ESCLANDA, Maria Carmela Rachel G.

English Historical Linguistics: PR1

PhD English Professor: Dr. Amelita Balagtas

Book Description

The English Language: A Linguistic History surveys the

development of the English language from its Indo-
European past to the present day. It covers the entire
history of the English language beginning with its
prehistoric origins in Proto-Indo-European and includes
thorough coverage of its four major periods: Old English,
Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English.

The third edition features enhanced discussion of the

socio-historical and cultural contexts of the English
language in the new "Language in Context" features in
each chapter. Brief timelines of historical events also now
appear at the beginning of relevant chapters,
supplementing the comprehensive timeline (linguistic,
literary, historical, and social) found in the appendices.
Discussion of new approaches to the history of English,
such as historical pragmatics and historical
sociolinguistics, have been added or expanded along with
new debates, such as the current work on the Proto-Indo-
Europeans or the status of English as a global language or
second language. A new appendix includes an anthology
of specimen texts from the four major periods of English,
chosen for their use of colloquial and non-literary
language.

Reference:

Brinton, L.J. & Arnovick, L. K. (2017). The english

language: a linguistic history. Third Edition.Oxford.
ISBN: 9780199019151
Book Description

Sociolinguistics provides a powerful instrument by

which we can interpret the contemporary and near-
contemporary use of language in relation to the society in
which speakers live. Almost since the beginning of the
discipline, however, attempts have been made to
extrapolate backwards and interpret past linguistic change
sociolinguistically. Some of these findings have influenced
the discussion of the history of the English language as
portrayed in the many textbooks for undergraduate
courses. A consistent application of sociolinguistic theory
and findings has rarely been attempted, however, despite
the specialist literature which demonstrates this
connection at specific points in the language's
development.This textbook provides students with a
means by which a previously existing knowledge of a
linear, narrative, history of English can be deepened by a
more profound understanding of the sociolinguistic forces
which initiate or encourage language change. Uniquely, it
discusses not only the central variationist tendencies
present in language change and their analysis but also the
macrosociolinguistic forces which act upon all speakers
and their language. Chapters investigate the political,
cultural and economic forces which affect a society's use
of and views on language; language contact, language
standardisation and linguistic attrition are also covered.
Discussion is illustrated throughout by apposite examples
from the history of English. The volume enables students
to develop a deeper understanding of both sociolinguistics
and historical linguistics; it is also be useful as a primer
for postgraduate study in the subjects covered.

Reference:

Millar, R.M. (2012). English historical sociolinguistics.

ISBN: 9780748641802
Book Description

Providing an ideal introduction to historical semantics, this

book offers graduate students and advanced undergraduate students
in linguistics an accessible overview of the structural and cognitive
approaches to English historical semantics. Focusing primarily on
Lexical Semantics, the study of word meaning, the book looks at
how such studies help to answer two key questions in Historical
Linguistics: how and why languages change.

Considering changes both in the meanings of individual word

forms and in larger areas of the lexicon, English Historical Semantics
illustrates how data can be found and analysed, and explores how
Lexical Semantics interacts with other areas of linguistics. In
particular, the book describes in detail two of the most essential
resources in this field: the Oxford English Dictionary and the
Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary. By using
corpus data to study historical semantics, this book offers a solid
grounding in the basic methodology of how to analyse corpus data,
providing students with the tools to explore new words entering the
language, and to study language change.

With extended case studies including colour and kinship terms,

suggestions for further reading, and exercises designed to stimulate
reflection and test understanding, this textbook is an invaluable
resource and practical guide designed to help students navigate this
large and fascinating field.

Edinburgh Textbooks on The English Language - Advanced

Series Editor: Heinz Giegerich

Books in this series provide readers with a detailed description

and explanation of key areas in English Language study. The authors
presuppose a basic working knowledge of the topic and explore
aspects of the linguistics of English for an intermediate or advanced
student readership.

