History of English: Between form and function

Timetable

Time & venue: Fridays, 1.15-2.45 pm (13.15-14.45), room 229 in Collegium Heliodori Święcicki

Topics covered:

1. Language change: introduction, types, causes, principles
2. Data, methods, periodisation
3. Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Germanic
4. Road to Old English
5. Old English: writing and phonology
6. Old English: morphosyntax
7. Old English and Latin
8. Old English and Old Norse
9. Middle English: multilingualism
10. Middle English: spelling and phonology
11. Middle English: morphosyntax
12. Middle English: grapho-phonological dialectology
13. Middle English: standardisation

Module aim (aims)

- acquainting students with core concepts related to the development of English from its Pre-Indo-European roots to Middle English (by the fifteenth century) 

- helping students discover links between social and civilisational changes and the evolution of the English language over time

- familiarising students with sources (documentary, material, visual) which provide knowledge about the early stages of English

- helping students identify and explain relationships between the form of the English language and its functions in various historical periods 

Pre-requisites in terms of knowledge, skills and social competences (where relevant)

B2/C1 level of English

Syllabus

The course will proceed as weekly meetings, each devoted to a different aspect of the pre-history and history of English. Students will participate in in-class discussions, interpretations of original historical documents and will engage in problem-solving in response to a modern and/ or historical linguistic problem put forward by the course instructor.

Throughout the semester students will be required to perform a number of activities, which combine problem-solving, data interpretation and self-reflection work. Students enrolled in this course will be assessed on the basis of their scores in regular short quizzes (40% of the final grade), written home assignments (40%) as well as their participation in class activities and attendance (20%).

Reading list

Obligatory (selected passages):

1. Algeo, John. 2010. The origins and development of the English language (6th edition). Wadsworth.
2. Baugh, C.A. & Thomas Cable. 2002. A history of the English language (5th edition). Routledge
3. Johnson, K. 2016. The history of early English: An activity-based approach. Routledge.
4. Hogg, Richard. 2002. An introduction to Old English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
5. Millward, Celia M. & Mary Hayes. 2012. A biography of the English language (3rd edition). Boston: Wadsworth
6. Smith, Jeremy & Simon Horobin. 2002. An introduction to Middle English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Supplementary:

1. Algeo, John. 2004. Problems in the origins and development of the English language (5th edition). Wadsworth 
2. Barber, Charles Laurence. 1997. Early Modern English. Edinburgh University Press.
3. Fisiak, Jacek. 2009. An outline history of English (4th edition). Poznan: SAWW.
4. Graddol, David, Dick. Leith & Joan Swan. 1996. English history, diversity and change. London: Routledge.
5. Mugglestone, Lynda (ed.). 2012. The Oxford history of English (Updated edition). Oxford: Oxford University Press.