The English Language: A Linguistic History

Leslie Arnovick and Laurel J. Brinton

Oxford University Press

2016

The English Language is an essential survey of the development of the language from its Indo-European past to the present day. The early chapters introduce students to the fundamental concepts they will need in order to understand phonological, morphological, syntactic, orthographic, semantic, and lexical changes in the language, before tracing the language’s development through each of its major periods. The second edition offers enhanced discussion of such cutting-edge topics as the effects of media on language; the socio-cultural causes of change; computer-mediated communications; text messaging; and the sources and dialects of present day English. Current and in-depth, with a new quick reference guide and a comprehensive timeline of major events, the second edition is a compelling, invaluable resource on the history of the English language.

 

 

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About the Authors

Leslie Arnovick and Laurel J. Brinton

Leslie Arnovick teaches History of the English Language; Structure of English; Old English; English Grammar and Usage. She is currently at work on a monograph exploring the interaction among Old English religious vernacular forms such as sermons and charms and Catholic liturgical prayers.

Laurel Brinton is a specialist in the English Language, with a focus on the history of English. My particular areas of interest include English historical linguistics, historical pragmatics (discourse markers), grammaticalization and lexicalization, phrasal verbs and composite predicates, corpus linguistics, and aspectual studies. She is the co-author of two textbooks, one on the structure of modern English and one on the history of English, as well as the author of monographs on aspect, pragmatic markers, comment clauses, and lexicalization.

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