A History of English: A Sociolinguistic Approach

A History of English A Sociolinguistic Approach Barbara A. Fennell University of Aberdeen LACKWELL Contents List of Maps and Figures xii Acknowledgements xiii 1 Introduction 1.1 The Time Periods of English 1.2 Language Change 1.3 Sources of Information on Language Change 1.4 Linguistic Preliminaries 1.5 The Sounds of English, and Symbols Used to Describe Them 1.5.1 Consonants 1.5.2 Vowels 1.5.2.1 Monophthongs 1.5.2.2 Diphthongs 1.6 Structure of the Book 1 1 3 7 9 11 11 12 12 12 13 2 The Pre-history of English Timeline: The Indo-European Period 2.1 The Indo-European Languages and Linguistic Relatedness 2.1.1 The Beginnings 2.1.2 The Development of Historical Linguistics 2.1.3 Genetic Relatedness 2.2 Linguistic Developments: The Indo-European Language Family 2.2.1 Family-Tree Relationships 2.2.2 The Indo-European Family 2.2.2.1 Indo-Iranian 2.2.2.2 Armenian 2.2.2.3 Albanian 2.2.2.4 Balto-Slavonic 2.2.2.5 Hellenic 2.2.2.6 Italic 2.2.2.7 Celtic 2.2.2.8 Germanic 15 15 17 17 18 19 23 23 23 25 26 26 26 28 28 29 31 vi Contents 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 From Indo-European to Germanic 2.3.1 Prosody 2.3.2 The Consonant System: Sound Shifts 2.3.2.1 Grimm's Law 2.3.2.2 Verner's Law 2.3.2.3 The Second Consonant Shift 2.3.3 The Vowel System 2.3.4 Morphology 2.3.5 Syntax 2.3.6 Lexicon 2.3.7 Semantics 2.3.8 Indo-European/Germanic Texts 2.3.9 Neogrammarians, Structuralists and Contemporary Linguistic Models Typological Classification 2.4.1 Universals 2.4.1.1 Syntactic Universals 2.4.2 Morphological Typology Sociolinguistic Focus. The Indo-European Tribes and the Spread of Language. Language Contact and Language Change. Archaeological Linguistics 2.5.1 Language Contact 2.5.2 Archaeological Linguistics Conclusion Old English Timeline: The Old English Period 3.1 Social and Political History 3.1.1 Britain before the English 3.1.2 The Anglo-Saxon Invasions 3.1.3 Anglo-Saxon Influence 3.1.4 Scandinavian Influence 3.2 Linguistic Developments: The Sounds, Structure and Typology of Old English 3.2.1 The Structure of Old English 3.2.1.1 OE Consonants 3.2.1.2 Vowels: from Germanic to Old English 3.2.1.3 Old English Gender 3.2.1.4 Inflection in Old English 3.2.1.5 Old English Syntax 3.2.1.6 Old English Vocabulary 34 35 35 36 37 38 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 44 45 45 46 49 50 51 53 55 55 55 55 56 56 57 59 59 60 62 64 64 72 77 Contents vii 3.3 Linguistic and Literary Achievements 3.3.1 Texts . 3.3.1.1 Prose 3.3.1.2 Poetry 3.4 The Dialects of Old English 3.5 Sociolinguistic Focus 3.5.1 Language Contact 3.5.1.1 Latin and Celtic 3.5.1.2 The Scandinavians 79 79 80 82 85 86 86 88 90 Middle English Timeline: The Middle English Period 4.1 Social and Political History 4.1.1 Political History: The Norman Conquest to Edward I 4.1.2 Social History 4.1.2.1 The Establishment of Towns and Burghs and the Beginnings of Social Stratification 4.2 Linguistic Developments: Middle English Sounds and Structure, with Particular Emphasis on the Breakdown of the Inflectional System and its Linguistic Typological Implications 4.2.1 Major Changes in the Sound System 4.2.1.1 The Consonants 4.2.1.2 Consonant Changes from Old to Middle English 4.2.1.3 Vowels in Stressed Syllables 4.2.1.4 Vowels in Unstressed Syllables 4.2.1.5 Lengthening and Shortening 4.2.1.6 Summary Table of Vowel Changes from Old to Middle English 4.2.1.7 The Formation of Middle English Diphthongs 4.2.2 Major Morphological Changes from Old to Middle English 4.2.2.1 Loss of Inflections 4.2.2.2 Other Changes in the Morphological System 4.2.2.3 Verbs 4.2.3 Middle English Syntax 4.2.3.1 Word Order 4.2.4 The Lexicon: Loan Words from French 4.2.4.1 Numbers and Parts of the Body 4.2.4.2 Two French Sources 94 94 94 94 96 96 97 97 97 98 98 99 99 100 100 101 101 102 103 104 106 106 107 108 viii Contents 4.3 4.4 4.5 Middle English Dialects 4.3.1 Linguistic and Literary Achievements 4.3.1.1 Middle English Literature 4.3.2 Language 4.3.3 Genre Sociolinguistic Focus: Social Stratification, Multilingualism and Dialect Variation. Language Contact: The Myth of Middle English Creolization 4.4.1 English Re-established 4.4.1.1 Language and the Rise of the Middle Class 4.4.2 The Development of Standard English 4.4.2.1 The Evolution of ME 'Standard' English 4.4.3 Middle English Creolization: Myth? 4.4.3.1 Definitions 4.4.3.2 Pidgins and Creoles in England? Conclusion 5 Early Modern English Timeline: The Early Modern English Period 5.1 Social and Political History 5.1.1 Historical and Political Background 5.1.1.1 Internal Instability and Colonial Expansion 5.2 Linguistic Developments: The Variable Character of Early Modern English 5.2.1 Phonology 5.2.1.1 Consonants 5.2.1.2 Vowels 5.2.1.3 The Great Vowel Shift 5.2.2 Morphology . 