Last update: December 16, 2004 [post-course]

ÜBUNG DER HAUPTSTUFE:

HISTORY OF ENGLISH

Englisches Seminar , Universität zu Köln

Summer Semester 2003: Fridays, 13.00-15.00 – Room S57

Kleanthes Grohmann – kleanthes AT punksinscience.org
Office: Room 104 – Hours: Thursdays, 16.00-18.00
www.punksinscience.org/kleanthes – Tel.: x2821

Welcome to the course website for the Übung der Hauptstufe: History of English. Here you'll find the course description, which you can also view or download as a PDF-file, and updates. I might make additional readings available online or post class notes and summaries. Feel free to bookmark these pages: http:/www.punksinscience.org/kleanthes/courses/UK03S/HOE.

LATEST NEWS

(JULY 12): As mentioned in class on July 10, those of you who haven't handed in a paper or a Hausarbeit yet and don't feel like writing one, but want to get credit, here's an alternative: you may "trade in" a written piece of work for leading the class in either ACCENTS AND DIALECTS or PIDGINS AND CREOLES. If you're interested, let me know by email ASAP .

(JUNE 4): I will have to cancel class on July 4, as I will be out of town.

(MAY 18): From now on we will meet at 1pm sharp — start of class: 13.00h ST — by popular demand. I expect to finish when done, just before 3pm. Please keep checking these pages, I hope to announce a change of rooms on Tuesday.

Downloads:

Please go this page for disclosure of sources and more information (for space reasons not done on handouts).

DESCRIPTION

This course is going to familiarize students with the principal ideas concerning the historical development of language(s). We will cover sound change, morphological change, syntactic change and semantic/lexical change in the history of the English language, based on central texts from the various periods of English (internal history) and within their socio-cultural context (external history). The seminar will follow a predominantly theoretical line of inquiry.

There is no set textbook, but an extensive reading list is available ("Readings" below); some of the books are in the course-Handapparat, other material will be made available in xeroxed form.

REQUIREMENTS

There are no prerequisites to attend this seminar. I assume that everybody is familiar with basic linguistic concepts (phonology, morphology, syntax), preferably in the generative tradition, but that is not so important; depending on one? preferences, a less or non-theoretical outlook to the study of language may be suitable as well (see "Grading" and "Paper Topics" below).

The seminar consists of a series of lectures, in which participation is encouraged. There will be no exercises or exams. Students may obtain a QUAST or a Leistungsnachweis (see "Grading"). It is strongly advised to do the suggested reading for each class to allow for a smooth sail.

GRADING

Anyone is welcome to attend the course and to engage in classroom participation, provided you do the reading. For graded participation, you may go for a QUAST on the basis of a short paper or a Leistungsnachweis for a short paper plus full-fledged Hausarbeit.

The topic of both the short paper and the Hausarbeit may but certainly need not be picked from the "Paper Topics" suggested below; you are more than welcome to find your own topic through your readings or perhaps through class inspiration. As a rough guideline for length, I suggest ca. 6-8 pages (3,000 words) for the paper and 18-20 pages (8,000 words) for the Hausarbeit.

Your Hausarbeit is definitely due at the latest the day before our final class. You are required to come and see me to discuss your topic and see you through the research-and-writing process. The same goes for the QUASTees: the short paper is due on July 31 and you must discuss your paper with me at various stages. Nothing prohibits the Leistungsnachweisees to extend their short paper into a Hausarbeit (which should, needless to say, be quite an extension), i.e. to pick one topic from the start, write up an 'interim report', so to speak, and then develop the ideas further. In this case, the short paper is due way before the end of the semester: June 26.

PAPER TOPICS

1. Proto-Germanic is defined as a cluster of innovations as compared to Indo-European. Discuss some of these innovations. What are the possible causes of these?

2. What are language types? Critically discuss the view that Old English belonged to a different language type from Modern English.

3. What are the difficulties and drawbacks of the surviving Old English corpus? How might these difficulties affect the conclusions we draw about the nature of the language?

4. What are the Old English and Middle English origins of regional variation in Modern (British) English?

5. Examine the influence of the Norman Conquest on the English language.

6. Discuss and evaluate three different theories of sound change.

7. What were the main factors in the emergence of Standard (British) English?

8. Critically discuss the dialect/language distinction as it applies to the English language (synchronically and diachronically); do take pidgins and creoles into your consideration.

9. What is the relevance of an historical examination of English to present-day orthography?

• Come and see me to pick a topic in phonology, morphology, syntax, or semantics and apply it to historical issues and one or more older stages of English (incl. dialects and creoles).

