This lecture course provides an introduction to the history of the English language, that is, the changes it underwent in the course of thousands of years. The lecture is accompanied by a written course material, and is concluded by a written exam. Slides etc. will be uploaded to this page.
Topics covered:
What is language change? What is relatedness and how do we prove it? Slides1, Slides2
What languages are related to English? Germanic innovations; Slides
the Old English period: external history. (for slides see previous & next point)
Old English: what was the language and its writing like more than a thousand years ago? Slides
More on vocabulary: the days of the week. (for the slides see below under "Changes in the word stock" Slides2)
Middle English: external history. Slides
Middle English: sound changes, grammar and vocabulary. Slides 1, Slides 2
Early Modern English: external history & grammatical changes. Slides
Early Modern English: the Great Vowel Shift; a sample text. Slides
Changes in grammar: reanalysis and analogical change. Slides
Changes in grammar: grammaticalisation; Changes in the word stock. Slides1; Slides2
A short history of historical linguistics. Slides