The Story of the English Language
Seminar
Leader: K. Aaron Smith, Department of Linguistics
Seminar
Description:
There are two ways of looking at the history of a language. The first is to consider the specific changes in
vocabulary and structure that have taken place, as for instance when we note that Old
English had a case system wherein a noun had different forms depending on whether it was
used as the subject, direct object, indirect object, etc.
Another way to approach the history of the language is to consider the
historical events and contexts (wars, migration, literacy, etc.) that have affected the
speakers of the language in question. It
shouldn’t be surprising to learn that there is an important relationship between
these two aspects of language, known respectively as internal and external language
history, where language external history can have effects on internal historical
developments.
Old English, or Anglo-Saxon, is a convenience term used for a
number of similar Germanic dialects brought to the British Isles, starting from about the
5th century. Over time, these bands of
Germanic peoples came to see themselves as a group united under one kingdom, which in turn
gave rise to the notion of a single Old English language.
These Germanic groups interacted in varying degrees with the native Celts of
Britain, but also with bands of invading Vikings. The
beginning of the Middle English period was marked by a dark age for the English language
as Norman French conquerors ruled Britain, installing their own language as that of the
court and all learned activity. When English
again surfaced from this obscurity, it had undergone some of its most profound changes,
both in vocabulary and grammatical structure. Slowly,
English continued to evolve, taking on a new set of Latin and Greek vocabulary during the
Renaissance and Enlightenment Periods. Over
the last few centuries, a standard form of the language has emerged, mostly the product of
English teachers and grammarians, and it is interesting to note the on-going social
stratification of English in terms of vocabulary and forms as the standard language has
taken prestige. Also, during the colonial
period, England’s strong naval forces and overseas holdings spread English to several
places around the globe giving rise to a number of English-based pidgins and creoles as
well as national varieties of American and Australian English. In more recent years, economic globalization has
made English a lingua franca such that it has become the most frequently spoken second
language in the world, resulting in a form of the language known as International English.
In our
seminar, we considered all of these historical aspects of English in some detail, both in
terms of internal and external developments. Our approach was chronological, starting with
the advent of the Germanic tribes in Britain and ending with the globalization of the
English language. Topics were presented in readings and reviewed in lecture/discussion
format. Additionally, we watched the video
companion to the main textbook of the course from time to time, which was a successful PBS
series some years ago. Fellows had an
opportunity to focus in on one topic in the history of the English language and to
research and prepare a curriculum unit on that topic.
Readings:
The main readings for the course included two books.
The first is The Agricola and the Germania, by the classical author
Tacitus. This book provided us with some
interesting early history on the Germanic tribes that eventually settled in England. The second main reading will be The Story of
English, by Robert McCrum, William Cran and Robert MacNeil (Published by Viking). As I mentioned, this text was originally written
as the companion text to the PBS series by the same name.
The benefit of using this text is that it introduced topics in the history
of English in a way that is easy to read for the non-linguist, and at the same time
provides a good introduction into areas of the history of English, which we can then toke
up in some detail in the classroom. Thus, I
also brought in a number of photocopies from other history of English texts, Old and
Middle English grammar books, original texts of Old English, Middle English and Early
Modern English writers, as well as topics from general historical linguistics as a way to
augment the topics presented in the course textbook.
These photocopies were more detailed than the take-home readings in some
ways and we will spent class time going over them. By
the end of the seminar, the teacher participants will had become familiar with the main
issues in the history of the English language and they were able to read more technical
treatises on the history of English (or another language).