5.2.2.1 Nouns 5.2.2.2 Pronouns 5.2.2.3 Adjectives and Adverbs 5.2.2.4 Verbs 5.2.2.5 The Spread of Northern Forms 5.2.3 Syntax 5.2.3.1 Periphrastic do 5.2.3.2 Progressive Verb Forms 5.2.3.3 Passives 5.2.4 Sample Text 5.2.5 Vocabulary 5.2.6 The Anxious State of English: The Search for Authority 108 114 114 114 115 116 116 120 122 123 125 126 128 133 135 135 136 136 137 138 138 139 140 141 141 141 142 142 143 143 144 144 145 145 146 147 147 Contents 5.2.6.1 Dictionaries and the Question of Linguistic Authority: Swift's and Johnson's View of Language 5.3 Linguistic and Literary Achievement 5.4 Sociolinguistic Focus 5.4.1 Variation in Early Modern English 5.4.2 Standardization 5.4.2.1 The Printing Press 5.4.2.2 The Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation 5.4.2.3 English Established 5.4.3 The Great Vowel Shift 5.4.3.1 Phonological Change 5.4.4 Case Study: Power and Solidarity Relations in Early Modern English 5.5 Conclusion 6 Present-Day English Timeline: Present-Day English Introduction 6.1 Social and Political History 6.1.1 The Age of Revolutions, Wars and Imperialism 6.1.2 Urbanization, Industrialization and Social Stratification 6.2 Linguistic Developments 6.2.1 Morphology and Syntax 6.2.1.1 Morphology 6.2.1.2 Syntax 6.2.2 The Lexicon 6.2.2.1 Colonialism, Contact and Borrowings 6.2.2.2 Neologisms 6.2.2.3 Illustrative Texts 6.3 Modern English Dialects 6.3.1 Traditional Dialects 6.3.2 Modern Dialects 6.3.3 Received Pronunciation (RP): The Social Background 6.3.3.1 Characteristics of RP 6.3.4 RP, Estuary English and 'the Queen's English' 6.4 Sociolinguistic Focus: English in Scotland, Ireland and Wales - Multilingualism in Britain 6.4.1 English in the British Isles 6.4.1.1 English in Scotland ix 149 152 154 154 156 156 156 157 158 158 162 166 167 167 168 169 169 170 172 172 172 173 175 175 176 178 179 180 182 185 187 188 191 191 191 x Contents 6.4.1.2 English in Wales 6.4.1.3 English in Ireland 6.4.2 Immigrant Varieties of English in Britain 6.4.2.1 Immigration to Britain in the PDE Period 6.4.2.2 Colonial Immigration and Language 195 198 200 200 202 7 English in the United States Timeline: America in the Modern Period 7.1 Social and Political History 7.1.1 Settlement and Language 7.1.2 Settlement by Region 7.1.2.1 The Original Thirteen Colonies 7.1.2.2 The Middle West 7.1.2.3 The South and West 7.2 The Development of American English 7.2.1 The Strength and Maintenance of Dialect Boundaries 7.2.2 How, Why and When American English Began to Diverge from British English 7.2.2.1 Physical Separation 7.2.2.2 The Different Physical Conditions Encountered by the Settlers 7.2.2.3 Contact with Immigrant Non-Native Speakers of English 7.2.2.4 Developing Political Differences and the Growing American Sense of National Identity 7.3 Language Variation in the United States 7.3.1 Uniformity and Diversity in Early American English 7.3.2 Regional Dialect Divisions in American English • 7.3.2.1 The Lexicon 7.3.2.2 Phonology: Consonants 7.3.2.3 Phonology: Vowels 7.3.3 Social and Ethnic Dialects 7.3.3.1 Social Class and Language Change 7.3.3.2 Ethnicity 7.3.3.3 African-American Vernacular English 7.3.3.4 Traditional Dialects and the Resistance to Change 208 208 209 209 210 210 213 214 216 216 8 World-Wide English Timeline: World-Wide English 8.1 Social and Political History: The Spread of English across the Globe 241 241 217 217 218 219 219 222 222 223 223 226 227 229 231 231 232 237 243 Contents 8.1.1 British Colonialism 8.1.1.1 Canada 8.1.1.2 The Caribbean 8.1.1.3 Australia 8.1.1.4 New Zealand 8.1.1.5 South Africa 8.1.1.6 South Asia 8.1.1.7 Former Colonial Africa: West Africa 8.1.1.8 East Africa 8.1.1.9 South-East Asia and South Pacific 8.1.2 An Overview of the Use of English throughout the World 8.2 English as a Global Language 8.2.1 The Industrial Revolution 8.2.2 American Economic Superiority and Political Leadership 8.2.3 American Technological Domination 8.2.4 The Boom in English Language Teaching 8.2.5 The Need for a Global Language 8.2.6 Structural Considerations 8.2.7 Global and at the Same Time Local 8.3 English as a Killer Language 8.3.1 Language Death 8.3.2 Language and Communication Technology 8.4 The Future of English Bibliography Index xi 244 244 245 246 247 247 248 250 252 253 255 256 256 257 257 258 259 260 261 264 265 266 267 270 280