The English Language I: From Vindolanda to Shakespeare NLIT3102A
9 Online sessions.
At its most basic, the English language retains the Germanic vocabulary and syntax of its origins in the early Middle Ages. However, its full color and nuance was achieved only through the Latin and French borrowings of later centuries. Understanding the history of English is the key to its mastery. This pair of courses is an opportunity for students to improve their English style while exploring the history of the language. Our work is based on a rich selection of literary texts and historical documents as well as studies by the Inklings, Owen Barfield, and C.S. Lewis. The entire programm will consist of two one-semester online courses.
The first will cover the prehistory of the English-speaking world in Celtic and Roman Britain, Old and Middle English, the medieval use of Latin in education and religion, the Norman French influence in the high Middle Ages, Latin, French, and Italian influences on the literary language, the universities, the emergence of the English Bible, and the theater.
The second half will focus on the development of modern English philosophical, political, and poetical language, in addition to everyday speech in England, Ireland, and the United States. Among the important writers we will read are Samuel Johnson, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Jefferson, Thoreau, Emerson, Melville, Twain and Joyce. It is recommended, but not required, to take both courses in order.
We will explore the following themes in the two courses:
—Phonology, morphology, syntax, and rhetoric
—Comparative linguistics: tradition and innovation in language
—The Germanic heritage
—Religion: the language of liturgy, sermons, and the Bible
—Spoken and written language
—The printed book and publishing: Caxton and his followers
—Humanism and the Classics
—Education: literacy and Latin
—Translation: Bible, Boethius, Erasmus, the Classics
—England and Europe: French and the courtly tradition; Italian and Spanish influences, foreign language study
—Patriotism and language
—Poverty and enrichment of the language
—Folklore: "Merry England," the Gunpowder Treason & Guy Fawkes Day, etc.
—Philosophical language
—Political discourse
—Poetic diction
—The Influence of Philology
—Journalism
—Aestheticism
—Global English
Required Books
(With the exception of the first meeting, all assignments should be completed before the class with which they are listed. Required books are available at the NYU Bookstore.)
Owen Barfield, History in English Words, 1926, 2002
C S Lewis, Studies in Words, 1990
Calvert Watkins, The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2000
Robert Burchfield, The English Language (Oxford Language Classics Series), 2003
David Burnley, The History of the English Language, 2000
Out of print, but recommended
[N. F. Blake, A History of the English Language, NY, 1998
Anthony Burgess, A Mouthful of Air: Language, Languages...Especially English]
Other texts as assigned. Most will be posted as links to this page. There will be weekly etymology assignments in the Oxford English Dictionary, which is available online through the Fogelman Library Web page.
Written Work: Mid-term examination. A paper (15-20 pages), due at the end of the courses. Participation in online classes and discussions.
Syllabus
1. Introduction: Twentieth Century Perspectives - Owen Barfield and C. S. Lewis; Comparative Linguistics
Assignment: The American Heritage Dictionary of Indo-European Roots, 2nd ed., revised and edited by Calvert Watkins, 2000, pp. vii-xxxv; Samuel Johnson, Preface to the Dictionary of the the English Language (1755); Barfield, History in English Words, entire; Barfield, Lewis, Studies in Words, Chapters 1, 2, 4, 6, 8
2. Some technical background: the sounds of language, grammar.
The International Phonetic Alphabet. The University of Lausanne's Online Phonetics Course will make it easy for you to master the IPA. Another excellent resource is Peter Ladefoged's Vowels and Consonants. Both provide sound files, so that you can listen to the sounds and practise them. Other resources on morphology and syntax.
3. the Anglo-Saxons: Old English
Assignment: Blake, Chapter 3 (Before Alfred), Chapter 4 (The First English Standard); Aelfric, translation of Genesis 3, 1-19; Burnley, "Old English"(pp. 1-8) and nos. 2-4 (For a list of Burnley's texts, click on the title under Required Books.)
Study the University of Calgary's online course in Old English, Lesson 1, on pronunciation and spelling. Practice on Psalm 22 (23) from the Paris Psalter.
Continue to practice pronunciation on the University of Virginia's "Old English Aerobics", and begin to read Aelfric's translation of Genesis 3, 1-19 (The Fall of Adam and Eve). NB. If you have trouble accessing OEA, here are pdf files of the text from Genesis and a pronunciation guide, both from Mitchell and Robinson.
Read Burnley, nos. 2-4 in modern English, and read aloud a few sentences from each for further practice, especially Caedmon's poem (pp. 30, 32). Compare the two versions and read Blake's analysis (pp. 69-74).
Also recommended: Bruce Mitchell and Fred C. Robinson, A Guide to Old English, sixth edition, Oxford, 2001
Etymology assignment: mod, ele, wæstm, treow, wif, hlaf (cf. hlæfdig, hlaford), niman (genumen), æcer, æstel (v. Burnley, p. 28) [This is for class. These AS words aren't in the OED!]
4. the Anglo-Saxons: Old English continued
5. February 27: Towards Chaucer and Beyond
Assignment: Blake, Chapter 5 (The Aftermath of the First Standard) , Chapter 6 (Interregnum: Fragmentation and Regrouping); Burnley, Early Middle English (1100-1300), pp. 65-69; Later Middle English (1300-1500), pp. 137-44; nos. [11], [13], 18 A, 19, 22, [24]; William Dunbar, "Ane Ballat of our Lady". For background on Chaucer and help with Middle English, see The Geoffrey Chaucer Webpage from Harvard.
