The Origins and Development of the English Language

364 Pages·2010·4.01 MB·English

by  John Algeo

THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT
OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
This page intentionally left blank
THE ORIGINS AND
DEVELOPMENT
OF THE
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
SIXTH EDITION
±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±±± JBoashend oAnltgheeooriginal work of
Thomas Pyles
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Preface
The Origins and Development of the English Language, Sixth Edition, continues to
focus on the facts of language rather than on any of the various contemporary the-
oretical approaches to the study of those facts. The presentation is that of fairly
traditional grammar and philology, so as not to require students to master a new
theoretical approach at the same time they are exploring the intricacies of language
history.
The focus of the book is on the internal history of the English language: its
sounds, grammar, and word stock. That linguistic history is, however, set against
the social and cultural background of the changing times. The first three chapters
are introductory, treating language in general as well as the pronunciation and or-
thography of present-day English. The succeeding central six chapters are the heart
of the book, tracing the history of the language from prehistoric Indo-European
days through Old English, Middle English, and early Modern English up to the
present time. The final three chapters deal with vocabulary—the meaning, making,
and borrowing of words.
This sixth edition of a book Thomas Pyles wrote some forty-five years ago pre-
serves the outline, emphasis, and aims of the original, as all earlier editions have.
The entire book has, however, been revised for helpfulness to students and ease of
reading. The major improvements of the fifth edition have been retained. A large
number of fresh changes have also been made, especially to make the presentation
easier to follow. The historical information has been updated in response to evolv-
ing scholarship, new examples have been added (although effective older ones have
been kept), the bibliography has been revised (including some new electronic re-
sources in addition to print media), and the glossary has been revised for clarity
and accuracy. The prose style throughout has been made more contemporary and
accessible. The author hopes that such changes will help to make the book more
useful for students and instructors alike.
v
vi PREFACE
All of the debts acknowledged in earlier editions are still gratefully acknowl-
edged for this one. This edition has especially benefited from the critiques of the
following reviewers, whose very helpful suggestions have been followed wherever
feasible.
James E. Doan, Nova Southeastern University
Mark Alan Vinson, Crichton College
Jay Ruud, University of Central Arkansas
Elena Tapia, Eastern Connecticut State University
J. Mark Baggett, Samford University
My former doctoral student and now an admired teacher and Scholar-in-Residence
at Shorter College, Carmen Acevedo Butcher, made a major contribution by
suggesting improvements in the style and accuracy of the work, by providing new
references for the bibliography (including electronic sources), and by reviewing the
entire manuscript. My wife, Adele S. Algeo, who works with me on everything I
do, has assisted at every step of the revision. Her editorial eye is nonpareil, and
her support makes all work possible—and a pleasure.
John Algeo
Contents
PREFACE v
chapter 1 Language and the English Language:
An Introduction 1
A Definition of Language 2
Language as System 2
Grammatical Signals 3
Language as Signs 5
Language as Vocal 6
Writing and Speech 6
Gestures and Speech 8
Language as Conventional 8
Language Change 10
The Notion of Linguistic Corruption 10
Language Variation 11
Correctness and Acceptability 12
Language as Human 13
Theories of the Origin of Language 13
Innate Language Ability 14
Do Birds and Beasts Really Talk? 14
Language as Communication 15
Other Characteristics of Language 16
Why Study the History of English? 17
For Further Reading 18
vii
viii CONTENTS
chapter 2 The Sounds of Current English 20
The Organs of Speech 20
Consonants of Current English 21
Vowels of Current English 25
Vowels before [r] 28
Stress 28
Unstressed Vowels 29
Kinds of Sound Change 29
Assimilation: Sounds Become More Alike 29
Dissimilation: Sounds Become Less Alike 30
Elision: Sounds Are Omitted 30
Intrusion: Sounds Are Added 31
Metathesis: Sounds Are Reordered 31
Causes of Sound Change 31
The Phoneme 32
Differing Transcriptions 33
For Further Reading 34
chapter 3 Letters and Sounds: A Brief History of Writing 35
Ideographic and Syllabic Writing 35
From Semitic Writing to the Greek Alphabet 36
The Greek Vowel and Consonant Symbols 36
The Romans Adopt the Greek Alphabet 37
Later Developments of the Roman and Greek Alphabets 38
The Use of Digraphs 39
Additional Symbols 39
The History of English Writing 40
The Germanic Runes 40
The Anglo-Saxon Roman Alphabet 40
The Spelling of English Consonant Sounds 41
Stops 42
Fricatives 42
Affricates 43
Nasals 43
Liquids 43
Semivowels 43
The Spelling of English Vowel Sounds 43
Front Vowels 43
Central Vowel 44
Back Vowels 44
Diphthongs 45
Vowels plus [r] 45
CONTENTS ix
Unstressed Vowels 45
Spelling Pronunciations and Pronunciation Spellings 46
Writing and History 47
For Further Reading 48
chapter 4 The Backgrounds of English 49
Indo-European Origins 50
Indo-European Culture 50
The Indo-European Homeland 50
How Indo-European Was Discovered 51
Language Typology and Language Families 52
Non-Indo-European Languages 53
Main Divisions of the Indo-European Group 55
Indo-Iranian 55
Armenian and Albanian 58
Tocharian 58
Anatolian 59
Balto-Slavic 59
Hellenic 60
Italic 60
Celtic 61
Germanic 62
Cognate Words in the Indo-European Languages 63
Inflection in the Indo-European Languages 64
Some Verb Inflections 65
Some Noun Inflections 66
Word Order in the Indo-European Languages 67
Major Changes From Indo-European to Germanic 69
First Sound Shift 71
Grimm’s Law 71
Verner’s Law 73
The Sequence of the First Sound Shift 74
West Germanic Languages 74
For Further Reading 76
chapter 5 The Old English Period (449–1100) 78
Some Key Events in the Old English Period 78
History of the Anglo-Saxons 79
Britain before the English 79
The Coming of the English 79
The English in Britain 81