9780130151667

Comprehensive and balanced, this classic exploration of the history of the English language combines internal linguistic history and external cultural historyfrom the Middle Ages to the present. Emphasis is on the political, social and cultural forces that affect language.Reflects the latest trends and statistics of the last ten years in a revised and updated chapter 1, English Present and Future. Provides a new section on Gender Issues and Linguistic Change in Chapter 10. Includes a thorough revision of Chapter 11, The English Language in America, including updated material on African American Vernacular English. Discusses Black English and varieties of English in Africa and Asia, as well as varieties in the United States, Australia, and Canada. Includes a map of American dialects. Provides examples of twentieth-century vocabulary.For multilingual readers or anyone who wishes to develop a well-rounded understanding of present-day English.

Preface

xiii

English Present and Future

1

(17)

The History of the English Language a Cultural Subject

Influences at Work on Language

Growth and Decay

The Importance of a Language

The Importance of English

The Future of the English Language

English as a World Language

Assets and Liabilities

Cosmopolitan Vocabulary

Inflectional Simplicity

Natural Gender

Liabilities

The Indo-European Family of Languages

18

(25)

Language Constantly Changing

Dialectal Differentiation

The Discovery of Sanskrit

Grimm's Law

The Indo-European Family

Indian

Iranian

Armenian

Hellenic

Albanian

Italic

Balto-Slavic

Germanic

Celtic

Twentieth-century Discoveries

The Home of the Indo-Europeans

Old English

43

(31)

The Languages in England before English

The Romans in Britain

The Roman Conquest

Romanization of the Island

The Latin Language in Britain

The Germanic Conquest

Anglo-Saxon Civilization

The Names ``England'' and ``English''

The Origin and Position of English

The Periods in the History of English

The Dialects of Old English

Some Characteristics of Old English

The Noun

Grammatical Gender

The Adjective

The Definite Article

The Personal Pronoun

The Verb

The Language Illustrated

The Resourcefulness of the Old English Vocabulary

Self-explaining Compounds

Prefixes and Suffixes

Old English Syntax

Old English Literature

Foreign Influences on Old English

74

(34)

The Contact of English with Other Languages

The Celtic Influence

Celtic Place-Names and Other Loanwords

Three Latin Influences on Old English

Chronological Criteria

Continental Borrowing (Latin Influence of the Zero Period)

Latin through Celtic Transmission (Latin Influence of the First Period)

Latin Influence of the Second Period: The Christianizing of Britain

Effects of Christianity on English Civilization

The Earlier Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary

The Benedictine Reform

Influence of the Benedictine Reform on English

The Application of Native Words to New Concepts

The Extent of the Influence

The Scandinavian Influence: The Viking Age

The Scandinavian Invasions of England

The Settlement of the Danes in England

The Amalgamation of the Two Peoples

The Relation of the Two Languages

The Tests of Borrowed Words

Scandinavian Place-Names

The Earliest Borrowing

Scandinavian Loanwords and Their Character

The Relation of Borrowed and Native Words

Form Words

Scandinavian Influence outside the Standard Speech

Effect on Grammar and Syntax

Period and Extent of the Influence

The Norman Conquest and the Subjection of English, 1066--1200

108

(19)

The Norman Conquest

The Origin of Normandy

The Year 1066

The Norman Settlement

The Use of French by the Upper Class

Circumstances Promoting the Continued Use of French

The Attitude toward English

French Literature at the English Court

Fusion of the Two Peoples

The Diffusion of French and English

Knowledge of English among the Upper Class

Knowledge of French among the Middle Class

The Reestablishment of English, 1200--1500

127

(31)

Changing Conditions after 1200

The Loss of Normandy

Separation of the French and English Nobility

French Reinforcements

The Reaction against Foreigners and the Growth of National Feeling

French Cultural Ascendancy in Europe

English and French in the Thirteenth Century

Attempts to Arrest the Decline of French

Provincial Character of French in England

The Hundred Years' War

The Rise of the Middle Class

General Adoption of English in the Fourteenth Century

English in the Law Courts

English in the Schools

Increasing Ignorance of French in the Fifteenth Century

French as a Language of Culture and Fashion

The Use of English in Writing

Middle English Literature

Middle English

158

(42)

Middle English a Period of Great Change

Decay of Inflectional Endings

The Noun

The Adjective

The Pronoun

The Verb

Losses among the Strong Verbs

Strong Verbs That Became Weak

Survival of Strong Participles

Surviving Strong Verbs

Loss of Grammatical Gender

Middle English Syntax

French Influence on the Vocabulary

Governmental and Administrative Words

Ecclesiastical Words

Law

Army and Navy

Fashion, Meals, and Social Life

Art, Learning, Medicine

Breadth of the French Influence

Anglo-Norman and Central French

Popular and Literary Borrowings

The Period of Greatest Influence

Assimilation

Loss of Native Words

Differentiation in Meaning

Curtailment of OE Processes of Derivation

Prefixes

Suffixes

Self-explaining Compounds

The Language Still English

Latin Borrowings in Middle English

Aureate Terms

Synonyms at Three Levels

Words from the Low Countries

Dialectal Diversity of Middle English

The Middle English Dialects

The Rise of Standard English

The Importance of London English

The Spread of the London Standard

Complete Uniformity Still Unattained

The Renaissance, 1500--1650

200

(53)

