Companion to the History of the English Language

List of Figures xi
Notes on Contributors xiii

Acknowledgments xxii

Note on Phonetic Symbols and Orthography xxiv

A Timeline for HEL xxix

Part I Introduction 1

1 History, English, Language: Studying HEL Today 3
Michael Matto and Haruko Momma

2 History of the History of the English Language: How Has theSubject Been Studied? 11
Thomas Cable

3 Essential Linguistics 18
Mary Blockley

Part II Linguistic Survey 25

4 Phonology: Segmental Histories 29
Donka Minkova and Robert Stockwell

5 History of English Morphology 43
Robert McColl Millar

6 History of English Syntax 57
Olga Fischer

7 A History of the English Lexicon 69
Geoffrey Hughes

8 History of English Prosody 81
Geoffrey Russom

Part III English Semantics and Lexicography 89

9 Dictionaries Today: What Can We Do With Them? 93
Reinhard R. K. Hartmann

10 English Onomasiological Dictionaries and Thesauri 103
Werner Hüllen

11 Johnson, Webster, and the Oxford English Dictionary 113
Charlotte Brewer

Part IV Pre-history of English 123

12 English as an Indo-European Language 127
Philip Baldi

13 English as a Germanic Language 142
R. D. Fulk

Part V English in History: England and America 151

Section 1 Old English in History (ca.450-1066) 153

14 Early Old English (up to 899) 156
Daniel Donoghue

15 Late Old English (899-1066) 165
Mechthild Gretsch

16 Topics in Old English Dialects 172
Lucia Kornexl

Section 2 Middle English in History(1066-1485) 181

17 Early Middle English (1066-ca. 1350) 184
Thorlac Turville-Petre

18 Late Middle English (ca. 1350-1485) 191
Seth Lerer

19 Varieties of Middle English 198
Jeremy J. Smith

Section 3 Early Modern English in History(1485-1660) 207

20 Early Modern English (1485-1660) 209
Terttu Nevalainen

21 Varieties of Early Modern English 216
Jonathan Hope

Section 4 Modern British English in History(1660-present) 225

22 British English in the Long Eighteenth Century(1660-1830)

Haruko Momma is Associate Professor of English at New York University. She is the author of The Composition of Old English Poetry (1997), and is currently completing a monograph entitled Liminal English: A History of Philology in the 'Great' Nineteenth Century, 1775-1925.

Michael Matto is Assistant Professor of English and Director of Writing Programs at Adelphi University. He has published articles on Old English language, and literature and culture, in such journals as the Journal of English and Germanic Philology and Neophilologus.

"In conclusion, this book succeeds in doing what itintended, to provide linguistic grounding for readers primarilyinterested in the literature and culture of English past andpresent. It deserves a place in libraries and classrooms, to beread cover to cover or dipped into for specific topics . . .Because it is readable and has good chapter bibliographies and adetailed index, it might also serve as a reference for studentsresearching a topic within the history of English." ( Linguist , 20 January 2013)
"Readers will find clear guides to basic information.... Editorialintroductions to the various sections clarify and summarise thematerial. Each chapter ends with extensive lists of references andfurther reading. A glossary of linguistic terms, reflecting theterms as used by the authors, is included. As with all theBlackwell Companions, the presentation of this substantial volumeis of the highest standard." ( Reference Reviews , November2009)
"Anyone with even a passing interest in the history of thelanguage, whether an old-fashioned description of Middle Englishmorphology or an au courant discussion of global Englishes,will be glad to have [this] Companion on the shelf."( Times Literary Supplement , May 2009)

Momma (New York Univ.) and Matto (Adelphi Univ.) draw on aninternational cast of scholars to present 59 essays on the historyof the English language. Part of the "Blackwell Companions toLiterature and Culture" series, this substantial volume isorganized in nine sections and certainly covers the field. Thefirst three sections provide essential linguistic concepts and asurvey of the history of words, sounds, and grammar. Sections 4-6deal with the Indo-European and Germanic roots of English, thehistory of English in England and the US, and English in Britishcolonies and the postcolonial world. The last three sections coverliterary language (including Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and ToniMorrison), language variation and language teaching, and approachesto language