AJc305 Historical Development of English Language

Faculty of Education
Spring 2018
Extent and Intensity
0/0/2. 4 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Radek Vogel, Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Světlana Hanušová, Ph.D.
Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Supplier department: Department of English Language and Literature – Faculty of Education
Timetable
Fri 16. 2. 16:40–18:20 učebna 58, Fri 2. 3. 16:40–18:20 učebna 58, Fri 16. 3. 16:40–18:20 učebna 58, Fri 6. 4. 16:40–18:20 učebna 58, Fri 20. 4. 16:40–18:20 učebna 58, Fri 4. 5. 16:40–18:20 učebna 58
Prerequisites
No prerequisites.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course gives the phonological development from Indo-European into Modern English, with occasional examples from Czech. Old English and Middle English are taught synchronically, as foreign languages, with a few diachronic excursions. The grammatical system of Old English is then compared with that of Modern English and Modern Czech. A similar pattern is applied on lexis, mentioning the Latin, Scandinavian and Norman/French influences. The core of the work in the seminars is in the reading of texts: after a few Old English texts the main attention is paid to Middle English, to "Canterbury Tales" by Chaucer. A specimen of Shakespearan English is included.
The main objectives of the course are to familiarise students with the development of English from the original synthetic to the present-day analytic language, to make them realise the sources of its lexical heterogeneity, and to understand the complex processes leading to its current phonological system.
Syllabus
  • 1. Grimm s laws.
  • 2. Indo-European vowels.
  • 3. Vowel changes in Old English.
  • 4. Lengthening and shortening of stressed vowels.
  • 5. The formation of new diphthongs.
  • 6. The Great Vowel Shift.
  • 7. Foreign influences on English: Norman French, Scandinavian, Latin.
  • 8. Old English syntax.
  • 9. Middle English and Early New English syntax.
  • 10. Analysis of three Old English texts.
  • 11. 200 lines of "Canterbury Tales".
  • 12. William Shakespeare, an extract from "As You Like It".
Literature
    required literature
  • HLADKÝ, Josef. An Old English, Middle English, and Early-New English reader. 4. opr. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1998, 286 s. ISBN 8021018550. info
    recommended literature
  • CRYSTAL, David. The Cambridge encyclopedia of the English language. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003, vii, 499. ISBN 0521530334. info
  • VACHEK, Josef. Historický vývoj angličtiny. Edited by Jan Firbas. 8. vyd. Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 1994, 276 s. ISBN 8021004878. info
Teaching methods
Explanation and seminar discussion; reading and analysis of OE, ME and ENE texts in class; set reading.
Assessment methods
Completion prerequisites:
- attendance at seminars (minimum 80%);
- homework (assigned at seminars and via Moodlinka);
- final test (to pass: min. 65%) and oral colloquy (if the test score is below 70%).
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Information on the extent and intensity of the course: 24 hodin.
The course is also listed under the following terms Spring 2019, Spring 2020, Spring 2021, Spring 2022, Spring 2023, Spring 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Spring 2018, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/ped/spring2018/AJc305