The Cambridge History of the English Language: Volume 3, 1476-1776

by Roger Lass (Editor)

This volume of the Cambridge History of the English Language encompasses three centuries of immense cultural change, from Caxton in the late Middle Ages to the American Declaration of Independence and the beginnings of Romanticism. During this period, Middle English became Early Modern English and then developed into the early stages of indisputably modern English. This book traces developments in orthography and punctuation, phonology and morphology, syntax, lexis and semantics, regional and social variation, and the literary language. It also contains a glossary of linguistic terms and an extensive bibliography.

Kindle Edition

Published March 28, 2008

About the author

Roger Lass (born January 1, 1937) is a historical linguist.

He earned his PhD from Yale University in 1965 in Medieval English Language and Literature, and subsequently worked at Indiana University (1964–1971), the University of Edinburgh (1972–1982), and the University of Cape Town (1983–2002).

He has done extensive work in the history of English, the motivation of sound change, and the history of linguistics. He was made an honorary professorial fellow at Edinburgh in 2014.

He was the editor of the third volume of The Cambridge History of the English Language.