Companion to the History of the English Language

Haruko Momma is Associate Professor of English at New York University. She is the author of The Composition of Old English Poetry (1997) and From Philology to English Studies: Language and Culture in the Nineteenth Century (2009).Michael Matto is Assistant Professor of English and Director of Writing Programs at Adelphi University. He has published articles on Old English language, literature, and culture, and is currently editing (with Greg Delanty) a collection of new literary translations of Old English poems (2009).

“In conclusion, this book succeeds in doing what it intended, to provide linguistic grounding for readers primarily interested in the literature and culture of English past and present. It deserves a place in libraries and classrooms, to be read cover to cover or dipped into for specific topics . . . Because it is readable and has good chapter bibliographies and a detailed index, it might also serve as a reference for students researching a topic within the history of English.”  (Linguist, 20 January 2013) "Readers will find clear guides to basic information.... Editorial introductions to the various sections clarify and summarise the material. Each chapter ends with extensive lists of references and further reading. A glossary of linguistic terms, reflecting 'the terms as used by the authors,' is included. As with all the Blackwell Companions, the presentation of this substantial volume is of the highest standard." (Reference Reviews, November 2009) "Anyone with even a passing interest in the history of the language, whether an old-fashioned description of Middle English morphology or an au courant discussion of global Englishes, will be glad to have [this] Companion on the shelf." (Times Literary Supplement, May 2009)Momma (New York Univ.) and Matto (Adelphi Univ.) draw on an international cast of scholars to present 59 essays on the history of the English language. Part of the "Blackwell Companions to Literature and Culture" series, this substantial volume is organized in nine sections and certainly covers the field. The first three sections provide essential linguistic concepts and a survey of the history of words, sounds, and grammar. Sections 4-6 deal with the Indo-European and Germanic roots of English, the history of English in England and the US, and English in British colonies and the postcolonial world. The last three sections cover literary language (including Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Toni Morrison), language variation and language teaching, and approaches to language study such as stylistics and cognitive linguistics. The editors provide brief contextual commentary for each section, and each essay has its own bibliography to facilitate further reading. All the contributions are readable and concise. This comprehensive picture of English and its history is a must for scholars. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students, researchers, faculty. -- E. L. Battistella, Southern Oregon University (Choice, February, 2009)

• List of Figures xi Notes on Contributors xiiiAcknowledgments xxiiNote on Phonetic Symbols and Orthography xxivA Timeline for HEL xxixPart I Introduction 11 History, English, Language: Studying HEL Today 3Michael Matto and Haruko Momma2 History of the History of the English Language: How Has the Subject Been Studied? 11Thomas Cable3 Essential Linguistics 18Mary BlockleyPart II Linguistic Survey 254 Phonology: Segmental Histories 29Donka Minkova and Robert Stockwell5 History of English Morphology 43Robert McColl Millar6 History of English Syntax 57Olga Fischer7 A History of the English Lexicon 69Geoffrey Hughes8 History of English Prosody 81Geoffrey RussomPart III English Semantics and Lexicography 899 Dictionaries Today: What Can We Do With Them? 93Reinhard R. K. Hartmann10 English Onomasiological Dictionaries and Thesauri 103Werner Hüllen11 Johnson, Webster, and the Oxford English Dictionary 113Charlotte BrewerPart IV Pre-history of English 12312 English as an Indo-European Language 127Philip Baldi13 English as a Germanic Language 142R. D. FulkPart V English in History: England and America 151Section 1 Old English in History (ca. 450–1066) 15314 Early Old English (up to 899) 156Daniel Donoghue15 Late Old English (899–1066) 165Mechthild Gretsch16 Topics in Old English Dialects 172Lucia KornexlSection 2 Middle English in History (1066–1485) 18117 Early Middle English (1066–ca. 1350) 184Thorlac Turville-Petre18 Late Middle English (ca. 1350–1485) 191Seth Lerer19 Varieties of Middle English 198Jeremy J. SmithSection 3 Early Modern English in History (1485–1660) 20720 Early Modern English (1485–1660) 209Terttu Nevalainen21 Varieties of Early Modern English 216Jonathan HopeSection 4 Modern British English in History (1660–present) 22522 British English in the Long Eighteenth Century (1660–1830) 228Carey McIntosh23 British English Since 1830 235Richard W. Bailey24 The Rise of Received Pronunciation 243Lynda MugglestoneSection 5 American English in History 25125 American English to 1865 254David Simpson26 American English Since 1865 263Walt Wolfram27 American English Dialects 274Gavin JonesSection 6 Topics in History 28128 Early Modern English Print Culture 284John N. King29 Issues of Gender in Modern English 293Deborah Cameron30 Class, Ethnicity, and the Formation of "Standard English" 303Tony Crowley31 The Transplantation of American English in Philippine Soil 313Br. Andrew Gonzalez, FSC32 English, Latin, and the Teaching of Rhetoric 323Michael Matto33 English in Mass Communications: News Discourse and the Language of Journalism 334Philippa K. Smith and Allan BellPart VI English in History: English Outside England and the United States 345Section 1 British Isles and Ireland 34734 English in Wales 350Marion Löffler35 English in Scotland 358J. Derrick McClure36 English in Ireland 366Terence Patrick DolanSection 2 English in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand 37737 English in Canada 380John Edwards38 Australian and New Zealand English 389Pam PetersSection 3 Colonial and Post-colonial English 40139 South Asian English 404Kamal K. Sridhar40 English in the Caribbean 413Donald Winford41 English in Africa 423Alamin M. MazruiPart VII Literary Languages 43142 The Anglo-Saxon Poetic Tradition 435Fred C. Robinson43 "In swich englissh as he kan": Chaucer's Literary Language 445John F. Plummer44 Shakespeare's Literary Language 455Adam N. McKeown45 Jane Austen's Literary English 464Mary Poovey46 Joyce's English 471Laurent Milesi47 Faulkner's Language 479Noel Polk48 Twixt the Twain: East-West in Rushdie's Zubaan-Tongue 487Tabish Khair49 Toni Morrison: The Struggle for the Word 495Justine TallyPart VIII Issues in Present-Day English 50550 Migration and Motivation in the Development of African American Vernacular English 509Mary B. Zeigler51 Latino Varieties of English 521Robert Bayley52 Teaching English to Native Speakers: The Subject Matter of Composition (1970–2005) 531Mary Soliday53 Earning as well as Learning a Language: English and the Post-colonial Teacher 541Eugene Chen Eoyang54 Creoles and Pidgins 553Salikoko S. Mufwene55 World Englishes in World Contexts 567Braj B. KachruPart IX Further Approaches to Language Study 58156 Style and Stylistics 585David L. Hoover57 Corpus-Based Linguistic Approaches to the History of English 596Anne Curzan58 Sociolinguistics 608Robin Tolmach Lakoff59 Cognitive Linguistics 618Dirk GeeraertsGlossary of Linguistic Terms 630Haruko MommaIndex 646