The third edition of this successful textbook has been fully revised and updated.
Essentials of Early English is a practical and highly accessible introduction to the early stages of the English language: Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English.
Designed specifically as a handbook for students beginning the study of Early English language, whether for linguistic or literary purposes, it presumes little or no prior knowledge of the history of English.
Features of this new edition include:
- Comprehensive updating of the contents to take account of new developments in the subject
- Newly added sample texts and accompanying notes
- Links to images of many of the illustrative texts
- An updated annotated bibliography.
A contextual introduction of the history of English is provided, which includes an outline of English in relation to its origins. A deeper analysis is then given on each of the key stages of Early English, using the language of King Alfred, Chaucer, and Shakespeare respectively to illustrate points. Thus, the essential characteristics of each stage of the language are provided to create the ideal course book for History of English courses and to give the student a firm foundation of basic linguistic knowledge which can be applied to further study.
Author(s): Jeremy J. Smith
Edition: 3
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2022
Language: English
Pages: 259
City: London
Cover
Half Title
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Table of Contents
Preface
Part I Description
1 Introduction
1.1 About this Book
1.2 English and Its Origins
1.3 External History
1.4 Internal History
1.5 Introducing English Historical Linguistics
1.6 A Preliminary Illustration
Old English (West Saxon, Late Ninth Century)
Middle English (Kentish, 1340)
Middle English (Central Midlands, C. 1380)
Older Scots (C. 1520)
Early Modern English (Book of Common Prayer, 1549)
Present-Day English (Alternative Service Book)
2 Describing Language
2.1 Introduction
2.2 The Levels of Language
2.3 Speech and Writing
2.4 Phonetics and Phonology
2.4.1 Vowels
2.4.2 Consonants
2.4.3 Syllables
2.5 Grammar and Lexicon
2.5.1 The Hierarchy of Grammatical Units
2.5.2 Morphemes
2.5.3 Words
2.5.4 Phrases
Phrases: Forms
Phrases: Functions
Subordinate Phrases
2.5.5 Clauses
2.5.6 Some Further Grammatical Categories
Noun Phrase Categories
Verb Phrase Categories
3 Old English
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Spelling and Pronunciation
3.2.1 The Alphabet
3.2.2 Diacritics
3.2.3 Pronunciation
3.3 Syntax
3.3.1 The Noun Phrase
Case and the Noun Phrase
Agreement and the Noun Phrase
Number, Gender, and the Noun Phrase
The Noun Phrase: Pronouns
The Noun Phrase: Adjectives
The Noun Phrase: Determiners
The Noun Phrase: Numerals
The Noun Phrase: a Note About Genitive Phrases
The Noun Phrase: a Note About Prepositional Phrases
3.3.2 The Verb Phrase
Agreement and the Verb Phrase
Finite and Non-Finite Verbs and the Verb Phrase
Simple and Complex Verb Phrases
Number and the Simple Verb Phrase
Person and the Simple Verb Phrase
Tense and the Simple Verb Phrase
Mood and the Verb Phrase
Complex Verb Phrase Constructions
Negation and the Verb Phrase
3.3.3 Sentence Structure
Word-order
Sentence Structure: Clauses
Sentence Structure: Some Special Features
3.4 Paradigms
3.4.1 Nouns
➔ The Noun: General Masculine Declension
➔ The Noun: General Feminine Declension
➔ The Noun: General Neuter Declension
➔ The Noun: The -An Declension
Ihe Noun: Irregular Declensions
3.4.2 Pronouns
➔ First Person
➔ Second Person
➔ Third Person
3.4.3 Determiners
3.4.4 Adjectives
[a] Weak Paradigm
[b] Strong Paradigm
3.4.5 Adverbs
3.4.6 Verbs
More About Strong Verbs
Class I
Class II
Class III
Class IV
Class V
Class VI
Class VII
More About Weak Verbs
More About Irregular Verbs
3.4.7 Numerals
3.5 Lexicon
3.5.1 Inheritance and Borrowing
3.5.2 Word-Formation
3.6 Appendix I: From Early to Late West Saxon
3.6.1 Spellings
3.6.2 Inflexions
3.7 Appendix II: On OE Dialects
4 Middle English
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Spelling and Pronunciation
4.2.1 The Alphabet
4.2.2 Pronunciation
4.3 Syntax
4.3.1 The Noun Phrase
The Noun Phrase: Case, Number, and Agreement
4.3.2 Pronouns
The Noun Phrase: Adjectives
The Noun Phrase: Determiners
