An introductory lecture series aimed at first year students.

This course will provide an introductory survey of the development of the English language from the beginnings to the present day, with particular attention paid to the medieval and early modern periods.  Topics covered will include: the development of standard English, the relationship between written and spoken language, ideas of ‘purity’ in language, the nature of ‘literary’ language, language and power.  The influence on language of historical events such as conquest and colonization will be discussed, as will the influence of conscious language-shaping activities such as the writing of dictionaries, and the power of cultural icons such as the King James Bible and the works of Shakespeare. 

Syllabus

19.09    Celts, Romans and Anglo-Saxon invaders

26.09    Old English, runes and rumination

03.10    Viking Invasions, translation programmes, and universal education

10.10    Storming Normans and the beginnings of trilingualism

17.10    The French – the second wave

24.10    Moveable vowels and fixed type – beginning the modern

31.10    the first dictionaries and grammars – trying to fix things

07.11   How big was Shakespeare?

14.11    The power of God’s Word: the King James Bible

21.11   INFODAYS

28.11    INFODAYS

05.12    Samuel Johnson – a harmless drudge?

12.12    Lowering the standard? English diversities

18.12    exam

Assessment

Assessment will be by exam in the last week of term. 

• An understanding of the broad narrative of the development of the English language
• An ability to situate key literary texts within the narrative of the development of the language
• An understanding of scholarly debate around language standardization, and language and power
• A developing capacity to reflect on evaluative descriptions of language
• An appreciation of English as a Germanic language, and the influence of French and Latin on it
• An understanding of the development of English as a written vernacular