The English Language

The English Language is an essential survey of the development of the language from its Indo-European past to the present day. Now in a third edition, this text offers enhanced discussion of the socio-historical and cultural contexts of the English language, new approaches to the history of English, and an anthology of specimen texts from the four major periods of English: Old, Middle, Early Modern, and Modern.

“"Brinton and Arnovick's book is, I think, the best textbook in its field." --John Considine, University of Alberta”

"The English Language is particularly good at the phonological history of the language from IE forward. . . . [it] covers very well the history of morphological and syntactic change in English. . . . The amount of detail in formal description on the IE and General Germanic periods is very satisfying, and I don't know of any parallel in alternative textbooks. At the other end of the timeline, the amount of detail and the accuracy in the treatment ofCanadian varieties of English is also very satisfying, and, again, I don't know of any parallel in alternative textbooks."--Michael Cummings, York University"Brinton and Arnovick is based on sound and up-to-date linguistic scholarship, frequently cited directly in the text, which inspires confidence. . . . Very readable and engaging."--Murray McGillivray, University of CalgaryFrom previous editions:"The book is well-organized and clear . . . without assuming a lot of knowledge on the part of students."--Richard J. Moll, University of Western Ontario"Brinton and Arnovick's book is, I think, the best textbook in its field."--John Considine, University of Alberta

Laurel J. Brinton specializes in English language studies, with particular interest in grammaticalization and historical pragmatics. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California. In addition to co-authoring The English Language: A Linguistic History, she has co-edited the two-volume English Historical Linguistics: An International Handbook (Mouton) and is the co-editor of English Language and Linguistics(Cambridge University Press).Leslie K. Arnovick specializes in English language studies, with particular interest in historical pragmatics. She received her Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley. In addition to co-authoring The English Language: A Linguistic History, she has also written several monographs profiling Medieval English and diachronic pragmatics.

The English Language: A Linguistic History surveys the development of the English language from its Indo-European past to the present day. It covers the entire history of the English language beginning with its prehistoric origins in Proto-Indo-European and includes thorough coverage of its four major periods: Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English, and Modern English.The third edition features enhanced discussion of the socio-historical and cultural contexts of the English language in the new "Language in Context" features in each chapter. Brief timelines of historical events also now appear at the beginning of relevant chapters, supplementing the comprehensive timeline (linguistic, literary, historical, and social) found in the appendices. Discussion of new approaches to the history of English, such as historical pragmatics and historical sociolinguistics,have been added or expanded along with new debates, such as the current work on the Proto-Indo-Europeans or the status of English as a global language or second language. A new appendix includes an anthology of specimen texts from the four major periods of English, chosen for their use of colloquialand non-literary language.

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