The Cambridge History of the English Language: Volume 1, the Beginnings to 1066

The Cambridge History of the English Language #1

by Richard M. Hogg (Editor)

The Cambridge History of the English Language is the first multi-volume work to provide a full and authoritative account of the history of English. This volume deals with the history of English up to the Norman conquest. Each chapter gives a chronologically-oriented presentation of the data, surveys scholarship in the area and takes full account of the impact of developing and current linguistic theory on the interpretation of the data. The chapters have been written so as to be accessible both to specialists and nonspecialists, and have been carefully edited by Profesor Hogg to create an integrated approach. This will be essential reading for all those interested in the history of the English language.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Language, Linguistics

Kindle Edition

First published July 31, 1992

Reviews

[Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This first volume in the Cambridge History of The English Language traces the development of English from its Indo-European origins and on to the end of the Old English period. The volume is edited by Richard Hogg with contributions from various other scholars.

In comparison to other linguistic works this is one of the more readable due to its diachronic nature. The work begins with a general introduction by Hogg before proceeding onto Alfred Bammesberger's chapter that sets the English language in the context of the continental Germanic languages and Indo-European. The following chapters (I say chapters, but each are like a small book in its own right) deal with various features of the language such as phonology, morphology, dialects and syntax. The work is nicely rounded of by a chapter on the literary language by Malcolm Godden that explores both prose and verse.

While Baugh and Cable's History of The English Language covers similar ground and is far cheaper, this work is three times the length of Cable's chapters in the American published work. In short, if you want a readable but short introduction to the English language, go with Baugh and Cable. If you want something to really get your teeth into, then get this!

Table of Contents

1. Introduction, Richard M. Hogg
2. The place of English in Germanic and Indo-European, Alfred Bammesberger
3. Phonology and morphology, Richard M. Hogg
4. Syntax, Elizabeth Closs Traugott
5. Semantics and vocabulary, Dieter Kastovsky
6. Old English dialects, Thomas E. Toon
7. Onomastics, Cecily Clark
8. Literary language, Malcolm R. Godden.

[Volsung]

What a vast and astonishing work this series is. "Practically unreadable" my old professor would probably say, meaning it is less a series that most people (most!) will sit down with just to read cover-to-cover. But for sheer breadth of information this series is invaluable. I have only done any serious reading in this, volume I, and browsed somewhat in volume II (Middle English), but it manages to cover all of the essential historical information. The orginization is admirable: different sections written by different authors devoted to various aspects of the language, clearly divisible: this makes consulation of the book easy, for whatever particular purpose the scholar or student may have need of. Volume I contains an Introduction; the contexts of English within the Indo-European and Germanic language families; phonology and morphology; syntax; semantics and vocabulary; Old English dialects; onomastics; and literary language.