English 3901: History of the English Language (Spring 2007)
About this course
Why don’t we spell knight n – i – t – e?
Where does ‘silent e’ come from?
Why is it book and books but not sheep and sheeps?
Do we say somebody is six foot or six feet tall?
All of us have asked questions like these about the English language. This course will teach you how to find the answers. It covers the history of the English language from its pre-historic beginnings to its current position as the lingua franca of the modern world.
We begin with a brief survey of some important linguistic and methodological concepts. We then cover the major periods in the History of English paying particular attention to aspects that affect the way we now speak and write. In doing so we will cover the historical development of English sounds, spelling, grammar, vocabulary, and rhetoric. We will also be looking at changes in the attitude of speakers of English towards their language’s position and importance in daily life.
The course is of general interest. It may be particularly useful for students considering further study in language art education, linguistics, medieval or classical languages and literature, or English history. No special training in linguistics, foreign languages, or grammar is required.
Learning goals
By the end of this course you should have an understanding of the principles of linguistic change, particularly as this applies to the English language. You should be able to recognise the major external and internal influences on the development of the English language and know how to research interesting forms and constructions using standard reference works.
Texts
- Brinton, Laurel J. and Leslie K. Arnovick. 2006. The English language: A linguistic history. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Essential Grammar Guide
- Handouts and web pages as assigned.
Evaluation
| Assignment | Value |
| Exercises (6×) | 24% |
| First test (Concepts) | 25% |
| Second test (Pre-history and Old English) | 25% |
| Final Exam (Comprehensive) | 26% |
General policies
Students are expected to familiarise themselves with my academic policies. These can be found at http://people.uleth.ca/~daniel.odonnell/Academic-Policies/ and are to be considered part of this syllabus. Failure to comply with these policies will result in your grade being lowered.
Grade scale
The University of Lethbridge uses a letter and grade point system to record student performance (see section 4 of the University Calendar). Instructors assign students a letter grade for each course at the end of each semester (the University does not issue or keep track of mid-term grades). These letter grades are converted to a numerical value (a Grade Point) for assessing overall academic performance (a Grade Point Average or GPA). The University does not record percentage-type grades and does not have a fixed scale for conversion from percentage scores to letter grades and grade points. Each instructor is responsible for determining their own methodology for determining students’ final letter grade.
In my classes, I use the following letter-grade to percentage correspondences:
| Excellent | Good | Satisfactory | Poor | Minimal pass | Failing | |||||||
| Letter | A+ | A | A- | B+ | B | B- | C+ | C | C- | D+ | D | F |
| Percent range | 100-94 | 93-90 | 89-86 | 85-82 | 81-78 | 77-74 | 73-70 | 69-66 | 65-62 | 61-58 | 57-50 | 49-0 |
| Conventional value | 100 | 92 | 88 | 84 | 80 | 76 | 72 | 68 | 64 | 60 | 56 | 49-0 |
| Grade point | 4.0 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.3 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 1.3 | 1.0 | 0 | |
How your grade is determined depends on the type of work being assessed. Tests of specific skills or knowledge (such as identification questions in literature classes, or fact-oriented tests in my grammar and language classes) are usually assigned a numeric score which is easily converted to a percentage. Essays, presentations, and other performance-oriented tests are usually graded by letter. I convert letter grades to percentages by taking the median value in each grade-range, and rounding up to the nearest whole percent. The only exceptions are A+, which is converted to 100%, and F, which is converted to an arbitrary percentage between 0% and 49% based on my estimation of the work’s quality. These scores can be found in the conventional value row of the above table.
In marking work I try to keep the University’s official description of these grades in mind (a description can be found in the University Calendar, Part IV.3.a). If you get an A it means your work is excellent; a B means your work is good; a C means it is satisfactory; a D that it is poor; and an F that it is failing to meet University-level standards.
Academic offences
I treat academic offences such as cheating and plagiarism very seriously. I will assign a 0% for the term to anybody caught cheating in any way on any assignment, quiz, test, or exam in my class. You will also be reported to the Dean of Arts and Science.
Late penalties
My usual late penalty is 1/3 of a letter grade for each day a piece of work is late. This works out to approximately 3~5% per day. I reserve the right to increase or decrease the late penalty for specific pieces of work. If your work is late due to a family or medical emergency, please let me know and I will waive the late penalty.
Missed classes
I usually do not take attendance in my classes. If you miss a class, it is your responsibility to make sure you are up-to-date. Unless your absence was due to a family or medical emergency, I will not repeat lectures or announcements for students who missed hearing them in class. If you miss a quiz, your grade for that quiz is 0% unless you absence was caused by a family or medical emergency.
Tentative class schedule
The following schedule is intended to help you plan your work for the semester. I reserve the right to make changes.
| Week | Date | Topic | Readings | Recommended Exercises1 |
| 1 | 4/1 | Syllabus and Administrative Questions | ||
| 2 | 9/1 | Turn and Face the Strange: Recognising Historical Language Change |
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| 11/1 | Elements 1: Basic Phonology |
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| 3 | 16/1 | Elements 2: Basic Morphology and Syntax |
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| 18/1 | Elements 3: Basic Semantics | Chapter 3: Causes and Mechanisms of Language Change |
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| 4 | 23/1 | Elements: Exercise/Review | ||
| 25/1 | Class cancelled due to grass fire | |||
| Test 1 Available (29/1-4/2) | ||||
| 5 | 30/1 | Pre-History 1: “And none had lived before you!” Language Classification and the Comparative Method |
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Exercise 4.3: Proto-Language and Reconstruction (pp. 108-109) |
| 1/2 | Pre-History 2: Proto-Indo-European |
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| 6 | 6/2 | Pre-History 3a: Germanic: morphology and syntax |
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| 8/2 | Class Cancelled due to Administrative Duty | |||
| 7 | 13/2 | Pre-History 3b: Germanic: phonology |
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| Pre-History: Exercise/Review | ||||
| 15/2 | Old English 1: Anglo-Saxon Attitudes: An Overview of Anglo-Saxon History and Culture |
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| Reading Week (No classes) | ||||
| 8 | 27/2 | Old English 2: Phonology, Sound Changes, and Semantics |
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| 1/3 | Old English 3: Old English Grammar |
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| 9 | 6/3 | Old English: Exercise/Review | ||
| 8/3 | Middle English 1: “I don’t wanna talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough wiper!”: English after the Norman Invasion |
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| Test 2 Available: Pre-History and Old English (5/3-11/3) | ||||
| 10 | 13/3 | Middle English 2: Phonology |
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| 15/3 | Middle English 3: Grammar and the Perfect Storm |
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| 11 | 20/3 | Middle English: Exercise/Review | ||
| 22/3 | Early Modern English 1: The Rise of Standards, or Why you shouldn’t leave things up to the professors |
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Exercise 10.4: Renaissance Respelling (pp. 324-325) |
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| 12 | 27/3 | Early Modern English 2: Changes in Phonology and Grammar |
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| 29/3 | Early Modern English 3: Borrowing and the Development of Modern English |
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| 13 | 3/4 | Early Modern English: Exercise/Review | ||
| 5/4 | Modern English: O Brave New World!: English as World Language |
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| 14 | 10/4 | Modern English: Exercise/Review | ||
| 12/4 | Conclusion | |||
| Final Exam Available (TBA) | ||||
1 This list focuses on exercises that test your ability to apply material covered in the text as these are the most suitable for in-class review. The textbook also contains exercises designed to test your knowledge of specific names, definitions, and periods or movements; knowledge of this factual information is less suitable for review in class, though students are expected to know it for tests, exams, and exercises.
