History of English

About the Book

McIntyre has composed a very readable history of English for beginning students, written in a colloquial style and filled with well-chose examples that illustrate the most important processes and changes within the millennium-and-half history of English. The exercises in section C which accompany the sections on the external (social) history (Section A) and the internal (linguistic) course of English (Section B) are generally do-able and frequently start with the kind of experience young students bring to the subject. The readings in the final section (D) are an extremely valuable supplement to all three of the preceding parts of the book — though on a sometimes considerably more demanding level.
Stephan Gramley, University of Bielefeld, Germany

Routledge English Language Introductions cover core areas of language study and are one-stop resources for students.

Assuming no prior knowledge, books in the series offer an accessible overview of the subject, with activities, study questions, sample analyses, commentaries and key readings — all in the same volume. The innovative and flexible ‘two-dimensional’ structure is built around four sections — introduction, development, exploration and extension — which offer self-contained stages for study. Each topic can be read across these sections, enabling the reader to build gradually on the knowledge gained.

The History of English:

• provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of English
• covers the origins of English, the change from Old to Middle English and the influence of other languages on English
• provides key readings from leading figures in the field such as Jean Aitchison, Dick Leith, Bruce Mitchell and David Graddol.

Structured to reflect the chronological development of the English language, History of English describes and explains the major changes in the language over a span of more than fifteen hundred years, and covers aspects from structural change to attitudes towards usage. The book also considers international varieties of English and how contemporary events are continuing to influence the development of English as a global language.

Incorporating examples from a wide variety of texts, History of English provides an interactive and structured textbook that will be essential reading for all students of English language and linguistics.