Fall 2009

LIN 364M • History of English Language

Course Description

Please refer to the course schedule for course days, time, room location, prerequisites and possible cross-listings: http://registrar.utexas.edu/schedules/ This course aims to present the historical development of English by striking a balance between the internal history--sounds, inflections, vocabulary--and the external history--the political, social, and intellectual forces that have determined the course of that development at different periods. The main topics (which will be covered fully in class lecture-discussion) include the Indo-European Family of Languages, Old English, The Norman Conquest and the Subjection of English (1066-1200), The Re-establishment of English (1200-1500), The Renaissance (1500-1650), The Appeal to Authority (1650-1800), The Nineteenth Century and after, and the English Language in America.

This course aims to present the historical development of English by striking a balance between the internal history--sounds, inflections, vocabulary--and the external history--the political, social, and intellectual forces that have determined the course of that development at different periods. The main topics (which will be covered fully in class lecture-discussion) include the Indo-European Family of Languages, Old English, The Norman Conquest and the Subjection of English (1066-1200), The Re-establishment of English (1200-1500), The Renaissance (1500-1650), The Appeal to Authority (1650-1800), The Nineteenth Century and after, and the English Language in America.

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