Reference:

Kay, C. & Allan, K. (2015). English Historical Semantics. ISBN:

9780748644773
Book Description

This book of new work by leading international scholars

considers developments in the study of diachronic linguistics and
linguistic theory, including those concerned with the very definition
of language change in the biolinguistic framework, parametric
change in a minimalist conception of grammar, the tension between
the observed gradual nature of language change and the binary
nature of parameters, and whether syntactic change can be
triggered internally or requires the external stimuli produced by
phonological or morphological change or through language contact.
It then tests their value and applicability by examining syntactic
change at different times and in a wide range of languages, including
German, Chinese, Dutch, Sanskrit, Egyptian, Norwegian, old Italian,
Portuguese, English, the Benue-Kwa languages of Niger-Congo,
Catalan, Spanish, and old French. The book is divided into three
parts devoted to (i) theoretical issues in historical syntax; (ii)
external (such as contact and interference) and internal
(grammatical) sources of morphosynactic change; and (iii)
parameter setting and reanalysis.

Reference:

Crisma, P. & Longobardi, G. (2009). English Historical Semantics.

Oxford Sociolinguistics. ISBN: 9780199560547
 Book Description

All languages change, just as other aspects of human society

are constantly changing. This book is an introduction to the concepts
and techniques of diachronic linguistics, the study of language
change over time. It covers all themajor areas of historical
linguistics, presenting concepts in a clear and concise way. Examples
are given from a wide range of languages, with special emphasis on
the languages of Australia and the Pacific. While the needs of
undergraduate students of linguistics have been kept firmly in mind,
the book will also be of interest to the general reader seeking to
understand langauge and language change.

For this fourth edition, a number of new sections have been

written, including many new problems and several datasets. Existing
materials have been supplemented with new sections on
grammaticalization, tonogenesis, morphological change, and using
statistical methods in language classification.

Reference:

Crowley, T. & Bowern, C. (2010). An Introduction to Historical

Linguistics. Fourth Edition. ISBN: 9780195365542

Reflection:
This essay will try to establish how I accomplished a relative level of understanding through my studies.
I will try to highlight some of the points that stuck in my mind regarding linguistics while giving a little insight
into the further ideas into the subject. To begin with, would be to give my general view of linguistics. So, as I
researched I found that linguistics is the study of human languages, where within this the science examines not
only the structure of language but also its use and the structure in the mind. A layman may think that a linguist,
the person who is skilled in linguistics, only looks at rules and grammar, but it is so much more than this. A
learner of linguistics then would be amazed how many branches of linguistics have been created. So, without
language where would we be?

My first recognizable factor about the classes was the highlighting of daily use of language which has to
be the main dynamic in anyone’s scaffolding of knowledge. The more any speaker uses it, the more they will be
able to use their fresh available knowledge of language.

I feel my reading has taken in many factors and has shown me that linguistics is a broad church. I was
asked yesterday where the word ‘Santa Claus’ came from, and then I remembered I read about it in a book
called the Tower of Babel by John McWhorter who is famous for studying creoles. In it, he spoke about how it
was a Dutch word, Sinterklaas, where immigrants coming to America and following their tradition they spoke
about it and Americans misheard the word to be Santa Claus. This field of study in linguistics is actually called
‘Etymology’ where it recognizes the origins of words and sees how they have changed over time. I actually
picked up the Tower of Babel book because I had read one of my group’s summaries from the book
‘Introduction to Linguistics’.

