Prerequisites
Prerequisites
Students must have successfully completed:
- L09C Introduction to phonetics and phonology (LAN00009C)
- L11C Introduction to syntax (LAN00011C)
- E02C History of English I (LAN00002C)
Information for visiting students: You should have taken introductory courses in linguistics, and either a course introducing you to the history of English, or a course in Old or Middle English in which you read the language, not simply literature in translation.
Programme
Programme
Contact hours
Minimum of two contact hours per week.
Teaching programme
The module covers:
- The general sociolinguistic history of English from the earliest periods, including discussion of the impact of contact and processes of standardization.
- The analysis of the historical development of a few historically central, specific areas of phonology, morphology and syntax.
Teaching materials
TBC
Suggestions for reading before the module starts
The following books would be suitable as background reading. They are not required texts.
- Barber, Charles (1993) The English Language: A Historical Introduction. Cambridge: CUP.
- Baugh, A.C. and T. Cable (4th edition 1993) A History of the English Language. London: Routledge.
- Crystal, David (2004) The Stories of English. Penguin.
- Mugglestone, Lynda (2006) The Oxford History of English. Oxford: OUP.
- Smith, Jeremy (1996) An Historical Study of English: Function, Form and Change. London: Routledge.