HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

Catalog Description: The forces that have helped to shape the character of the English language.

Course Objectives: By the end of the course, students will have knowledge of the historical, political, cultural, and linguistic factors that have caused change in the English language. They will be aware of some of the essential distinctions between the three main periods of English (Old English, Middle English, and Modern English), and will show a knowledge of various sound changes, grammar changes, and semantic changes that the language has undergone. Students will learn the International Phonetic Alphabet as modified by Baugh and Cable and will be able to outline in IPA symbols the major sound changes that the language has undergone. Students will learn some of the basic reasons for language change, and will be able to understand the concept of dialect and language variation. They will learn some of the basic grammatical and phonetic variations of modern dialects, particularly African American. They will show knowledge of the backgrounds of the English language, including the Indo-European language theory.

Modes of Instruction: The class will consist primarily of lecture and discussion.

Jan. 22	Introduction to the course--introduction to language development.
24	Baugh/Cable, Chapter I. A definition of language, language as *system, language as convention*, language as communication. Know the following terms: natural gender, artificial gender, inflection, phonemes, allophones, morphemes, allomorphs. Do workbook exercises .3, .4, 1.1

29	Baugh/Cable, Chapter I. The consonants and vowels of English. Know the following terms: dialect, orthography, displaced speech, schwa, voice, voiceless, stop, labial, bilabial, dental, alveolar, palatovelar, palatal, labiodental, fricative or spirant, consonant, sibilant, affricate, nasal, liquid.
31	Baugh/Cable, Chapter I. Know the following terms: vowel, high vowel, mid-vowel, low vowel, front vowel, central vowel, stress, spelling pronunciation, folk etymology, aspiration.

Feb. 5	Baugh/Cable, Chapter II. Indo-European Family of Languages. Know the following terms: language family, cognate languages, Proto-Indo-European, centum and satem languages, reconstruction, cases.
7	Baugh/Cable, Chapter II. Know the following terms: dental suffix, strong and weak adjectives, Grimm’s Law, Verner’s Law, Vulgar Latin, strong and weak verbs, present and preterit tenses.

12	Baugh/Cable, Chapter II.
14	Baugh/Cable, Chapter III. Old English. 450-1100 Know the following terms: grammatical gender, natural gender, umlaut, conjugation, ablaut, declension, masculine, feminine, and neuter nouns, strong and weak adjectives, King Alfred

19	Baugh/Cable, Chapter III.
21	Baugh/Cable, Chapter III.

26	FIRST EXAM
28	Baugh/Cable, Chapter V. The Norman Conquest and the Beginning of the Middle English Period. Know the following terms: Norman French, Anglo-Norman, yogh, diphthong, Caxton, William of Normandy.

March 4	Baugh/Cable, Chapter V
6	Baugh/Cable, Chapter VI. The Reestablishment of English, 1200-1500.

11	Baugh/Cable, Chapter VI. The decline of French in England and the linguistic influence of the Conquest. Middle English spelling. The rise of a London standard. 5-6 PAGE PAPER ASSIGNED
13	Baugh/Cable, Chapter VII. Middle English

18 & 20	SPRING VACATION

25	Baugh/Cable, Chapter VII.
27	Baugh/Cable, Chapter VIII. The Renaissance, 1500-1650. Know the following terms: Great Vowel shift, etymological respelling, silent e, etymology, hypercorrect pronunciation, inkhorn or aureate terms

April 1	Baugh/Cable, Chapter VIII.
3	SECOND EXAM

8	Baugh/Cable, Chapter IX. The Appeal to Authority. 1650-1800. Know the following terms: eye dialect, purism, uninflected genitive, prescriptive grammar, Robert Lowth, Joseph Priestly, Samuel Johnson, Noah Webster, Jonathan Swift, Robert Campbell
10	Baugh/Cable, Chapter IX.

15	Baugh/Cable, Chapter IX.
17	Baugh/Cable, Chapter X. The Nineteenth Century and After. Know the following terms: semantics, etymology, generalization, specialization, pejoration, amelioration, taboo, euphemism, shortening, root creation, echoic word, ejaculation, compound, back formation, blend or portmanteau word, clipped form, acronym, hybrid form, diminutive.

22	Baugh/Cable, Chapter X
24	Baugh/Cable, Chapter X. PAPER DUE

29	Baugh/Cable, Chapter XI. . The English Language in America. Know the following terms: dialect, ethnic dialect, caste dialect, consuetudinal or durative be, pidgin, Creole, standard English, slang, Black English or Ebonics, social dialect
May 3	Baugh/Cable, Chapter XI.

6	Baugh/Cable, Chapter XI.
8	Review or Catch Up

15	FINAL EXAMINATION -- Please note that the time for the exam is 8:00-10:00

OFFICE NUMBER AND HOURS: EN 274D--T and TH 11:00-12:30, W 11:00-1:00, 4:00-5:00, and by appointment

PHONE: (203) 392-6733--I do have voice mail. If I am not in the office when you call, leave your name, the time that you called, and a number (including area code) and time where you can be reached during the day.

GRADING POLICY: Your final grades will be based as follows: (1) 2 exams based on materials from Baugh--40%; (2) final--20%; (3) paper--20%; (4) in-class participation (includes attendance, class discussion, assignments, etc.)--20% Students will receive study sheets prior to each exam, including the final, indicating parameters of exam.

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES POLICY: If you have a documented disability, please contact me during the first week of the semester to discuss appropriate accommodations to ensure equity in grading, classroom experiences, and outside assignments. If necessary, I will meet with you and staff members of the Student Services Center to formulate a written plan for appropriate accommodations.

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Old English links This site contains links to various types of sources for the study of Old English.

Yamada Another site that links up to other sites for Old English with some emphasis on teaching and learning Old English

HEL Also known as Hell (History of the English Language Links), this is probably a good place to start for any search for on-line data bases.

The following links are audio sites dealing with readings in either Old English or Middle English:

Barber, Charles: The English language: a Historical Introduction, Cambridge University Press, 1993
Baugh, Albert C. & Thomas Cable: A History of the English Language, Prentice Hall, 1993.
Blake, N.F.: A History of the English Language, Macmillan. 1996
Campbell, A: Old English Grammar, Oxford University Press, 1959
Chomsky, Noam & Morris Halle: The Sound Pattern of English, Harper and Row, New York, 1968
Fisiak, Jacek: An Outline History of English, Kantor Wydawniczy Saww, Poznan, 1993
Jespersen, Otto: Growth and Structure of the English Language, Teubner Verlag, Leipzig and Stechart, New York, 1905
McCrum, R. , William Cran & Robert MacNeil: The Story of English, Viking Penguin, New York, 1986
Pinsker, Hans Ernst: Historische englische Grammatik, Max Hueber Verlag, München, 1959
Wyatt, Alfred J.: An Anglo-Saxon Reader, Cambridge University Press, 1919

Old English	The Lord's Prayer http://www.georgetown.edu/cball/oe/paternoster-oe.html

Middle English	The Canterbury Tales--General Prologue--http://www.umkc.edu/lib/engelond/prologue.htm
	Troilus and Criseyde--http://www.umkc.edu/lib/engelond/troilus.htm
	The Chaucer METAPAGE AUDIO FILES--to help students improve their pronunciation of Chaucer's Middle English--http://academics.vmi.edu/english/audio/audio_index.html

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

DAILY ASSIGNMENT SHEET