This Language, a River: A History of English

by K. Aaron Smith, Susan M. Kim

This Language, A River is an introduction to the history of English that recognizes multiple varieties of the language in both current and historical contexts. Developed over years of undergraduate teaching, the book helps students both to grasp traditional histories of English and to extend and complicate those histories.

Exercises throughout provide opportunities for puzzling out concepts, committing terms and data to memory, and applying ideas. A comprehensive glossary and up-to-date bibliographies help to guide further study.

Genres: History, Linguistics, Nonfiction, Language, Read For School, Textbooks, School

352 pages, Paperback

Published December 5, 2017

Reviews

[Jenny Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really insightful text regarding the history and development of the English language. Each chapter includes questions to test your comprehension, which is an extremely helpful feature.

Book read for college course: History of the English language.

[Reece · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presenting an accessible and technical history of the English language, Smith and Kim provide us with (what I should imagine is) a wonderful introductory text to English linguistics. No detail is taken for granted in their explanations as all concepts are introduced alongside illustrative examples as well as within historical contexts. In providing readers with a fundamental understanding of English grammar – something seldom considered among native speakers – and supporting them further with a continual dispersion of relevant terms, this book gives one the feeling they are entering a new world. And to achieve such a feat is a remarkable standard for any introductory work. While I cannot speak for official students of linguistics, as my university days are behind me, this is a breath of fresh air and feels like a strong foundation for the curious learner who seeks to better understand not only the language they have known all their life, but who further desires to understand it within the realm of linguistics on the whole. It does justice to the beauty of the varied forms of English we have experienced in our lives, and especially to those we seek to better understand and to become acquainted with. Perhaps the largest critique in my reading was a potential lack of greater detail for each matter discussed, but then again, I suppose it is best to rouse my curiosity in a general survey as is done here, and to satiate that desire in more specialized literature. A hugely easy recommendation to make.

[Gabi · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredibly comprehensive and informative text!

I read this book as part of a graduate course called “The History of the English Language”; though an inherently dry topic at times, This Language, A River nevertheless brings much-needed clarity to complex linguistic concepts. I appreciated the book’s chronological structure, and each section gave readers a full picture of the time period, providing the broader historical and literary context for specific language shifts before moving toward more technical morphology. I found myself yearning for more visual interest/varied page design to break up larger chunks of text and make the material a little more digestible, but otherwise this book is truly a feat! My full respect to the hard work done by the authors and editors.

[Dani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for a class on the history of the English language. With the exception of some additional materials provided, the class was able to use this textbook almost exclusively for our reference material and I still feel like I got a decent sketch of the history of the language. This is a text written to explain these concepts to anyone without being too dry if you're already familiar with parts of this. I also appreciated how this text was very up-to-date in its examples and prose.

Well written, informative, and overall covers the topic really well!
My reason for 4 stars as opposed to 5 is just that need for some additional resources to get the full picture.

[amia · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean... It's a textbook, so what did you expect??? This was actually pretty interesting, and I would recommend it if language fascinates you. There were some topics that I felt like went way over my head, especially when it came to the grammar of Old English and Middle English (but to be fair, I am not good at defining grammar!) While I would never read this again, as far as textbooks for class, this one was pretty good.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really informative about the history of the English language and how it progressed throughout time. It started off with the basics of todays grammar for better understanding sentence structure throughout time. Included with that history, it teaches the phonology and morphology of letters and words.

[Amy Trostle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is probably the most informative introduction to the field of linguistics, as well as the history of the English language, that I’ve read so far. There were some subtopics where the authors could have expanded further on, but all in all, it is a very well written and organized academic text.

[Eliana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book on the history of the English language was well written! Easy to read and had activities to help

[Wood Rodgers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing stuff. Love history, love some of that in here. But not in love with the dry nature of so much of it. Not the book's fault.

[Kate Winborne]

Comprehensive overview of the roots and current state of English as a world language from a sociopolitical and historical perspective read for the basis of my linguistics course

[stephani iris · Rating 4 out of 5]

chapters were wayyyy too long - but v good!!

[kaitlynn]

[read for class]

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think a round of edits reorganizing some of the order of presentation and clarifying some of the notation would help.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Our language is in flux and has ever been. Smith demonstrates its historical change and then--in the best section--surveys the language's polymorphism across the globe, citing examples for each case. My one complaint is the text provided is not naturally searchable because it is scanned PDF. What a hassle.

[Lauren M Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ay, ay! Very informative!

I read this for history of linguistics and language, and its lessons still elude me. I love this topic…but this book made me a tad confused. Seems like a little stuffy for no reason.

[CAITLIN · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars - I still find myself referencing the second person in Middle English. The author’s information and descriptions are very useful. Good resource!