linguistics)

• Europe and America• Ferdinand De Saussure• Franz Boas• Later Developments• Bloomfield• Firth• Chomsky

Reference Books

• The Cambridge Encyclopedia of Language (David Crystal)

• A History of English Language (Baugh & Cable)

• A Cultural History of English Language (Gerry Knowles)