A Biography of the English Language - Hardcover

Millward, C.M.; Hayes, Mary

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0495906417 ISBN 13: 9780495906414

Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

The third edition of A BIOGRAPHY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE continues to examine the structure of language. The textbook discusses three important issues: languages and language change are systematic; the inner history of a language is profoundly affected by its outer history of political and culural events; and the English of the past has everywhere left its traces on present-day English. By uncovering the language’s past, one can better communicate with it.

About this title

Review:

"The text introduces concepts basic to the study of the development of any language, and then uses the concepts as a lens to specifically view the developmental periods of English."

"The book is very well written with a very appealing "voice" and is very clear in its explanations. It focuses appropriately on the most significant changes in the history of English."

About the Author:

PHD in linguistics and English from Brown University; taught at U of Edinburgh, Univerisite Paul Valery in Monpelllier, France, and at Huazhon U of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China; recipient of many awards including a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship, a Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching, and a Humanities Foundation grant. She was a Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh and was a member of many professional organizations.

Ph.D. from Univ of Iowa; now Director of Medieval Studies at the University of Mississippi.

About this edition

• Publisher: Wadsworth Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0495906417
• ISBN 13: 9780495906414
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 3
• Number of pages: 496