122030 VO History of English (2021S)

In this lecture we shall look at the different forms which English has taken over time. We shall develop and practice methods for analysing and interpreting earlier English texts, for reconstructing properties of earlier Englishes, and for describing and explaining the changes that have given Present Day English its shape. Some of the questions raised will be: why is there so little correspondence between English spelling and pronunciation? Why are there hardly any inflectional endings in Modern English? Why are not all verbs regular?
The objective of this course is (a) to raise our awareness that English, like any natural language, is a historical system that develops, changes, and maintains its properties as it is passed on among generations of speakers, (b) to learn how to approach and deal with early unfamiliar forms of English, and (c) to practice logical reasoning in linguistic reconstruction and the explanation of language change.