The History of the English Language

Why isn't mice pronounced with a long /i:/ and why is the of the word not pronounced at all? And why is it not {mous}{-es} in the first place? How come English and German sometimes have similar words like Vater and father and what do English town and German Zaun have to do with one another? Is it mere coincidence that the similar-sounding English words shirt and skirt both refer to clothing, and why is it that in English you can chose to either climb, mount, or ascend a flight of stairs? Where does the notorious 3rd person singular -s come from, and why does English have the be-going-to future - isn't the will future enough? This course is designed to find answers to these (and many more) questions concerning the English language, its regularities and especially its perceived inconsistencies and irregularities. To this end, we will look at the various historical periods of English - from its pre-history to the present day, so as to trace the development of English phonology, grammar, lexis, semantics, and pragmatics. Students will learn to classify different types of sound change and lexical change and will also gain familiarity with mechanisms operating in grammatical language change.

Literature - Brinton, Laurel J. & Leslie K. Arnovick. 2006. The English Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press Englisch, Master LA Gymnasium LingF4 Registration - Stud.IP 1.3.-15.3.2016 Prerequisites - LingF1-LingF2 Further Information - meike.pfaff@engsem.~ Universität Hannover SoSe 2016 Englisch, Ergänzungsstudiengang 3. Fach LA Gym. Dr. phil. Pfaff Meike