Moreover, the chapter in the Introduction to Linguistics book spoke about how words have changed
through time. They called it variation; this means that languages take on their own route. English people
especially in the northern region took the word ‘butter’ and pronounced it with the ‘er’. Other regions say
‘butta’ but other words are not so easy to understand such as ‘Owt and Nowt’. For me, this course has
highlighted that linguistics is not just about grammar. Language takes on its own form and even one language
like English below the surface lies a myriad of factors that are distinguished by linguists. For example, I read
that language which was described by Ronald Langacker who is a founder of the field of cognitive linguistics,
makes three fundamental assumptions: ‘that language is symbolic in nature that a linguistic community creates
linguistic conventions, and that grammar is a speaker’s knowledge of linguistic conventions’. So, this gave me a
better insight into the linguistic community creating the language and grammar. The speaker uses sentences that
are built by selecting appropriate words from their vast lexicon that are learnt from his local language
community.
ESCLANDA, Maria Carmela Rachel G. English Historical Linguistics: PR2

PhD English Professor: Dr. Amelita Balagtas

A Brief History of Old English

When the Anglo-Saxons first came to England from northern Germany (Saxony) in the fifth and sixth
centuries, they brought their language with them. It is a Germanic language and has some fundamental
similarities to Modern German.

If Anglo-Saxon had then developed undisturbed for several centuries we might have no more trouble
reading an Old English text than we do reading something written by Chaucer at the end of the fourteenth
century (students can start reading Chaucer with no special linguistic instruction, although they may need the
help of footnotes for the first few weeks of a course).

But political and cultural events changed the Anglo-Saxon language into the language we speak today.

The most important influence upon the language was the Norman Conquest of 1066, when William the
Conqueror, a prince of Normandy (a part of France) conquered England. William made French the official
language of the aristocracy and the law courts. Anglo-Norman French was an elite language, and the common
people did not necessarily learn it as children, but it was the official language of the nation.

Over the next two centuries, however, Anglo-Norman French mixed with Anglo-Saxon, probably
because the children of the Norman-French aristocracy were being raised by servants who spoke Anglo-Saxon
among themselves. Eventually the two languages blended together, mixing the grammars and vocabularies of
Anglo-Norman and Anglo-Saxon. This mixture, which was also influenced by the Latin used by the Church,
became the language we recognize as Middle English, the language of Chaucer, William Langland, and the
anonymous poet who wrote Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

But as you can see by reading even a brief passage from Chaucer, Chaucer's language is not our
language. Around the year 1500, a linguistic event called "The Great Vowel Shift" occurred. No one really
knows why, though there are many speculations, but within a generation or so the pronunciation of Middle
English vowels was rearranged. For example, the "ee" sound in Chaucer's word "sweete" (pronounced to rhyme
with "eight") became the "ee" sound in Modern English "sweet." Also the "i" in "April," which is Chaucer's
time was pronounced to rhyme with Modern English "peel" became the short "i" sound in Modern English
"April." All the vowels were rearranged in a complex pattern discussed in more detail in the Appendix on
Phonology.

Once this vowel shift is complete, we have Early Modern English and, soon after, Modern English. Thus
while Chaucer takes some getting used to, students can successfully read the writings of Shakespeare with no
formal instruction in his language; our language, for all the new words added and changes in manners and style,
is essentially the same as Shakespeare's. We could have understood Shakespeare, and he would have understand
us, but he could not have understood the Anglo-Saxon writer Ælfric, even though approximately the same
amount of time separates Ælfric from Shakespeare as separates Shakespeare from us.
 Despite the differences between Old English and Modern English, the language retains a fundamental
kinship to our own. Thus students can expect to find learning Old English to be somewhat easier than learning a
new "foreign" language such as Spanish or French. A semester's worth of hard work should be enough to give a
student the ability to translate Old English poetry and prose. The key to success in this endeavor is to lay a solid
foundation of grammatical understanding. While at first it may seem easy to "get the general idea" of a passage,
if you take the time to figure out exactly how each word is working in a sentence you will find that the more
complicated Old English sentences that we meet later in the semester will be less difficult to translate than they
otherwise might be.

It is also important for students to realize that this short work is no permanent substitute for an
expansive, detailed grammar book, such as Mitchell and Robinson's A Guide to Old English. King Alfred's
Grammar skips over exceptions to rules, complications of syntax and some subtleties of Old English grammar.
The time in a semester is so short and the number of things worth learning so many that we feel justified in this
simplification. Our purpose is to get students translating great literature as quickly as humanly possible, thus
preparing them for further study in Old English literature and culture.

