Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion [Hardcover]

Roger Lass (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0521430879 | ISBN-13: 978-0521430876 | Publication Date: March 25, 1994

Old English is a companion to Old English studies and to historical studies of early English in general. Professor Roger Lass makes accessible in a linguistically up-to-date and readable form the Indo-European and Germanic background to Old English, as well as what can be reconstructed about the resulting state of Old English itself. He bridges the gap between elementary Old English grammars and the major philological grammars and recent interpretations of Old English data.

Editorial Reviews

Review

."..a remarkably useful and informative book for those who are reaching beyond the introductory OE grammers but are somewhat daunted by the meticulous detail and stilted presentation of the standard handbooks. The information in this book is presented clearly and concisely, and contains numerous tables and figures to better illustrate important points of phonological and morphological change in OE and other Germanic languages..." WORD

Book Description

Bridging the gap between elementary Old English grammars and the major philological grammars and recent interpretations of Old English data, this work renders accessible the Indo-European and Germanic background to Old English in a linguistically up-to-date and readable form.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press (March 25, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521430879
• ISBN-13: 978-0521430876
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,895,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lass provides a complete source-book for Old Enlgish grammar, July 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion (Paperback)

Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion is a choice book for those who need accurate and concise information on OE grammar. One of the major strengths of this book is its diachronic view of the grammar. Lass does not treat Old English as a language in isolation, but, rather, he guides the reader through the changes from Proto-Indo-European to the English language of the early Middle Ages. Lass focusses primarily on the phonology of Old English, and, at the same time, gives informative analyses of verbal and nominal morphology. However, this book does not constrain itself to structural description. The chapters on Vocabulary and Word-Formation and The Dissolution of Old English give a glimpse into the world of languages in contact and societal change during and prior to the period. Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion is as easy to use as a pocket-grammar and contains the information linguists need in a fully analyzed, succinct manner.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sure to be just as helpful for anyone interested in the entire field of hist. Germanic linguistics as for OE philology students, May 23, 2010

By 

Christopher Culver - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Old English: A Historical Linguistic Companion (Paperback)

Roger Lass' 1994 book OLD ENGLISH: A Historical Linguistic Companion is a rigorous examination of how Old English got to be the way it is, a useful presentation of historical background from Proto-Indo-European through the various stages of Germanic prior to OE proper. It is a book meant for students of Old English who struggle to memorize irregular morphology or who don't understand how English vocabulary ended up looking so different from German or Dutch. Lass lists as examples the following difficulties as matters easily overcome by a knowledge of the historical background:

* Why do certain verbs have double consonants in some parts of the paradigm, and singles elsewhere?

* Why do verbs like sellan "sell", tellan "tell" have preterites sealde, tealde rather than *sellede, *tellede?

* Why do certain strong verbs which historically ought to have the same vocalism not do so? E.g. cl III singan "sing", pret sg sang, but in the same class helpan "help", pret sg healp, and weorpan "throw", pret sg "wearp".

And so on. Lass' look at OE history is mainly divided into Phonology and Morphology. Everything of course should be read in order, since the morphology of OE is so wacky because of all the phonological changes that led up to it. There's also a nice chapter on vocabulary and word formation, as well as a brief look at the "dissolution" of Old English, the changes evident in late OE texts that augur the arrival of Middle English.

As I said, Lass' presentation is rigorous and assumes prior training in linguistics, at least some knowledge of general linguistics and then some acquaintance with the comparative method. If you have worked with something like Hock's classic handbook PRINCIPLES OF HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS, then you will get the most out of Lass' book. The author's tone is clear and friendly, and he's not afraid to present things out of exact chronological order when he knows that the reader will grasp them faster.

I've actually never studied Old English, but being a historical linguist whose native language is English, and being passionate about the development of modern languages out of Proto-Indo-European, I was naturally attracted to Lass' work. I'm very happy that I read it, because it really cleared up a lot of aspects of the Germanic family that I long found difficult. In fact, I was able to make faster progress through an Old Norse course after reading Lass' book, so I think OLD ENGLISH: A Historical Linguistic Companion is not just for those trying to read Old English literature and ought to have a wide appeal.