Klappentext

Comprehensive and balanced, this classic exploration of the history of the English language combines internal linguistic history and external cultural history-from the Middle Ages to the present. Students are encouraged to develop both an understanding of present-day English and an enlightened attitude toward questions affecting the language today.

Inhalt

Preface

1 English Present and Future

1.·The History of the English Language a Cultural Subject.··2. Influences at Work on Language.··3. Growth and Decay.··4. The Importance of a Language.··5. The Importance of English.··6. The Future of the English Language: Demography.··7. External and Internal Aspects of English.*··8. Cosmopolitan Vocabulary.··9. Inflectional Simplicity.··10. Natural Gender.*

2 The Indo-**European Family of Languages **

11. Language Constantly Changing.··12. Dialectal Differentiation. 13. The Discovery of Sanskrit.··14. Grimm's Law.··15. The Indo-*European Family.··16. Indian.··17. Iranian. 18. Armenian.··19. Hellenic.··20. Albanian.··21. Italic.· 22. Balto-Slavic.··23. Germanic.··24. Celtic.··25. Twentieth-century Discoveries. 26. The Home of the Indo-Europeans.*

3 Old English

27. The Languages in England before English.··28. The Romans in Britain.··29. The Roman Conquest.··30. Romanization of the Island.··31. The Latin Language in Britain.··32. The Germanic Conquest.··33. Anglo-*Saxon Civilization.··34. The Names “England” and “English.”··35. The Origin and Position of English.··36. The Periods in the History of English.··37. The Dialects of Old English.··38. Old English Pronunciation.··39. Old English Vocabulary.··40. Old English Grammar.··41. The Noun.··42. Grammatical Gender.··43. The Adjective.··44. The Definite Article.··45. The Personal Pronoun.··46. The Verb.··47. The Language Illustrated.··48. The Resourcefulness of the Old English Vocabulary.··49. Self-explaining Compounds.··50. Prefixes and Suffixes.··51. Syntax and Style.··52. Old English Literature.*

4 Foreign Influences on Old English

53. The Contact of English with Other Languages.··54. The Celtic Influence.··55. Celtic Place-*Names and Other Loanwords.··56. Three Latin Influences on Old English.··57. Chronological Criteria.··58. Continental Borrowing (Latin Influence of the Zero Period).··59. Latin through Celtic Transmission (Latin Influence of the First Period).··60. Lat in Influence of the Second Period: The Christianizing of Britain.··61. Effects of Christianity on English Civilization.··62. The Earlier Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary.··63. The Benedictine Reform.··64. Influence of the Benedictine Reform on English.··65. The Application of Native Words to New Concepts.··66. The Extent of the Influence.··67. The Scandinavian Influence: The Viking Age.··68. The Scandinavian Invasions of England.··69. The Settlement of the Danes in England.··70. The Amalgamation of the Two Peoples.··71. The Relation of the Two Languages.··72. The Tests of Borrowed Words.··73. Scandinavian Place-Names.··74. The Earliest Borrowing.··75. Scandinavian Loanwords and Their Character.··76. The Relation of Borrowed and Native Words.··77. Form Words.··78. Scandinavian Influence outside the Standard Speech.··79. Effect on Grammar and Syntax.··80. Period and Extent of the Influence.*

5 The Norman Conquest and the Subjection of English, 1066-1200

81. The Norman Conquest.··82. The Origin of Normandy.··83. The Year 1066.··84. The Norman Settlement.··85. The Use of French by the Upper Class.··86. Circumstances Promoting the Continued Use of French.··87. The Attitude toward English.··88. French Liter*ature at the English Court.··89. Fusion of the Two Peoples.··90. The Diffusion of French and English.··91. Knowledge of English among the Upper Class.··92. Knowledge of French among the Middle Class.*

**6 The Reestablishment of English, 1200-1500 &n…