LING 318 - Structure and History of English

The development of the English language is explored, from Proto-Indo-European origins, through Old English and Middle English, up to various dialects of modern English. Each component of the language system is analyzed (lexicon, phonetics and phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics and pragmatics). It is seen how all the different mechanisms of language change (sound change, analogical change, grammaticalization, lexical and semantic changes) have applied through the history of the language and continue to apply today.

Prerequisite: LING 238 - Introduction to Linguistics with a grade of “C” or higher.
Credit(s): 4
Course Attribute(s):

Honors Scholar Course.