This course offers an introduction (from Lat. intro + ducere, ‘to lead in’) to the history of the English language, from its genesis to modern contexts in the United States. We’ll begin with a broad approach to language study and then proceed to a survey of the major periods, from Old English to Modern English, with attention to the salient features of each stage. We’ll also review more general trends, including written versus oral communication, language death, ASL, regional/dialectical variation, pr*f@nity, and changes relevant to the sounds (phonology), the forms of words and their endings (morphology), the sentence structure (syntax), the spelling (orthography), the meanings of words (semantics), and the vocabulary of English (lexicon).
Classes include lectures and discussions based on ‘old’ and ‘new’ features of the English language. I’ll use a number of resources to make various features of the language visual and audible, including images of primitive communication (e.g. cuneiform), manuscript facsimiles, reproductions of early books (e.g. Bibles and dictionaries), short films on features of language, occasional forays into Youtube (for context and comic-relief), and clips of Medieval English and Modern English accents to emphasize the importance of sound in the development of English.
RESOURCES:
Cover Sheet 1 on "Language Origins"
Cover Sheet 2 on "Writing & Alphabet"
Cover Sheet 3 on "Sounds of English"