READINGS

Bailey, R.W. 1991. Images of English: A Cultural History of the Language
Barber, C.L. 1993. The English Language: A Historical Introduction
* [PREPARE FOR CLASS 2: chs. 3-4; CLASS 3: ch. 5; CLASS 6: ch. 7; CLASSES 8-9: ch. 8]
Bauer, Laurie. 1994. Watching English Change
Baugh, A.C. & T. Cable. 2002. A History of the English Language
* [BACKGROUND ON CLASS 2: ch. 2; CLASS 3: chs. 3-4; CLASS 5: chs. 5-7; CLASS 9: ch. 8]
Blake, N.F. 1996. A History of the English Language
Brook, G.L. 1958. A History of the English Language
Burnley, J.D. 1992. The History of the English Language: A Source Book
Denison, D. 1993. English Historical Syntax
Erickson, J. & M. Gymnich. 1998. Grundkurs Anglistische Sprachwissenschaft
Fennell, B.A. 2001. A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach
Fischer, O., A. van Kemenade, W. Koopman & W. van der Wurff. 2000. The Syntax of Early English
* [PREPARE FOR CLASSES 3-4: chs. 1-2; CLASS 7: ch. 3]
Freeborn, D. 1992. From Old English to Standard Englis
G?rlach, M. 1997. The Linguistic History of English
Jespersen, O. 1956. Growth and Structure of the English Language
Jones, C. 1989. A History of English Phonology
Jucker, A.H. 2000. History of English and English Historical Linguistics
Lass, R. 1969. Approaches to English Historical Linguistics
Lass, R. 1987. The Shape of English: Structure and History
Leith, D. 1983. A Social History of English
MacMahon, A. 1994. Understanding Language Change
* [PREPARE FOR CLASS 11: ch. 10]
Millward, C.M. 1989. A Biography of the English Language
Myers, L.M. 1966. The Roots of Modern English
Nielsen, H.F. 1989. The Germanic Languages: Origins and Early Dialectal Interrelations.
Pyles, T. & J. Algeo. 1982. The Origins and Development of the English Language
* [PREPARE FOR CLASS 2: ch. 4; CLASS 3: ch. 5; CLASS 6: ch. 6; CLASSES 8-9: ch. 6]
Serjeantson, M. 1935. A History of Foreign Words in English
Sheard, J.A. 1954. The Words We Use
Strang, B.M.H. 1970. A History of English
Visser, F.T. 1963-73. An Historical Syntax of the English Language
Wakelin, M. 1989. The Archaeology of English
Williams, J.M. 1975. Origins of the English Language

Old English (ca. 500CE-1100)
Brook, G.L. 1956. An Introduction to Old English
Campbell, A. 1959. Old English Grammar
Hogg, R.M. (ed.). 1992. The Beginnings to 1066. Cambridge History of the English Language, vol. 1
* [PREPARE FOR CLASS 2: ch. 2; CLASS 3: chs. 3-4; CLASS 4: ch. 4]
Lass, R. 1994. Old English
Mitchell, B. 1985. Old English Syntax
Mitchell, B. & F. Robinson. 1992. A Guide to Old English
Moore, S. T.A. Knott & J.R. Hulbert. 1977. The Elements of Old English
Moore, S. 1969. Historical Outline of English Sounds and Inflections
Partridge, A.C. 1982. A Companion to Old and Middle English Studies

Middle English (ca. 1100-1500)
Benson, L.D. (ed.). 1987. The Riverside Chaucer
Blake, N.F. (ed.). 1992. 1066-1476. Cambridge HOTEL, vol. 2
* [PREPARE FOR CLASS 5: ch. 3; CLASS 6: ch. 2; CLASS 7: ch. 4]
Burnley, J.D. 1983. A Guide to Chaucer? Language
Fisher, J.H., M. Richardson & J.L. Fisher. 1984. An Anthology of Chancery English
McIntosh, A., M.A.L. Samuels & M. Benskin. 1986. Linguistic Atlas of Late Mediaeval English
Moss?, F. 1952. Handbook of Middle English (transl. J.A. Walker)
Moss?, F. 1988. Mittelenglische Kurzgrammatik (transl. H. Pilch & U. Siewert)
Mustanoja, T.F. 1960. A Middle English Syntax

Early Modern English (ca. 1500-1700)
Barber, C.L. 1976. Early Modern English
Blake, N.F. 1989. The Language of Shakespeare
Dobson, E. 1968. English Pronunciation, 1500-1700
Ellis, A.J. 1969. On Early English Pronunciation
G?rlach, M. 1991. Introduction to Early Modern English
* [PREPARE FOR CLASS 9: chs. 5-6]
Lass, R. (ed.). 1999. 1476-1776. Cambridge HOTEL, vol. 3

Modern English (ca. 1700-)
Algeo, T. 2001. English in North America. Cambridge HOTEL, vol. 6
* [PREPARE FOR CLASS 10: specifications will follow later]
Bailey, R.W. 1996. Nineteenth-Century English
Barber, C.L. 1964. Linguistic Change in Present-Day English
Burchfield, R.W. (ed.). 1994. English in Britain and Overseas. Cambridge HOTEL, vol. 5
* [PREPARE FOR CLASS 10: specifications will follow later]
Crystal, D. 1997. English as a Global Language
Foster, B. 1968. The Changing English Language
G?rlach, M. 1999. English in Nineteenth-Century England
K?keritz, H. 1953. Shakespeare? Pronunciation
Leisi, E. & C. Mair. 1999. Das heutige Englisch: Wesensz?ge und Probleme
McArthur, T. (ed.). 1992. The Oxford Companion to the English Language
Romaine, S. (ed.). 1998. 1776-1997. Cambridge HOTEL, vol. 4
Trudgill, P. & J. Chambers. 1991. Dialects of English