The Noun Phrase: Numerals
4.3.3 The Verb Phrase
The Verb Phrase: Agreement Person and Number
The Verb Phrase: Tense and Aspect
The Verb Phrase: Voice
The Verb Phrase: Mood
The Verb Phrase: Impersonal and Phrasal Verbs
The Verb Phrase: Negation
4.3.4 Sentence Structure
Word-order
Sentence Structure: Clauses
Sentence Structure: Some Special Features
4.4 Paradigms
4.4.1 Nouns
4.4.2 Pronouns
4.4.3 Determiners
4.4.4 Adjectives
4.4.5 Adverbs
4.4.6 Verbs
More About Strong Verbs
More About Weak Verbs
More About Irregular Verbs
4.4.7 Numerals
4.5 Lexicon
4.5.1 Borrowing
4.5.2 Word-Formation
4.5.3 Changes of Meaning
4.6 Appendix: On ME Dialects
Northern
West Midland
East Midland
Southern
5 Early Modern English
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Spelling and Pronunciation
5.2.1 The Alphabet
5.2.2 Diacritics and Punctuation
5.2.3 Pronunciation
5.3 Syntax
5.3.1 The Noun Phrase
Agreement and the Noun Phrase
Pronouns and the Noun Phrase
Adjectives and the Noun Phrase
Determiners and the Noun Phrase
Numerals and the Noun Phrase
The Noun Phrase: A Note About Possessives
5.3.2 The Verb Phrase
The Verb Phrase: Tense and Aspect
The Verb Phrase: Voice
The Verb Phrase: Mood
The Verb Phrase: the Auxiliary Do
The Verb Phrase: the Impersonal Construction
The Verb Phrase: Negation
5.3.3 Sentence Structure
Word-order
Sentence Structure: Clauses
Sentence Structure: Some Special Features
5.4 Paradigms
5.4.1 Nouns
5.4.2 Pronouns
First Person
Second Person
Third Person
5.4.3 Determiners
5.4.4 Adjectives
5.4.5 Adverbs
5.4.6 Prepositions
5.4.7 Verbs
More About Strong Verbs
More About Weak Verbs
More About Irregular Verbs
5.4.8 Numerals
5.5 Lexicon
5.5.1 Borrowing
5.5.2 Word-Formation
5.5.3 Changes of Meaning
5.6 Appendix: Evidence for EModE Dialects
Part II Illustrative Texts
Section A Old English Texts
(1) The Man Who Built His House On Sand
(2) Abraham and Isaac
(3) Daniel
(4) From The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
(5) From The Dream of the Rood
(a) Lines 1–12
(b) Lines 29–50
(6) From the Ruthwell Cross Inscription
(7) Cædmon’s Hymn (Late West Saxon Version)
(8) Caedmon’s Hymn (Old Northumbrian Version)
(9) From Ælfric’s Life of King Oswald
(10) From Beowulf
(11) From Beowulf
(12) A Riddle From the Exeter Book
(13) The Caistor-By-Norwich Astragalus Inscription
(14) The Alfred Jewel Inscription
(15) From The Peterborough Chronicle
Section B Middle English Texts
(1) From The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales
(2) From The General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales (Transcribed From the Ellesmere MS)
(3) From The Pardoner’s Tale
(4) From The Parson’s Tale
(5) From Ancrene Wisse
(6) From Thomas Wimbledon’s Sermon
(7) From Sir Orfeo
(8) From Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
(9) From John Lydgate, A Balade in Commendation of Our Lady
(10) From The Guildhall Letter-Book (1418)
(11) From Sir Thomas Malory, The Morte Darthur
(12) From William Caxton’s Preface to His Edition of The Morte Darthure (1485)
(13) From William Caxton’s Preface to the Eneydos (1490)
(14) A Letter From Margaret Paston
Postscript
(15) The Ashanti (Asante) Ewer Inscription
(16) From The Land of Cokaygne
Section C Early Modern English Texts
(1) From Loues Labour’s Lost
(2) From As You Like It
(3) From The Tragedie of King Lear
(4) From The Tragedie of Julius Cæsar
(5) From The Tragedie of Hamlet
(6) From The Tragedie of Richard the Third
(7) From The Tragedie of Macbeth
(8) From The Book of Common Prayer (1559)
(9) From the Authorised Version of the Bible (1611)
(10) From A Letter of Syr J. Cheke To His Loving Frind Mayster Thomas Hoby (1557)
(11) From Sir John Cheke’s Translation of the Bible (?1550)
(12) From E.K.’s Preface to Spenser’s Shepheardes Calender (1579)
(13) From Richard Mulcaster’s The First Parte of the Elementarie (1582)
(14) From George Puttenham, ‘Of Language’, in The Arte of English Poesie (1589)
(15) From John Milton’s Areopagitica (1644)
(16) From The Letters of Lady Brilliana Harley (1642)
(17) From The Tryall of Ralph Hall and Mary His Wife, Upon Suspicion of Witchcraft, New York (1665)
(18) From John Dryden, All for Love Or, the World Well Lost (1677/1678)
Part III Bibliography, Glossary, and Thematic Index
Annotated Bibliography
Old English Glossary
Thematic Index