Etymology assignment: beawbelez, rædesman, ifoan, stounde, queynte crekys, auctour, sakeryng, assaut (assault), charl, liberalle, worship, chivalruse, mageste (majesty), Ierarchie (hierarchy)
Extra: C. S. Lewis's "Four Letter Words" (from Selected Literary Essays, ed. Walter Hooper, Cambridge, 1969)
6. February 27: Towards Chaucer and Beyond continued
7. The Formation of Modern English: Sir Thomas More; Bible translations, Tyndale to Authorized Version:
Assignment: Blake, Chapter 7 (Political, Social, and Pedogogical Background to the New Standard); William Tyndale, The Obedience of a Christian Man (1528), excerpt; Sir Thomas More, A Dialogue Concerning Heresies (1530), excerpt; Burnley no. 51; Tyndale New Testament, Matth. 5-7 (The Sermon on the Mount), Psalm 22 (23): study Douai-Reims, KJV translations.
Etymology assignment: dominate, convert, justice, tribulation, mercy
8. The Enrichment of English
Assignment: Blake, Chapter 8 (Language Change from 1400 to 1600); Burnley, 25, 27, 29, 30-34, Shakespeare, Sonnets 5, 14, and 65 (cf. facsimile of 1609 edition 5a/5b,14a/14b,65a/65b); Love's Labor's Lost (First Folio transcription) entire (cf. Burnley 31). You may prefer reading this facsimile of the First Folio itself for LLL and Macbeth.
Etymology assignment: inkhorn, peevish, method, scientific, mechanical, sententious, opinion, peremptory, thrasonical, gentle, distillation, liquid, plague, prognosticate, mortality, meditation
9. Summary and conclusion
Part II
The English Language II: From Shakespeare to Joyce NLIT3102B
9 Online sessions.
A New School graduate student from Puerto Rico recently said: "To be successful in English one has to submit to economy and efficiency. Economy is the word that comes to mind." As one surveys the global role of English today, this seems to be true. The old phrase about the "language of Shakespeare" seems nothing more than an empty cliché in the face of the manifold uses of English as an original and acquired language in business, politics, and journalism. This course will uncover some of the riches of the language by focussing on the development of modern philosophical, political, and poetical English, in addition to everyday speech in England, Ireland, and the United States. Among the authors we will read are Samuel Johnson, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Jefferson, Thoreau, Emerson, Melville, Twain, and Joyce.
See the listing for NLIT3102A for more about the premises of the course, which is a recommended, but not required, prerequisite.
Required Books
(With the exception of the first meeting, all assignments should be completed before the class with which they are listed. Required books are available at the NYU Bookstore.)
Owen Barfield, History in English Words, 1926, 2002
Robert Burchfield, The English Language (Oxford Language Classics Series), 2003
David Burnley, The History of the English Language, 2000
Out of print, but recommended
[N. F. Blake, A History of the English Language, NY, 1998
Anthony Burgess, A Mouthful of Air: Language, Languages...Especially English]
Other texts as assigned. Most will be posted as links to this page. There will be weekly etymology assignments in the Oxford English Dictionary, which is available online through the Fogelman Library Web page.
Written Work: Mid-term examination. A paper (15-20 pages), due at the end of the courses. Participation in online classes and discussions.
1.The Enrichment of English: Political discourse in Elizabethan and Jacobean times
Assignment: Sir Walter Ralegh, excerpt from The Dutie of a King in his Royal Office (1599); Shakespeare, Macbeth (First Folio transcription)
Etymology assignment: monarchy, throne, policy, family, power, honesty, virtue, nature
2. The Completion of English I
Assignment: Bacon, The Advancement of Learning, Book II, excerpt; Browne, Religio Medici; John Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding, Book 3, Chapters 1-2, George Berkeley, A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, Introduction, 6-25
Etymology assignment: tba.
3. The Completion of English II
Assignment: Blake, Chapter 9 (Establishing the Standard within Social Norms); Burnley, nos. 35 (Milton Paradise Lost, Book II entire), 38; John Winthrop, On Liberty, Johnson, "Preface to the Dictionary" .
Etymology assignment: zone, palpable, obscure, suffrage, ambition, regal
4. Romanticism, Republican Ideals, and Language
Assignment: Assignment: Blake, Chapter 10 (Emancipation, Education, and Empire); Burnley, no. 41, 45-7; Declaration of Independence, excerpt; Thomas Jefferson, First Inaugural Address, excerpt; Henry David Thoreau, Walden, "Economy"; S. T. Coleridge, "Dejection: An Ode"; Shelley, Defence of Poetry, excerpt; Wordsworth, "The Recluse", excerpt.
Etymology assignment: nature, government, tyranny, authority, Providence, honesty, despotic, fancy, memory, reason, empyreal, nature, reason, imagination, synthesis, analysis, imitation, mimetic, obtrude, penance, encumbrance, rust (N.B. IE root!)
5. The Victorians: Newman, Ruskin, Pater, et. al.; Nineteenth century views of language
6.American English: between Melville and Mark Twain
7. English in Ireland: Yeats, Joyce and the Irish
Tradition
8. Contemporary themes
Assignment: Blake, Chapter 11 (World Domination and Growing Variation); Burnley nos.48-49; Charles Dickens, "Saxon English"; George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language" (1946); Stephen K. Roney, "Postmodernist Prose and George Orwell" Academic Questions, 15.2 (Spring 2002); See now the NSU conference on the Politics of Language, based on an article by NSU prof., James Miller, "Is Bad Writing Necessary?", which is itself based on Orwell essay. Bernard de Voto, "Whiskey is for Patriots", Harper's Magazine, April 1951; Another mature voice: "Armageddon Can Wait", Alistair Cooke's Letter from America (BBC World Service, Nov. 2002: Listen to the audio! Note Alistair's Biblical references and his syntax.)
More Contemporary Issues:
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Estuary English |
Bilingualism |
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Etymology assignment: galvanization, proletarian, humanitarian, prefabricated, visualize
9. Summary and conclusion
