E 364M History of the

Instructor: Blockley, M. Unique #: 34860 Semester: Spring 2015 Cross-lists: LIN 364M #40095

Prerequisites: 9 semester hours in English or rhetoric and writing

Description: This course surveys the evidence for a thousand years of linguistic change that shapes what could be argued to be now the most popular language in the world, and certainly the most widely known. We will learn the distinctions of sounds, inflectional endings, and sentence patterns that mark each major stage of the language, from Anglo-Saxon times to its present manifestations across national boundaries. Though the course will focus on describing the different forms of the language as they survive in various texts, we will pay some attention to the interaction between the internal history of English and the social contexts that define its external history. The goal is a better understanding of varieties of change in English and the signs of these changes that can be seen everywhere from spelling to legal procedure. No previous study of is required; a willingness to learn IPA phonetic transcription early in the semester, however, is crucial.

Texts:

David Crystal, The Stories of English (2004, Penguin) John McWhorter, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English (2008, Penguin) Handouts or overheads of additional brief readings and exercises will be provided in the course of the semester.

Requirements and Grading:

8-12 items in the form of reading quizzes* and graded homework exercises: 15% total. *The weekly assigned readings in Crystal and McWhorter are to be done by each Monday’s meeting, when you will be expected to answer and ask questions about it. No make-up quizzes.

Three in-class blue book 50 minute exams (in weeks V, IX, XIII; see below for dates) and a final exam (Friday, May 15th, 9:00 am). First exam 15%, subsequent three exams 20% each: 75% total.

Class participation and attendance: 10% total. Participation grade profiles: A volunteers frequently and is well-prepared, having done the reading carefully B volunteers weekly and is well-prepared, having done the reading C does not usually volunteer but is usually well-prepared when asked to participate D does not volunteer and is frequently poorly prepared F consistently unprepared

Grades will be awarded on a scale of 100 and the average converted into plus and minus letter grades at the end of the semester in accord with departmental policy: 94-100 (A), 90- 93 (A-), 87-89 (B+), 84-86 (B), 80-83 (B-), 77-79 (C+), 74-76 (C), 70-73 (C-), 67-69 (D+) and so on.

Schedule:

Week I January 21 and 23 Introductions, preliminaries, and terminologies part of speech survey and traditional prescriptive grammar review ( via Mittins (1970) to reappear in Interlude 10); IPA exercises, including possible quiz next week, case endings and other inflectional grammar For the 23rd, carefully read the introductions of both texts (Crystal, pp 1-14; McWhorter vii-xxiii)

Week II January 26-30 Grammar and the earliest written English Read for January 26th: McWhorter Chapter 1 (pp. 1-61, with particular attention to 1-10, 25-31, 38-44, and 53). Crystal Chapter 1, including concluding first interlude (pp. 1-33). The interludes, in their particularity, will often be among the most significant pieces of evidence for the chapter’s arguments.

Week III February 2-6

*Crystal Chapters 2, 3, and 4 (34-104)

Week IV February 9-13 Old English in the rear-view

Crystal Chapter 5 (105-120) McWhorter Chapter 3, (89-136: later in the semester we will read Chapter 2)

Week V February 16th First in-class exam (15%), please bring a blue book

February 18-20 Middle English and other languages in England Crystal Chapter 6 (121-43)

Week VI February 23-27 Middle English vocabulary and syntax Crystal Chapters 7 and 8 (144-93)

Week VII March 2-6 Middle English morphology Crystal Chapter 9 (194-221)

Week VIII March 9-13 Standardizing linguistic structure Crystal Chapter 10 (222-53) (review of Crystal through Chapter 10, McWhorter 1 and 3)

Spring Break

Week IX March 23-27 Second Exam (20%) on Wednesday March 25th please bring a blue book (exam covering Crystal Chapters 6-10 and McWhorter Chapters 1 and 3) Reading for March 27th McWhorter Chapter 4 (137-69)

Week X March 30-April 3 Early and the GVS Crystal Chapters 11 and 12 (254-310)

Week XI April 6-10 and the nonstandard Crystal Chapters 13 and 14 (311-64), possible preview of McWhorter Chapter 2

Week XII April 13-17 Early Modern English and written standards Crystal Chapters 15 and 16 (365-418)

Week XIII April 20-24 Review auxiliary do, other grammatical material. Third Exam (20%) on Friday April 24th please bring a blue book (Early Modern English)

Week XIV April 27-May Day Crystal Chapters 17 and 18 (419-83) Global English and the ESL majority

Week XV May 4-8 Crystal Chapters 19 and 20 (484-534) McWhorter Chapters 2 (strong verbs) and 5 (Grimm’s Law) (pp. 63-88 and 171-98)

Final Exam (20%): Friday, May 15th 9:00-12:00 (closed-book, blue book)

Policies: Documented Disability Statement: The University of Texas at Austin provides upon request appropriate academic accommodations for qualified students with disabilities. For more information, contact Services for Students with Disabilities at 471-6259 (voice) or 232-2937 (video phone), or visit http://www.utexas.edu/diversity/ddce/ssd.

Academic integrity: Any work submitted by a student in this course for academic credit will be the student's own work. For additional information on Academic Integrity, see http://deanofstudents.utexas.edu/sjs/acadint.php.

Attendance and classroom policies: You are allowed three unexcused absences without penalty (other than the possibility of a missed quiz). For a fourth and for each subsequent undocumented absence, one point will be deducted from your final average, up to one full letter grade. Three tardies count as an absence, and arriving more than 15 minutes late counts as an absence. Please take notes in or at least alongside your textbooks. Do not use your laptop, cell phone, or other electronic communication/entertainment device during class.