History of English

Barbara A. Fennell is Senior Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Aberdeen. She is the author of Language, Literature and the Negotiation of Identity (1998).

"[Fennell] gives an excellent account of the global spread of modern English." Times Higher Education Supplement "Offers an excellent background in the history of the world's second language." Geolinguistics

• List of Maps and Figures xiiAcknowledgements xiii1 Introduction 11.1 The Time Periods of English 11.2 Language Change 31.3 Sources of Information on Language Change 71.4 Linguistic Preliminaries 91.5 The Sounds of English, and Symbols Used to Describe Them 111.5.1 Consonants 111.5.2 Vowels 121.5.2.1 Monophthongs 121.5.2.2 Diphthongs 121.6 Structure of the Book 132 The Pre-history of English 15Timeline: The Indo-European Period 152.1 The Indo-European Languages and Linguistic Relatedness 172.1.1 The Beginnings 172.1.2 The Development of Historical Linguistics 182.1.3 Genetic Relatedness 192.2 Linguistic Developments: The Indo-European Language Family 232.2.1 Family-Tree Relationships 232.2.2 The Indo-European Family 232.2.2.1 Indo-Iranian 252.2.2.2 Armenian 262.2.2.3 Albanian 262.2.2.4 Balto-Slavonic 262.2.2.5 Hellenic 282.2.2.6 Italic 282.2.2.7 Celtic 292.2.2.8 Germanic 312.3 From Indo-European to Germanic 342.3.1 Prosody 352.3.2 The Consonant System: Sound Shifts 352.3.2.1 Grimm’s Law 362.3.2.2 Verner’s Law 372.3.2.3 The Second Consonant Shift 382.3.3 The Vowel System 402.3.4 Morphology 402.3.5 Syntax 412.3.6 Lexicon 412.3.7 Semantics 422.3.8 Indo-European/Germanic Texts 422.3.9 Neogrammarians, Structuralists and Contemporary Linguistic Models 432.4 Typological Classification 442.4.1 Universals 452.4.1.1 Syntactic Universals 452.4.2 Morphological Typology 462.5 Sociolinguistic Focus. The Indo-European Tribes and the Spread of Language. Language Contact and Language Change. Archaeological Linguistics 492.5.1 Language Contact 502.5.2 Archaeological Linguistics 512.6 Conclusion 533 Old English 55Timeline: The Old English Period 553.1 Social and Political History 553.1.1 Britain before the English 553.1.2 The Anglo-Saxon Invasions 563.1.3 Anglo-Saxon Influence 563.1.4 Scandinavian Influence 573.2 Linguistic Developments: The Sounds, Structure and Typology of Old English 593.2.1 The Structure of Old English 593.2.1.1 OE Consonants 603.2.1.2 Vowels: from Germanic to Old English 623.2.1.3 Old English Gender 643.2.1.4Inflection in Old English 643.2.1.5 Old English Syntax 723.2.1.6 Old English Vocabulary 773.3 Linguistic and Literary Achievements 793.3.1 Texts 793.3.1.1 Prose 803.3.1.2 Poetry 823.4 The Dialects of Old English 853.5 Sociolinguistic Focus 863.5.1 Language Contact 863.5.1.1 Latin and Celtic 883.5.1.2 The Scandinavians 904 Middle English 94Timeline: The Middle English Period 944.1 Social and Political History 944.1.1 Political History: The Norman Conquest to Edward I 944.1.2 Social History 964.1.2.1 The Establishment of Towns and Burghs and the Beginnings of Social Stratification 964.2 Linguistic Developments: Middle English Sounds and Structure, with Particular Emphasis on the Breakdown of the Inflectional System and its Linguistic Typological Implications 974.2.1 Major Changes in the Sound System 974.2.1.1 The Consonants 974.2.1.2 Consonant Changes from Old to Middle English 984.2.1.3 Vowels in Stressed Syllables 984.2.1.4 Vowels in Unstressed Syllables 994.2.1.5 Lengthening and Shortening 994.2.1.6 Summary Table of Vowel Changes from Old to Middle English 1004.2.1.7 The Formation of Middle English Diphthongs 1004.2.2 Major Morphological Changes from Old to Middle English 1014.2.2.1 Loss of Inflections 1014.2.2.2 Other Changes in the Morphological System 1024.2.2.3 Verbs 1034.2.3 Middle English Syntax 1044.2.3.1 Word Order 1064.2.4 The Lexicon: Loan Words from French 1064.2.4.1 Numbers and Parts of the Body 1074.2.4.2 Two French Sources 1084.3 Middle English Dialects 1084.3.1 Linguistic and Literary Achievements 1144.3.1.1 Middle English Literature 1144.3.2 Language 1144.3.3 Genre 1154.4 Sociolinguistic Focus: Social Stratification, Multilingualism and Dialect Variation. Language Contact: The Myth of Middle English Creolization 1164.4.1 English Re-established 1164.4.1.1 Language and the Rise of the Middle Class 1204.4.2 The Development of Standard English 1224.4.2.1 The Evolution of ME ‘Standard’ English 1234.4.3 Middle English Creolization: Myth? 1254.4.3.1 Definitions 1264.4.3.2 Pidgins and Creoles in England? 