Middle English language

Middle English language, the vernacular spoken and written in England from about 1100 to about 1500,
the descendant of the Old English language and the ancestor of Modern English.

The history of Middle English is often divided into three periods: (1) Early Middle English, from about
1100 to about 1250, during which the Old English system of writing was still in use; (2) the Central Middle
English period from about 1250 to about 1400, which was marked by the gradual formation of literary dialects,
the use of an orthography greatly influenced by the Anglo-Norman writing system, the loss of pronunciation of
final unaccented -e, and the borrowing of large numbers of Anglo-Norman words; the period was especially
marked by the rise of the London dialect, in the hands of such writers as John Gower and Geoffrey Chaucer;
and (3) Late Middle English, from about 1400 to about 1500, which was marked by the spread of the London
literary dialect and the gradual cleavage between the Scottish dialect and the other northern dialects. During this
period the basic lines of inflection as they appear in Modern English were first established. Among the chief
characteristic differences between Old and Middle English were the substitution of natural gender in Middle
English for grammatical gender and the loss of the old system of declensions in the noun and adjective and,
largely, in the pronoun.

The dialects of Middle English are usually divided into three large groups: (1) Southern (subdivided into
Southeastern, or Kentish, and Southwestern), chiefly in the counties south of the River Thames; (2) Midland
(corresponding roughly to the Mercian dialect area of Old English times) in the area from the Thames to
southern South Yorkshire and northern Lancashire; and (3) Northern, in the Scottish Lowlands,
Northumberland, Cumbria, Durham, northern Lancashire, and most of Yorkshire.

Modern English

Modern English (ModE) can be regarded externally as starting with the introduction of printing.
Caxton’s selection of an East Midlands/London variety of English for the first printed books at the end of the
15th century contributed to the development of a standardised variety of the language, with fixed spelling and
punctuation conventions and accepted vocabulary and grammatical forms.
 The perception of this standard variety as correct, ‘good’ English was also supported by attempts at
codification, notably Johnson’s dictionary and many prescriptive grammars of the 18th century. The vocabulary
of English was consciously elaborated as it came to be used for an increasing variety of purposes, including
translations of classical works rediscovered in the Renaissance, a burgeoning creative literature, and the
description of new scientific activities. Thousands of words were borrowed from Latin and Greek in this period
e.g. education, metamorphosis, critic, conscious.

An internal feature which characterised the movement towards ModE was the Great Vowel Shift – an
important series of linked pronunciation changes which mainly took place between the 15th and 17th centuries.
In ME, the sound system had contained broadly corresponding series of long and short vowels, represented in
writing by the same letters.

For instance, the vowel in caas ‘case’ was simply a longer version of the vowel in blak ‘black’; similarly
mete ‘meat’ (long vowel) and hell (short vowel), or fine (long) and pit (short). In early ModE, people began to
pronounce the long vowels differently from the corresponding short vowels: long e ended up sounding like long
i, leaving a gap in the sound system; this was filled by shifting the pronunciation of long a to sound like long e,
and so on.

These changes were not reflected in ModE spelling, already largely fixed by standardisation, adding to
the disparity between pronunciation and writing which differentiates English today from most other European
languages.

An example of early Modern English can be seen at the start of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, First Folio
(printed 1623)

In the present day, English is used in many parts of the world, as a first, second or foreign language,
having been carried from its country of origin by former colonial and imperial activity, the slave trade, and
recently, economic, cultural and educational prestige.

It continues to change at all linguistic levels, in both standard and non-standard varieties, in response to
external influences (e.g. modern communications technologies; contact with other world languages) and
pressures internal to the language system (e.g. the continuing impulse towards an efficient, symmetrical sound-
system; the avoidance of grammatical ambiguity).

We need not fear or resist such change, though many people do, since the processes operating now are
comparable to those which have operated throughout the observable and reconstructable history of English, and
indeed of all other languages.

