The English Language: A Linguistic History is designed as a core text for classes in the history of the English language, offered through the English or linguistics department. Beginning with a discussion of how language changes, the book examines historical change in English from its Indo-European past through its major periods (Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English). This is an introductory text: it does not assume any background in language or linguistics. Self-testing exercises are integrated throughout the text, and students are required to learn to use the International Phonetic Alphabet. Additional pedagogical material, such as lists of related books and Web sites, are also integrated.

The English Language: A Linguistic History

Reference

Brinton, Laurel J.

Arnovick, Leslie K.

Foreign Language Study & Reference

Oxford University Press

The English Language surveys the development of the English language from its Indo-European past to the present day. It covers the entire history of the English language beginning with its prehistoric origins in Proto-Indo-European and includes thorough coverage of its four major periods: Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English. The second edition features a convenient quick reference guide for reference and review as well as a comprehensive timeline of the major events in the development of English. In addition to fully updated print and web references directing students to the latest research, the new edition also offers enhanced discussion of a number of topics: the effects of media (radio, television, computers) on the language; the socio-cultural causes of change; the expansion of the vocabulary of Modern English during the Renaissance; and the sources and dialects of Canadian English, including consideration of the effects of immigration on the language (illustrated with maps).

Words, Language & Grammar

The English Language: A Linguistic History surveys the development of the English language from its Indo-European past to the present day. It covers the entire history of the English language beginning with its prehistoric origins in Proto-Indo-European and includes thorough coverage of its four major periods: Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English. The third edition features enhanced discussion of the socio-historical and cultural contexts of the English language in the new "Language in Context" features in each chapter. Brief timelines of historical events also now appear at the beginning of relevant chapters, supplementing the comprehensive timeline (linguistic, literary, historical, and social) found in the appendices. Discussion of new approaches to the history of English, such as historical pragmatics and historical sociolinguistics, have been added or expanded along with new debates, such as the current work on the Proto-Indo-Europeans or the status of English as a global language or second language. A new appendix includes an anthology of specimen texts from the four major periods of English, chosen for their use of colloquial and non-literary language.

Laurel Brinton's important study of the development of English aspectual systems provides an exceptionally clear and systematic account of an area of syntax and semantics that continues to be the subject of both terminological and notional confusion. Not only has the study of aspect been confused, but the variety of aspectual markers in English has also been unduly neglected. In this book Dr Brinton convincingly demonstrates the need to make clear distinction between 'aspect' and 'aktionsart' and betwen the aspectual meaning of individual forms and the meanings that result from the combination of verbs, auxiliaries, particles, and adverbs, as well as nominal arguments within a sentence. This exceptionally clear account of two sets of aspectual forms points to the coherence and systematicity of aspectual marking in Modern English. The wide range of theoretical issues explored makes this a significant contribution to the synchronic study of aspect and to the diachronic study of language change. The book will undoubtedly have applications cross-linguistically.

The Development of English Aspectual Systems: Aspectualizers and Post-verbal Particles (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 49)

Cambridge University Press

Laurel Brinton's important study of the development of English aspectual systems provides an exceptionally clear and systematic account of an area of syntax and semantics that continues to be the subject of both terminological and notional confusion. Not only has the study of aspect been confused, but the variety of aspectual markers in English has also been unduly neglected. In this book Dr Brinton convincingly demonstrates the need to make clear distinction between 'aspect' and 'aktionsart' and betwen the aspectual meaning of individual forms and the meanings that result from the combination of verbs, auxiliaries, particles, and adverbs, as well as nominal arguments within a sentence. This exceptionally clear account of two sets of aspectual forms points to the coherence and systematicity of aspectual marking in Modern English. The wide range of theoretical issues explored makes this a significant contribution to the synchronic study of aspect and to the diachronic study of language change. The book will undoubtedly have applications cross-linguistically.

The Development of English Aspectual Systems: Aspectualizers and Post-Verbal Particles (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 49)

Lexicalization and Language Change (Research Surveys in Linguistics)

Lexicalization, a process of language change, has been conceived in a variety of ways. In this up-to-date survey, Laurel Brinton and Elizabeth Traugott examine the various ideas that have been presented. In light of contemporary work on grammaticalization, they then propose a new, unified model of lexicalization and grammaticalization. Their approach is illustrated with a variety of case studies from the history of English, including present participles, multi-word verbs, adverbs, and discourse markers, as well as some examples from other Indo-European languages.

Traugott, Elizabeth Closs

Although English comment clauses such as I think and you know have been widely studied, this book constitutes the first full-length diachronic treatment, focusing on comment clauses formed with common verbs of perception and cognition in a variety of syntactic forms. It understands comment clauses as causal pragmatic markers that undergo grammaticalisation, and acquire pragmatic and politeness functions and subjective and intersubjective meanings. To date, the prevailing view of their syntactic development, which is extrapolated from synchronic studies, is that they originate in matrix clauses which become syntactically indeterminate and are reanalysed as parenthetical. In this corpus-based study, Laurel J. Brinton shows that the historical data do not bear out this view, and proposes a more varied and complex conception of the development of comment clauses. Researchers and students of the English language and historical linguistics will certainly consider Brinton's findings to be of great interest.

The Comment Clause in English: Syntactic Origins and Pragmatic Development (Studies in English Language)

Pragmatics in the History of English

How were you and thou used in Early Modern England? What were the typical ways of ordering others in Early Medieval England? How was the speech of others represented in the nineteenth-century novel? This volume answers these questions and more by providing an overview of the field of English historical pragmatics. Following introductory chapters which set out the scope of the field and address methods and challenges, core chapters focus on a range of topics, including pragmatic markers, speech representation, politeness, speech acts, address terms, and register, genre, and style. Each chapter describes the object of study, defines essential terms and concepts, and discusses the methodologies used. Succinct and clear summaries of studies in the field are presented and are richly illustrated with corpus data. Presenting a comprehensive and accessible yet state-of-the-art introduction to the field, it is essential reading for both students and academic researchers.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Brinton, Laurel J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Brinton, Laurel J.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Brinton, Laurel J.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The English Language: A Linguistic History

The English Language: A Linguistic History

The English Language: A Linguistic History

The Development of English Aspectual Systems: Aspectualizers and Post-verbal Particles (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 49)

The Development of English Aspectual Systems: Aspectualizers and Post-Verbal Particles (Cambridge Studies in Linguistics, Series Number 49)

Lexicalization and Language Change (Research Surveys in Linguistics)

Lexicalization and Language Change (Research Surveys in Linguistics)

The Comment Clause in English: Syntactic Origins and Pragmatic Development (Studies in English Language)

Pragmatics in the History of English

Pragmatics in the History of English