History of the English Language

Who was the first “dude”? Is “unfriend” acceptable English? In this course we will explore the story of English as a history of language contacts and language change. We will begin the story in 449 AD with the Germanic dialect of Anglo-Saxon invaders, and end by examining global Englishes in the digital age. Along the way we will study literary and popular texts (from “Caedmon’s Hymn” to Harry Potter) representing the major English periods (Old, Middle, Early Modern, and Modern) in order to understand the changes in spelling, pronunciation, grammar, syntax, and vocabulary resulting from both internal evolution and such external, cultural factors as war, migration, global markets, music, film, television, and the internet.