This course covers the history of the English language from its remote Indo-European origins (and even before) to the present day.
It provides substantial information about the English language at different periods and applies the main theoretical and technical concepts of historical linguistics, taking into account recent work in historical and general linguistics. To satisfy the needs of the current secondary school curriculum in many countries, its main focus, however, is Early Modern English. In order to successfully apply the main concepts of historical linguistics it is recommended to work through the VLC202 course "Historical Linguistics" beforehand or in parallel with ELS111.
Special emphasis will be put on practical aspects, such as, reading and the analysis of texts taken from different periods of English.
- Teacher: Alex Soriano