Transition of Old English to Modern English

Examination of Old English and modern English seems to indicate that many of the words we
use today find their roots in the vocabulary of Old English. Some estimates claim that about
half of the words used today have their roots in Old English. This should not be that
surprising since English has its roots in the Germanic languages.
Many of the Old English words also came from influence of the Romans and Greeks. These
words were borrowed by the Germanic conquerors and incorporated into Old English. For
example, the following words were adapted from the Romans, Greeks and from Latin:
 Apostle - came from apostol
 Chalk - came from cealc
  Wine - came from win
 Monk - came from munuc
While the spelling is different, the meanings all follow the original words and correspond to
the modern meanings.

Making Up New Words

As the need arose for new words for things that the Germanic conquerors were unfamiliar
with, they would make up words rather than take Germanic words as descriptors.
Two examples of this are the words for astronomy and arithmetic. The invaders made up the
words based on the root word "craeft" which meant an art or science.
 Astronomy became star-craft or tungolcraeft
 Arithmetic became number craft or rimcraeft
Now you know some old English words, their meanings and have a better understanding of
the sources of our language.
Three Periods of English Language
English is often broken into three separate and distinct periods:
 Old English
 Middle English
 Modern English
Old English
Prior to the beginnings of English, the inhabitants of Great Britain spoke primarily Celtic languages. During the
later part of the 5th century, three tribes invaded England from Western Germany and Denmark. These tribes
spoke a similar language that, over the years, developed into Old English. Old English survived until the
Norman invasion in 1066 by William the Conqueror. Following the invasion and conquest, the English
language entered the period of Middle English.
Middle English
The invaders from the northern regions of France brought a form of French with them. The new language
became the official language of the government, trade and the ruling class.
The division of the classes began to include linguistics, with the upper or noble classes speaking French, while
the lower classes spoke Middle English. This continued until the 14th century when English once more became
the common language.
Middle English changed considerably over the centuries to include a number of French words in the vocabulary.
Modern English
Beginning in the 15th century, the transition from Middle English to Modern English began. Much of the
transition was due to the expansion of the British Empire throughout the world and to the development of
printing.
The printing press and increase in publishing of books drove the standardization of the language. Spelling and
grammar was formalized due to the publication of various literary works and pamphlets.
Influence of Old English
Although English grows out of the Germanic languages group, American English also incorporated words and
meanings from both the Spanish and the French. These influences occurred during the colonization of America
from the Spanish explorers and settlements and from the large number of French living in Louisiana.
Reflection:

Language is the most important and the best human ability to communicate what we feel, want and
many others types of expression around the world. The vast majority of humans are born with the ability of
acquire language naturally and improve this ability with the right environment. The Language is a creative
expression used in every aspect of our lives, and has been in constant development since ages. The English
Language is one of the most important languages around the world, and one of the more widespread languages
now a day. English is a Western Germanic language which was born in the Anglo-Saxons kingdoms of
England, its natives speakers are the equivalent of the 5.52% of the entire global population.

The text The English Language is tremendously important for us, as in-training English teachers, for this
text tells us about history of the language and its development through the eras. In relation with the course,
Lexical Analysis, the text takes an important role because in order to know how to define this language and how
English has grown through time, we need to learn about its roots. We also need to take into account the
differences between the Modern English and the Old English, thus we can analyze it and learn why we use
some words or why some words are easy to learn in comparison to others.

In our humble opinion, we think that as future teachers is seriously meaningful to know and learn about
how this language was born and developed, because in order to teach the language to our future possible
students, we need to really know what we are talking, and we need to be able to handle every aspect of the
language we are improving.

References:

Drout, M. D.C.(2005). A Brief History of Old English. King Alfred's Grammar. URL:
http://www.csun.edu/~sk36711/WWW/KAG/ch1.html
Britanica. ( 2016). Middle English language. Science. URL: https://www.britannica.com/science/science