A+History+of+the+English+Language

AHistoryoftheEnglishLanguageLecture:Duration:8weeksIntroduction–LearningthehistoryofEnglish•Why•What•How–CoursePlanLearningthehistoryofEnglish–Whyisitnecessary?–Whattolearninthiscourse?–HowtolearnthehistoryofEnglish?Why?•Englishisalivinglanguage•ToknowEnglishistoknowitasawhole•ThehistoryofEnglishcanbeasampleforthestudiesofthelanguagechangeWhattolearn?•HistoricaleventsandtheireffectsonthedevelopmentofEnglish•ThechangeofEnglish:form&meaning•ThreestagesinthedevelopmentofEnglish:OldEnglish,MiddleEnglishandModernEnglishHowtolearn•Lecturesattending•Participatingdiscussion•Readingreferences•DoingresearchCoursePlan•Topics1.BriefintroductionofthehistoryoftheEnglishlanguageandEnglishpresentandfuture2.TheIndo-EuropeanFamilyofLanguages3.OldEnglish4.MiddleEnglish5.EarlyModernEnglish6.TheSeventeenthandtheEighteenthCenturyEnglish7.TheNineteenthandtheTwentiethCenturyEnglish8.TheEnglishLanguageinAmericaFinaltest?TheHistoryoftheEnglishLanguage—•aCulturalSubject•Somethingofthestructureofhisherlanguage,itspositionintheworld,itsrelationtoothertongues,thewealthofitsvocabulary,complexrelationshipsamongthemanydifferentvarietiesofspeech,etcInfluencesatWorkonLanguage•TheEnglishlanguageoftodayreflectsmanycenturiesofdevelopment.•ThepoliticalandsocialeventsthathaveinthecourseofEnglishhistorysoprofoundlyaffectedtheEnglishpeopleintheirnationallifehavegenerallyhadarecognizableeffectontheirlanguage.--broughtEnglandintocontactwithLatincivilizations,aconsiderablemixtureofthetwopeoplesandtheirlanguages--madeEnglishfortwocenturiesthelanguagemainlyofthelowerclasseswhilethenoblesandthoseassociatedwiththemusedFrenchonalmostalloccasions.•theHundredYears’War•theriseofanimportantmiddleclass•theRenaissance•thedevelopmentofEnglandasamaritimepower•theexpansionoftheBritishEmpire•thegrowthofcommerceandindustryGrowthandDecay•English,likeallotherlanguages,issubjecttothatconstantgrowthanddecaythatcharacterizeallformsoflife.•aslivingandasdead•adeadlanguage(e.g.Latin)TheLanguageChange•Vocabulary•Pronunciationandphonologicalsystem•Wordorder•Casesystem•OrthographicalfeaturesChangeofvocabulary•Constantchangeofalanguagecanbemosteasilyseeninthevocabulary--Oldwordsdieout,newwordsareadded,andexistingwordschangetheirmeaning.•se,pa,twegen,hys,syle,…•nice–foolish•rheumatism–acoldintheheadChangeofpronunciation•stān—stone•cū—cow•niht(night):hit(oldEnglish)•Fyue(five):sleevefeeldes(fields):failedus(MiddleEnglish)ChangeinWordOrder•‘anditputtoflight’andputittoflight•‘itafterrode’rodeafterit•‘thengivethearmyhimhostages’thenthearmygavehimhostages•‘promisedthattheirkingbaptismreceivewould’promisedthattheirkingwouldreceivebaptismOldEnglish•Fæderureþuþeeartonheofonumsiþinnamagehalgodtobecumeþinricegewurþeþinwillaoneorðanswaswaonheofonumurnegedæghwamlicanhlafsyleustodægandforgyfusuregyltasswaswaweforgyfaðurumgyltendumandnegelædþuusoncostnungeacalysusofyfelesoþlice.MiddleEnglish•Ourefadirþatartinheueneshalwidbeþiname;þireumeorkyngdomcometobe.Beþiwilledoninherþeasitisdouninheuene.yeuetoustodayoureechedayesbred.Andforyeuetousouredettisþatisouresynnysasweforyeuentoouredettourisþatistomenþathansynnedinus.Andledeusnotintotemptacionbutdelyuereusfromeuyl.EarlyModernEnglish•Ourfatherwhichartinheauen,hallowedbethyname.Thykingdomcome.Thywillbedoneinearthasitisinheauen.Giueusthisdayourdailybread.Andforgiueusourdebtsasweforgiueourdebters.Andleadusnotintotemptation,butdeliuerusfromeuill.Amen.-----(KingJamesVersion,1611)AssetsofEnglish•Cosmopolitanvocabulary(mixedcharacterofitsvocabulary):•Englishshareswiththeselanguagessimilargrammaticalstructureandmanycommonwords.•EnglishpresentsasomewhatfamiliarappearancetoanyonewhospeakseitheraGermanicorRomancelangauge.•Wedonotfeel“foreign”aboutthewordsdirectlyorindirectlyborrowedfromtheotherlanguages.•Borrowingfrom–Latin:animal,deficit,exit,extra,item,logic,pope–French:art,beauty,dinner,dress,jail,napkin,passion–Greek:comedy,climax,dialogue,drama,episode–Spanish:adobe,canyon,cigar,guerilla,plaza,vanilla–German:angst,kindergarten,pretzel,sauerkraut,spiel–Italian:attitude,balcony,opera,piano,tempo,umbrella–Persian:paradise,khaki,van,pyjamas,–Arabic:algorithem,algebra,minaret,sultan•Englishhasassimilatedtheeheterogeneouselementssosuccessfullythatonlytheprofessionalsoflanguageisawareoftheirorigin.AssetsofEnglish•Inflectionalsimplicity(simplificationofmorphologicalandsyntacticsystem)•Sanskrit,Greek,Latinhaveinflectionsofthenoun,theadjective,theverbandthepronounthatarenotlongerfoundinRussianorFrenchorGerman.SimplifiedEnglish•e.g.-inflectionsinthenoun,adjective,verb(noun)reducedtoasignofthepluralandafromforthepossessivecase(adjective)onlycomparativeandthesuperlativedegrees(verb)lossofallthepersonalendings,subjunctivemood-complicatedagreementsThecomplicatedagreementsthatmakeGermandifficultforthenon-nativespeakerareabsentfromEnglish.-naturalgender(ratherthangrammaticalgender)Europeanlanguages:everynounhasmeaning&genderRomancelanguages(2genders):masculine(m)&feminine(f)German:sonne(sun)→fmond(moon)→mkind(child)mädchen(maiden)neuterweib(wife)Thegenderaffectsofpro