1284.5 Conclusion 1335 Early Modern English 135Timeline: The Early Modern English Period 1355.1 Social and Political History 1365.1.1 Historical and Political Background 1365.1.1.1 Internal Instability and Colonial Expansion 1375.2 Linguistic Developments: The Variable Character of Early Modern English 1385.2.1 Phonology 1385.2.1.1 Consonants 1395.2.1.2 Vowels 1405.2.1.3 The Great Vowel Shift 1415.2.2 Morphology 1415.2.2.1 Nouns 1415.2.2.2 Pronouns 1425.2.2.3 Adjectives and Adverbs 1425.2.2.4 Verbs 1435.2.2.5 The Spread of Northern Forms 1435.2.3 Syntax 1445.2.3.1 Periphrastic do 1445.2.3.2 Progressive Verb Forms 1455.2.3.3 Passives 1455.2.4 Sample Text 1465.2.5 Vocabulary 1475.2.6 The Anxious State of English: The Search for Authority 1475.2.6.1 Dictionaries and the Question of Linguistic Authority: Swift’s and Johnson’s View of Language 1495.3 Linguistic and Literary Achievement 1525.4 Sociolinguistic Focus 1545.4.1 Variation in Early Modern English 1545.4.2 Standardization 1565.4.2.1 The Printing Press 1565.4.2.2 The Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation 1565.4.2.3 English Established 1575.4.3 The Great Vowel Shift 1585.4.3.1 Phonological Change 1585.4.4 Case Study: Power and Solidarity Relations in Early Modern English 1625.5 Conclusion 1666 Present-Day English 167Timeline: Present-Day English 167Introduction 1686.1 Social and Political History 1696.1.1 The Age of Revolutions, Wars and Imperialism 1696.1.2 Urbanization, Industrialization and Social Stratification 1706.2 Linguistic Developments 1726.2.1 Morphology and Syntax 1726.2.1.1 Morphology 1726.2.1.2 Syntax 1736.2.2 The Lexicon 1756.2.2.1 Colonialism, Contact and Borrowings 1756.2.2.2 Neologisms 1766.2.2.3 Illustrative Texts 1786.3 Modern English Dialects 1796.3.1 Traditional Dialects 1806.3.2 Modern Dialects 1826.3.3 Received Pronunciation (RP): The Social Background 1856.3.3.1 Characteristics of RP 1876.3.4 RP, Estuary English and ‘the Queen’s English’ 1886.4 Sociolinguistic Focus: English in Scotland, Ireland and Wales – Multilingualism in Britain 1916.4.1 English in the British Isles 1916.4.1.1 English in Scotland 1916.4.1.2 English in Wales 1956.4.1.3 English in Ireland 1986.4.2 Immigrant Varieties of English in Britain 2006.4.2.1 Immigration to Britain in the PDE Period 2006.4.2.2 Colonial Immigration and Language 2027 English in the United States 208 Timeline: America in the Modern Period 2087.1 Social and Political History 2097.1.1 Settlement and Language 2097.1.2 Settlement by Region 2107.1.2.1 The Original Thirteen Colonies 2107.1.2.2 The Middle West 2137.1.2.3 The South and West 2147.2 The Development of American English 2167.2.1 The Strength and Maintenance of Dialect Boundaries 2167.2.2 How, Why and When American English Began to Diverge from British English 2177.2.2.1 Physical Separation 2177.2.2.2 The Different Physical Conditions Encountered by the Settlers 2187.2.2.3 Contact with Immigrant Non-Native Speakers of English 2197.2.2.4 Developing Political Differences and the Growing American Sense of National Identity 2197.3 Language Variation in the United States 2227.3.1 Uniformity and Diversity in Early American English 2227.3.2 Regional Dialect Divisions in American English 2237.3.2.1 The Lexicon 2237.3.2.2 Phonology: Consonants 2267.3.2.3 Phonology: Vowels 2277.3.3 Social and Ethnic Dialects 2297.3.3.1 Social Class and Language Change 2317.3.3.2 Ethnicity 2317.3.3.3 African-American Vernacular English 2327.3.3.4 Traditional Dialects and the Resistance to Change 2378 World-Wide English 241Timeline: World-Wide English 2418.1 Social and Political History: The Spread of English across the Globe 2438.1.1 British Colonialism 2448.1.1.1 Canada 2448.1.1.2 The Caribbean 2458.1.1.3 Australia 2468.1.1.4New Zealand 2478.1.1.5 South Africa 2478.1.1.6 South Asia 2488.1.1.7 Former Colonial Africa: West Africa 2508.1.1.8 East Africa 2528.1.1.9 South-East Asia and South Pacific 2538.1.2 An Overview of the Use of English throughout the World 2558.2 English as a Global Language 2568.2.1 The Industrial Revolution 2568.2.2 American Economic Superiority and Political Leadership 2578.2.3 American Technological Domination 2578.2.4 The Boom in English Language Teaching 2588.2.5 The Need for a Global Language 2598.2.6 Structural Considerations 2608.2.7 Global and at the Same Time Local 2618.3 English as a Killer Language 2648.3.1 Language Death 2658.3.2 Language and Communication Technology 2668.4 The Future of English 267Bibliography 270Index 280