Changing Conditions in the Modern Period

Effect upon Grammar and Vocabulary

The Problems of the Vernaculars

The Struggle for Recognition

The Problem of Orthography

The Problem of Enrichment

The Opposition to Inkhorn Terms

The Defense of Borrowing

Compromise

Permanent Additions

Adaptation

Reintroductions and New Meanings

Rejected Words

Reinforcement through French

Words from the Romance Languages

The Method of Introducing the New Words

Enrichment from Native Sources

Methods of Interpreting the New Words

Dictionaries of Hard Words

Nature and Extent of the Movement

The Movement Illustrated in Shakespeare

Shakespeare's Pronunciation

The Importance of Sound-changes

From Old to Middle English

From Middle English to Modern

The Great Vowel Shift

Weakening of Unaccented Vowels

Grammatical Features

The Noun

The Adjective

The Pronoun

The Verb

Usage and Idiom

General Characteristics of the Period

The Appeal to Authority, 1650--1800

253

(43)

The Impact of the Seventeenth Century

The Temper of the Eighteenth Century

Its Reflection in the Attitude toward the Language

``Ascertainment''

The Problem of ``Refining'' the Language

The Desire to ``Fix'' the Language

The Example of Italy and France

An English Academy

Swift's Proposal, 1712

Objection to an Academy

Substitutes for an Academy

Johnson's Dictionary

The Eighteenth-century Grammarians and Rhetoricians

The Aims of the Grammarians

The Beginnings of Prescriptive Grammar

Methods of Approach

The Doctrine of Usage

Results

Weakness of the Early Grammarians

Attempts to Reform the Vocabulary

Objection to Foreign Borrowings

The Expansion of the British Empire

Some Effects of Expansion on the Language

Development of Progressive Verb Forms

The Progressive Passive

The Nineteenth Century and After

296

(55)

Influences Affecting the Language

The Growth of Science

Automobile, Film, Broadcasting, Computer

The World Wars

Language as a Mirror of Progress

Sources of the New Words: Borrowings

Self-explaining Compounds

Compounds Formed from Greek and Latin Elements

Prefixes and Suffixes

Coinages

Common Words from Proper Names

Old Words with New Meanings

The Influence of Journalism

Changes of Meaning

Slang

Cultural Levels and Functional Varieties

The Standard Speech

English Dialects

English World-Wide

Pidgins and Creoles

Spelling Reform

Purist Efforts

Gender Issues and Linguistic Change

The Oxford English Dictionary

Grammatical Tendencies

Verb-adverb Combinations

A Liberal Creed

The English Language in America

351

(58)

The Settlement of America

The Thirteen Colonies

The Middle West

The Far West

Uniformity of American English

Archaic Features in American English

Early Changes in the Vocabulary

National Consciousness

Noah Webster and an American Language

Webster's Influence on American Spelling

Webster's Influence on American Pronunciation

Pronunciation

The American Dialects

The Controversy over Americanisms

The Purist Attitude

Present Differentiation of Vocabulary

American Words in General English

Scientific Interest in American English

American English and World English

Appendix A Specimens of the Middle English Dialects

409

(13)

Appendix B English Spelling

422

(7)

Index

429

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Before the present author ever became associated with Albert C. Baugh'sA History of the English Language,several generations of teachers and students had appreciated its enduring qualities. Not least of these, and often remarked upon, was the full attention paid to the historical and cultural setting of the development of the language. This original emphasis has made it possible for subsequent editions to include discussions of current issues and varieties of English in ways that could not have been specifically foreseen in 1935. The fifth edition continues this updating by expanding the sections on African American Varnacular English and Hispanic American English, adding a section on Gender Issues and Linguistic Change, and incorporating small changes throughout. Once again global events have affected global English and necessitated revisions, especially in the first and last chapters. Baugh's original text was supported by footnotes and bibliographies that not only acknowledged the sources of his narrative but also pointed directions for further study and research. In each successive edition new references have been added. To avoid documentary growth, sprawl, and incoherence by simple accretion, the present edition eliminates a number of references that have clearly been susperseded. At the same time it keeps many that might not usually be consulted by students in order to give a sense of the foundations and progress of the study of the subject.In the first edition Baugh stated his aim as follows: The present book, intended primarily for college students, aims to present the historical development of English in such a way as to preserve a proper balance between what may be called internal history-- sounds and inflections--and external history--the political, social, and intellectual forces that have determined the course of that development at different periods. The writer is convinced that the soundest basis for an understanding of present-day English and for an enlightened attitude towards questions affecting the language today is a knowledge of the path which it has pursued in becoming what it is. For this reason equal attention has been paid to its earlier and its later stages.As in previous editions, the original plan and purpose have not been altered.The various developments of linguistic inquiry and theory during the half century after theHistory'soriginal publication have made parts of its, exposition seem to some readers overly traditional. However, a history presented through the lens of a single theory is narrow when the theory is current, and dated when the theory is superseded. Numerous other histories of English have made intelligent use of a particular theory of phonemics, or of a specific version of syntactic deep and surface structure, or of variable rules, or of other ideas that have come and gone. There is nothing hostile to an overall linguistic theory or to new discoveries in Baugh's original work, but its format allows the easy adjustment of separable parts.It is a pity that a new preface by convention loses the expression of thanks to colleagues whose suggestions made the previous edition a better book. The fifth edition has especially benefited from astute comments by Traugott Lawler and William Kretzschrnar. The author as ever is sustained by the cartoonist perspective of Carole Cable, who he trusts will find nothing in the present effort to serve as grist for her gentle satiric mill. T.C.

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A History of the English Language

A History of the English Language

0130151661

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