History of the English Language (LNGN284)	Spring 2009
Eileen Fitzpatrick	MW 11:30-12:45 PM

Course Description: The course considers the evolution of English from its origins in Indo-European to the more modern French, classical (Greek and Latin) and world English influences on the language. While the course is grounded in the linguistic changes in pronunciation, word formation, syntax, and meaning that led to the current language, there is a strong concentration on the historical influences that encouraged change as well on the Anglo-Saxon and Classical roots of English.

Required Text:
The English Language: A Historical Introduction. Charles Barber. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0521 785 707.

Recommended Texts:
Algeo, John. 1982. Problems in the Origins and Development of the English Language. Harcourt, Brace & World. A workbook with many exercises.

Bobrick, Benson. 2001. Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution it Inspired. Simon & Schuster. A historical/political account of Biblical translations into English and the translation of the King James Bible. A bit drier than McGrath (see above), which deals more with cultural history.

Davis, Norman. 1967. Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Primer. Oxford: Clarendon Press. A major source of readings in Old English.

Millward, C.M. 1988. A Biography of the English Language, 2nd Edition. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston. An excellent, detailed history of English with charts, illustrations, and many examples of each stage of the language.

McGrath, Alistair E. 2001. In the Beginning: The Story of the King James Bible and How it Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture. Doubleday. (You are required to read and report on two chapters of your choice from McGrath.)

The Oxford English Dictionary. 1989. 2nd ed. 20 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press. THE dictionary; we will work with it during the semester. You can access the OED here through Sprague Library. You’ll need your username and password to access it.

Wells, John. 1982. Accents of English, 3 vols. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. A thorough description of each of the major Englishes: British, Irish, American, Canadian, Australian, Caribbean, New Zealand, South African.

Winchester, Simon. 1998. The Professor and the Madman. HarperCollins. The OED and its most prolific contributor, with good information about the history of dictionaries of English in a page-turner presentation.

Web Links:
Students are encouraged to visit the History of English Links and HEL at the Movies.

APPROXIMATE SCHEDULE OF CLASSES.

Dates	Topic	Readings/Quizzes
1/21	Overview of Old, Middle, and Early Mod English Examples of change in present day English	Barber, Chapter 1
1/26, 1/28	Language typologies Subsystems of Language: Words, Sentences, Meaning	Barber, Chapter 1
2/2,2/4	Subsystems of Language: Sounds English alphabets: Runic and Roman	Quiz 1: subsystems of language, English morphology, language typology Barber, Chapter 1
2/9,2/11	Types of sound change Origins of language change Internal and external causes of change	Barber, Chapter 2
2/16,2/18	Establishing relationships among languages Major Language Families of the World The Indo-European Languages	Barber, Chapter 3
2/23,2/25	The Major Characteristics of Indo European Grimm's Law, Verner's Law Differences between Germanic and its IE cousins	Barber, Chapter 3 Feb. 25: Quiz 2: The English sound system, Types of sound change
3/2,3/4	The History of Dictionary Use in English and the OED	Winchester, Chapter 5 (on BlackBd.) Barber, Chapter 4 Barber, Chapter 5
3/9,3/11	Old English: Historical Origins Old English Literature	Barber, Chapter 6 Quiz 3: language relationships, Indo-European, Germanic
3/16,3/18	Spring Break
3/23,3/25	Reading from Beowulf Old English: the Sound System	Barber, Chapter 7 Article summary due, April 1
3/30,4/1	Old English: Words, Sentences, Meaning Vocabulary Creation and Loss	Barber, Chapter 7
4/6,4/8	The Invasions: Norse and Norman Influences on English Middle English: Historical Background Middle English: the Sound System ME Phonology (Fricatives and Vowel Length) Reading from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales	Quiz 4 on Old English – Wed, Apr. 11 OED Homework due – Wed, Apr. 11
4/13,4/15	Middle English: Words, Sentences, Prosody Spelling Conventions Societal changes in the Renaissance English as a self-conscious language (Historical background of Early Modern English)	Barber, Chapter 8
4/20,4/22	Early Modern English: the Great Vowel Shift	Quiz 5: Middle English Barber, Chapters 8,9
4/27,4/29	Early Modern English and the ‘invasion’ of Latin and Greek
5/4	Semantic Change
5/11, 1-3pm		Final Quiz

Course Requirements: You are responsible for the material in
-the assigned readings
-handouts and homework
-class lectures and discussions
Readings from the required text should be read by the Monday of the week the reading will be discussed. (See schedule of classes above)

Quizzes, Assignments, and Your Grade: Your grade will be based primarily on
-the six (6) quizzes listed on this syllabus
-a summary of one of the articles listed in Blackboard: /Course Documents/HEL Readings/Articles
-homework that you will hand in
-your attendance and your participation in class.

N.B. on missed quizzes: No makeups will be given for any quiz for any reason whatsoever. You may miss one quiz without penalty. You may miss a second quiz for a legitimate, documented emergency. If you miss more than two quizzes, you will receive zeroes for them. Make-ups for the exams will only be given for emergencies. You will be expected to provide documentation of the emergency.

Please note: Homework is due on the day specified even if you are absent on the day it is assigned. It is your responsibility to know what is due for each class. The BlackBoard course site will be updated weekly to reflect any changes in homework assignments and quizzes. 10% of each homework grade will be deducted for each class meeting that the homework is late.

Office Hours:
Monday: 2pm-4pm
Wednesday: 4:30pm-5:30pm
Phone number: (973) 655-4286
E-mail: fitzpatricke@mail.montclair.edu