Smith provides the reader with an accessible synthesis of recent developments in English historical linguistics. His book: Looks at the theory and methodology of linguistic historiography Considers the major changes in writing systems, pronunciation and grammar Provides examples of these changes, such as the standardisation of spellings and accent and the origins of the Great Vowel Shift Focuses on the origins of two non-standard varieties; eighteenth century Scots and twentieth century Black British English. This book will be fascinating reading to students of English Historical linguistics, and will make an original, important and above all, lively contribution to the field.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
[Smith] has interesting things to say.
–Journal of English and Germanic Philology
The text is an insightful survey of some of the problems which characterize the various stages of English. Readers will appreciate the elegance of Smith's agrument....
–IJGLSA Fall 1999
Smith aimed to demonstrate that the history of the English language can be exciting and stimulating, and he was indeed successful. I highly recommend this textbook for adoption in appropriate courses.
–Language, 1998
An Historical Study of English breaks new ground in the historical study of the English language. In an impressive display of erudition and expertise, and using insights from sociolinguistics, pragmatics and historical linguistics, Jeremy Smith explores an array of topics in the history of English, ranging from the interpretation of medieval texts to present-day Black English in Britain.
–James Milroy, Program in Linguistics, University of Michigan
–Journal of English and Germanic Philology
The text is an insightful survey of some of the problems which characterize the various stages of English. Readers will appreciate the elegance of Smith's agrument....
–IJGLSA Fall 1999
Smith aimed to demonstrate that the history of the English language can be exciting and stimulating, and he was indeed successful. I highly recommend this textbook for adoption in appropriate courses.
–Language, 1998
An Historical Study of English breaks new ground in the historical study of the English language. In an impressive display of erudition and expertise, and using insights from sociolinguistics, pragmatics and historical linguistics, Jeremy Smith explores an array of topics in the history of English, ranging from the interpretation of medieval texts to present-day Black English in Britain.
–James Milroy, Program in Linguistics, University of Michigan
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
This book is not a conventional history of English. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
incipient restructuring, localisable texts, variational space, rhyming practice, feminine declensions, linguistic historiography, linguistic atlas, weak masculine, spoken mode, unrounded vowel, linguistic evolution, pronominal system, linguistic change, written mode, inflectional endings, grammatical change, historical linguists, conceptual meaning, internal reconstruction, lexical verb Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old English, Middle English, Present-Day English, Standard English, Southern English, Late West Saxon, Received Pronunciation, Great Vowel Shift, Jamaican Creole, Middle Ages, Old Norse, British Library, Chancery Standard, Present-Day Scots, Northern English, Early Modern English, Bodleian Library, British English, Peterborough Chronicle, Old Northumbrian, Older Scots, Canterbury Tales, West Germanic, American English, Black English Vernacular New!
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
This book is not a conventional history of English. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
incipient restructuring, localisable texts, variational space, rhyming practice, feminine declensions, linguistic historiography, linguistic atlas, weak masculine, spoken mode, unrounded vowel, linguistic evolution, pronominal system, linguistic change, written mode, inflectional endings, grammatical change, historical linguists, conceptual meaning, internal reconstruction, lexical verb Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Old English, Middle English, Present-Day English, Standard English, Southern English, Late West Saxon, Received Pronunciation, Great Vowel Shift, Jamaican Creole, Middle Ages, Old Norse, British Library, Chancery Standard, Present-Day Scots, Northern English, Early Modern English, Bodleian Library, British English, Peterborough Chronicle, Old Northumbrian, Older Scots, Canterbury Tales, West Germanic, American English, Black English Vernacular New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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27
books
cite this book:
See all 27 books citing this book
- The Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer on 9 pages
- Canterbury Tales (Barron's Book Notes) by Chaucer on 8 pages
- Confessio Amantis (Penguin Classics) by Ed. Hugh White John Gower on 5 pages
- The Cambridge History of the English Language, Vol. 6: English in North America (Volume 6) by John Algeo on 4 pages
- Historical Linguistics (Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics) by Theodora Bynon on 4 pages
See all 100 books this book cites
- Kitchen Utensils: Names, Origins, and Definitions Through the Ages by Phillips V. Brooks in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Northern English: A Social and Cultural History by Katie Wales in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Essentials of Early English: Old, Middle and Early Modern English by Jeremy J. Smith in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Essentials of Early English: Old, Middle and Early Modern English by Jeremy J. Smith in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- The English Languages (Canto) by Tom McArthur on page 71, and page 155
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