Table Of Content‘Off ering a lively and detailed account of the history of the English language
from its origins to the present- day, informed by the latest linguistic theory, Dan
McIntyre’s History of English is an excellent introduction to the subject. Engaging
with contemporary debates and with the language in all its fascinating variety,
this book is an essential resource for students, teachers and all lovers of language.’
Simon Horobin, Magdalen College, University of Oxford
‘Th is is a highly accessible and comprehensive textbook on the history of the
English language. It allows students to explore all the major aspects of linguistic
development in clearly related consecutive stages. Clearly, it is essential reading
for university courses on the history of English and highly to be recommended.’
Th omas Kohnen, University of Cologne
HISTORY OF ENGLISH
Routledge English Language Introductions cover core areas of language study and are
one- stop resources for students.
A ssuming no prior knowledge, books in the series off er an accessible overview of
the subject, with activities, study questions, sample analyses, commentaries and key
readings – all in the same volume. Th e innovative and fl exible ‘two- dimensional’ struc-
ture is built around four sections – introduction, development, exploration and exten-
sion – which off er self- contained stages for study. Each topic can also be read across
these sections, enabling the reader to build gradually on the knowledge gained. Th is
revised second edition of H istory of English includes:
❑ a comprehensive introduction to the history of English covering the origins
of English, the change from Old to Middle English and the infl uence of other
languages on English;
❑ increased coverage of key issues, such as the standardisation of English;
❑ a wider range of activities, plus answers to exercises;
❑ new readings from well- known authors such as Manfred Krug, Colette Moore,
Merja Stenroos and David Crystal;
❑ a timeline of important external events in the history of English.
Structured to refl ect the chronological development of the English language, H istory of
English describes and explains the changes in the language over a span of 1,500 years,
covering all aspects from phonology and grammar, to register and discourse. In doing
so, it incorporates examples from a wide variety of texts and provides an interactive
and structured textbook that will be essential reading for all students of English lan-
guage and linguistics.
Dan McIntyre is Professor of English Language and Linguistics at the University of
Huddersfi eld, UK.
ROUTLEDGE ENGLISH LANGUAGE INTRODUCTIONS
SERIES CONSULTANT: PETER STOCKWELL
Peter Stockwell is Professor of Literary Linguistics in the School of English at the
University of Nottingham, UK, where his interests include sociolinguistics, stylistics
and cognitive poetics. His recent publications include Th e Cambridge Handbook of
Stylistics (2014), Cognitive Grammar in Literature (2014) and Th e Language and
Literature Reader (2008).
FOUNDING EDITOR: RONALD CARTER
Ronald Carter (1947– 2018) was Research Professor of Modern English Language in
the School of English at the University of Nottingham, UK. He was the co- founder
of the Routledge Applied Linguistics, Routledge Introductions to Applied Linguistics
and Routledge Applied Corpus Linguistics series.
TITLES IN THE SERIES:
Language and Media
Rodney Jones, Sylvia Jaworska and Erhan Aslan
Researching English Language
Alison Sealey
Stylistics, Second Edition
Paul Simpson
Global Englishes, Third Edition
(previously published as World Englishes )
Jennifer Jenkins
Pragmatics, Third Edition
(previously published as Pragmatics and Discourse )
Joan Cutting
Introducing English Language, Second Edition
Louise Mullany and Peter Stockwell
Language and Law
Alan Durant and Janny HC Leung
English Grammar, Second Edition
Roger Berry
Language and Power, Second Edition
Paul Simpson, Andrea Mayr and Simon Statham
Discourse Analysis, Second Edition
Rodney Jones
Practical English Phonetics and Phonology, Fourth Edition
Beverley Collins, Inger M. Mees and Paul Carley
For more information on any of these titles, or to order, please go to w ww.routledge.com/
series/ RELI
A
HISTORY OF ENGLISH
BB
A Resource Book for Students
C
Second Edition
D
DAN MCINTYRE
Second edition published 2020
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2020 Dan McIntyre
The right of Dan McIntyre to be identifi ed as author of this work has been asserted by him
in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or
hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information
storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2008
British Library Cataloguing-i n- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978-1 -1 38- 50071- 6 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1 - 138- 50072- 3 (pbk)
Typeset in Minion Pro
by Newgen Publishing UK
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK
Th is book spans over 1,500 years of linguistic history in little more than 230 pages and
is therefore necessarily selective in what it covers. My aim has been to provide a basic
introduction to the main themes and events of both the external and internal history
of English, with the intention that, armed with this outline knowledge, you will be
able to go off and explore for yourself the various stages of the language’s develop-
ment in more detail. Inevitably there are elements of the history of English that I have
presented in a simplifi ed form. For example, the shift from Old English to Middle
English happened over an extended period and involved a degree of complexity that is
beyond the scope of this book. Similarly, the process by which a standard written var-
iety of English emerged has been the subject of much debate, which is presented here
in a necessarily truncated form. Th ere is also much more that could be said about the
recent history of English. Nevertheless, to my mind it is more important for the begin-
ning student to gain an overall picture of the key issues than to focus straight away
on the complexities of English’s development over time. I also took the decision that,
although this book covers the history of English right up to the present day, its primary
focus would be on the early history of English. Th e reason for this is that other books
in this series include substantial discussion of recent change in the language, and of the
development of world Englishes (see, for example, Stockwell 2007 and Jenkins 2015 ).
In keeping with the Routledge English Language Introductions format, this book is
organised into four sections. Section A presents an external history of English, taking
into account the main social, political, economic and cultural factors that infl uenced
the development of the language from its earliest inception right up to the present
day. Section B focuses more on the actual linguistic form of the language at each of
its stages, as well as on some of the specifi c changes that took place and the attitudes
towards English that have prevailed at various times. Section C provides exercises
and activities to allow you to try out the knowledge and understanding you will have
gained from reading sections A and B. I have provided commentaries on most of these
exercises and these can be found at the back of the book. Some activities, however, are
left open, to allow you scope to investigate the issue either alone or with your fellow
students in class. Section D then presents a series of readings in the history of English,
chosen to allow you to further the basic knowledge of the history of English that you
will gain from sections A , B and C . Finally, in addition to the commentaries on activ-
ities provided at the back of the book, you will also fi nd a short glossary of linguistic
terms, a timeline of key events in the history of English, and suggestions for further
reading.
CONTENTS
Contents cross- referenced xiv
List of fi gures xvii
List of tables x viii
Common abbreviations xxi
Phonetic symbols x xiii
Acknowledgements xxv
A I ntroduction: an external history of English 1
A1 Origins of English 2
A1.1 Th e Isles before English 2
A1.2 Th e Romans in Britain 3
A1.3 Th e arrival of the Anglo- Saxons 4
A1.4 English: what’s in a name? 5
A1.5 Christianity reaches England 6
A1.6 Viking raids 7
A2 Th e history of English or the history of Englishes? 9
A2.1 Old English dialects 9
A2.2 Th e rise of West Saxon 10
A2.3 Dialect boundaries 1 1
A3 Language contact in the Middle Ages 12
A3.1 1066 and all that 12
A3.2 From Old English to Middle English 13
A3.3 Th e decline of French and the rise of English 15
A3.4 Middle English dialects 1 6
A4 From Middle English to Early Modern English 16
A4.1 External infl uences on pronunciation 1 7
A4.2 Th e translation of the Bible into English 19
A5 Th e process of standardisation 2 1
A5.1 Dialects and emerging standards 21
A5.2 Caxton and the impact of the printing press 2 3
A5.3 Dictionaries and grammars 2 4
A5.4 Th e boundaries of Early Modern English 25
