The New Cambridge History of the English Language
The New Cambridge History of the English Language
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This volume investigates the Indo-European and Germanic background to the English language, looking at how inherited elements of phonology and morphology survived into the Old English period. It then considers various kinds of contact between the first speakers of English and speakers of Celtic, Latin and Scandinavian, under different sociolinguistic circumstances. The manner in which initial standardisation of English took place, with considerable code-switching, and the structural changes which the language underwent in this early period are discussed. The various analytical methods used to examine the available data are considered in a dedicated chapter on philology. The volume also contains a set of longer chapters. These take a detailed look at various levels of language from phonology, morphology, syntax through to semantics and pragmatics, and include reviews of historical sociolinguistics and onomastics.
- Covers the earliest history of the English language, focusing on its background and on the forces of language contact and change which shaped its development in the first millennium CE
- Brings together leading scholars in the field providing cutting edge information on recent research and approaches
- Organised in a user-friendly way to enable both scholars and students to access a whole range of topics quickly and easily
Product details
December 2025Hardback
9781009205689
880 pages
229 × 152 mm
Not yet published - available from December 2025
Table of Contents
- Volume I: General Editor's introduction Raymond Hickey
- Introduction to volume I Laura Wright and Raymond Hickey
- Part I. The Context of English:
- 1. The Indo–European framework Donald Ringe
- 2. English in its Germanic surrounding Wayne Harbert
- 3. Language development in the old English period Julia Fernández Cuesta
- 4. The geography of English in England Merja Steenroos
- 5. Philology and the history of English Laura Wright and Raymond Hickey
- Part II. Contact and External Influences:
- 6. Early contact with Celtic Raymond Hickey
- 7. Latin in the early history of English Olga Timofeeva
- 8. The Scandinavian period Richard Dance and Sarah Pons–Sanz
- 9. French and English in the later middle ages Geert de Wilde
- 10. Code–switching and language mixing Herbert Schendl
- 11. Early standardisation Louise Sylvester
- 12. Neoclassical borrowings and their influence on English Letitia Vezzosi and Luca Baratta
- 13.Typological reorientation in the history of English Marion Elenbaas
- Part III. The Long View by Levels and Areas of Language:
- 14. Historical phonology Donka Minkova
- 15. Historical Morphology Elżbieta Adamczyk
- 16. Historical syntax Bettelou Los
- 17. Historical semantics Kathryn Allan
- 18. Historical pragmatics Andreas Jucker
- 19. Historical sociolinguistics Terttu Nevalainen and Tanja Säily
- 20. Historical onomastics Richard Coates
- Appendix: Recommended reading.
