Course title: History of the English Language
Summer term
ECTS: 5 points
Course convenor: Dr Mateusz Milan Stanojević
Lecturer: Dr Mateusz Milan Stanojević
Language: English
Term: Second term of graduate studies
Requisites: Attending this course does not require any requisites, except being enrolled in the term in which the course is given.
Course format: 4 lecture classes a week
Objective: Gaining an insight into the development of the English language and its characteristics in relation to society and its development. This is a general educational course for all students of English.
Contents: The course gives an overview of social happenings and their interplay with the language use, from settling the British Isle to this day, as well as an overview of the most important factors that cause changes or stop them.
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Week |
Topic |
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1 |
Introduction, Syllabus, Aims, Grading. Expectations. Why study history of languages. Why study the history of English? Perspectives: multiple languages, single language. Internal and external history of languages. Types of changes that can be studied with examples: vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation. Factors that influence language change. |
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Types of changes that can be studied with examples: vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation. Factors that influence language change. How to study changes – methodologies and theories. Different importance given to different factors depending on the theory. |
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2 |
External history: reading from McIntire. the OE period, the ME period |
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External history: reading from McIntire. the ME, the EModE period. |
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3 |
OE: examples of OE texts: deciphering, understanding, translating. Grammatical characteristics of OE texts. |
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OE: examples of OE texts: deciphering, understanding, translating. Grammatical characteristics of OE texts. Comparison with PDE. |
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4 |
Case studies: reading OE texts, and focusing on a selected aspect based on research papers. Possible topics: OE literature and its role/importance; Everyday life in the period; Uses of tense/aspect; OE lexicon, OE pronunciation and the way it can be studied, etc. |
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Case studies: reading OE texts, and focusing on a selected aspect based on research papers. |
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5 |
Case studies: reading OE texts, and focusing on a selected aspect based on research papers. |
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Presenting case studies. |
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6 |
Presenting case studies. |
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Intermezzo: comparing different languages, language families, reconstruction. |
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7 |
Intermezzo: OE vs other Germanic languages; reconstructions and extensions |
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ME: external history (revision). Comparing ME and OE texts: basic similarities and differences. |
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8 |
Reading ME texts: understanding, deciphering, translating. Using ME dictionaries. Basic descriptions of ME vocabulary, syntax, pronunciation. |
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Case studies: ME. Grammar, metaphor, life, vocabulary change, grammaticalization. Using ME corpora and dictionaries. |
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9 |
Case studies: ME. Grammar, metaphor, life, vocabulary change, grammaticalization. Using ME corpora and dictionaries. |
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Case studies: ME. Grammar, metaphor, life, vocabulary change, grammaticalization. Using ME corpora and dictionaries. |
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10 |
Presenting case studies. |
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Presenting case studies. |
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11 |
Guest lecture: OE and ME literature and its importance for culture/literature today. |
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Revision of external history: Early Modern English. Caxton and printing. Emergence of Standard English. |
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12 |
Early Modern English: Shakespeare. Standardization: dictionaries, grammars. Prescriptivism |
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Late Modern English. Industrialization. Englishes, colonialism, pidgins. |
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13 |
Variation in constructions, tense use, vocabulary in the Modern English Period. Using COHA. |
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COHA: case studies. |
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14 |
COHA: case studies. |
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Language change/variation today: the influence of new technologies and globalization. Written vs. spoken language. Affordances. Case studies in language change: new technologies. |
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15 |
English as a Lingua Franca: a variety or variation in progress? The native speaker issue, the issue of native culture. The importance of power in establishing language and the language narrative. |
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Revision: key vocabulary, the whys and hows of language change. |
Class methods and procedures:
Students should regularly attend classes and participate in class discussions.
Evaluation:
Exam 70 %
Seminar papers 30 %
Compulsory literature:
– McIntyre, Dan. 2009. History of English. A resource book for students. Routledge. London.
– Baugh, Albert C. and Cable, Thomas. 2002. A History of the English Language. Fifth Edition. Routledge. London.
Additional literature:
– Freeborn, Dennis. 1998. From Old English to Standard English. Second Edition. Palgrave. Houndmills.