Filipp S. Readings in the History of the English Language

Balti: Balti State University Alecu Russo, 2012. — 218 p.The present readings in the History of the English Language are based on texts and illustration materials by such well known authors in the given area as, Thomas Pyles and John Algeo, Rolf Berndt, Leslie Blakeley, Bill Bryson, Bright Viney, Ilyish B., Rastorgueva T., Arakin V., Adrian Poruciuc and others. Also, class materials on the History of English from the Institute for Applied Language Studies, University of Edinburgh, as well as maps and illustrations from Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia (2002) and Wikipedia Encyclopedia were used.
The main purpose of the course History of the English Language is to familiarize the students with the main aspects of the History of the English Language in order to broaden their understanding of modern English and to acquaint them with the fundamentals of its historical development; to identify similarities and divergencies in the evolution of English and other Indo-European languages with the aim of expanding the students‘ knowledge of the present day correspondencies and differencenes between the related languages and of their provenance. The course will describe the state of the language during the initial periods of its development and it will provide an understanding of the ways in which the English language has changed since its origin. Finally, the course will present a more comprehencive picture of the language system as a whole at a given period of development, of its diverse sub-systems and of their intercorrelations.
The students can be highly motivated if they realize that much of the Old English phonetics, syntax and vocabulary are assimilated in Modern English and can be applied to help them. Besides, the students will learn much more willingly if they understand that the knowledge of Old and Middle English is helpful to clarify the peculiarities of Modern English.Another important result of the study of the History of English is that the students are introduced to the subject of Comparative Philology in the following succession: Indo-European (IE) — Proto Germanic (PG) — West Germanic (WG) — Old English (OE) — Middle English (ME) — New English (NE) — Modern English (MdE). In such a way the students will become well aware of the ways in which languages undergo changes, as the best way to master Modern English is to understand the changes which took place in the earliest periods in order to account for the numerous exceptions of present day English. The students will try to understand the regularities of changes and main tendencies of development, rather than just learn different rules and forms by heart. They should discover that this greatly reinforces the interest in the subject.
The course treats two main aspects of the English Language — the Phonetic and the Grammatical Systems, regarded separately through the main periods in the development of the English Language (Old English — Middle English — New English). The course begins with generalities about Germanic Languages and their main characteristics (Lectures I-II). Next, the course focuses on the significant changes and the causes that lead to them and that affected the entire phonetic system (Lectures III-VIII). Also, here are singled out the peculiarities of the English spelling system, demonstrating how it evolved that way. Lectures IX-XIV present a description of the Grammatical System revealing the essential changes in the structure of English that gradually contributed to the transformation of the English Language from a purely synthetic type into an analytic one. The development of the vocabulary throughout the main periods of language evolution is suggested for independent study (reading sources are presented).
The chosen method, namely that of regarding the phonological, morphologico-syntactic and lexical systems separately through the main periods of historical development of the language, beginning with its origins up to the modern stage, seems the most appropriate procedure. It is expected that namely this method will permit a better understanding of the course.Preliminaries.
The Subject and Aims of the History of English. Germanic Languages. The Old Teutons (Germans).
The Main Peculiarities of the Germanic Languages.
Chronological Division in the History of the English Language. Historical Background of English. Old English Alphabet.
Old English Phonetic System.
Middle English Historical Background. Middle English Dialects. Written Records. Main Linguistic Peculiarities.
Evolution of the Sound System in Middle English.
New EnglishHistorical Background. Formation of the National Language. Expansion of English.
Development of the Phonetic System in New English.
Development of the Grammatical System (OE-ME-NE) Preliminary Remarks. Parts of Speech and Grammatical Categories.
The Noun (OE-ME-NE).
The Pronoun (OE-ME-NE).
The Adjective (OE-ME-NE).
The Adverb (OE-ME-NE).
The Verb (OE-ME-NE).
Development of the Vocabulary During Three Main Periods in the Development of the English Language.
Supplement.
Bibliography.