History of the English Language

Catalog description

The English language that we speak today bears little resemblance to Old English, and almost no resemblance to its Germanic and proto-Indo-European predecessors. How did the language change so much? In this course, you will learn about external and internal influences that have impacted the language in each of its major historical periods, identify the linguistic changes and variances recorded within the literary texts that were produced in each of those periods, consider the language’s regional variations, and examine the relationship of language to gender, race and ethnicity, and social class. Taking this class will change forever how you understand the role of English in the world. Prerequisite: One literature course at the 20000-level or above.