English Historical Linguistics
Approaches and Perspectives

Uniquely organized in terms of theoretical approaches, this is an advanced textbook on the study of English historical linguistics.

Laurel J. Brinton (Edited by)

9781107534216, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 July 2017

430 pages, 29 b/w illus. 9 colour illus.
24.6 x 17.5 x 2 cm, 0.84 kg

'The book identifies and addresses the typical shortcomings of an English historical linguistics textbook: the insufficient awareness of and coverage of the ['bird's-eye view'] of the discipline.' Matylda W?odarczyk, Pragmatics.Reviews

Written by an international team of leading scholars, this engaging textbook on the study of English historical linguistics is uniquely organized in terms of theoretical approaches and perspectives. Each chapter features textboxes, case studies, suggestions for further reading and exercises, enabling students to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each approach and guiding them on undertaking further research. The case studies and exercises guide students in approaching and manipulating empirical data, providing them with hands-on experience of conducting linguistic research. An extensive variety of approaches, from traditional to contemporary, is treated, including generative approaches, historical sociolinguistic and pragmatic approaches, psycholinguistic perspectives, grammaticalization theory, and discourse-based approaches, as well as perspectives on standardization and language variation. Each chapter applies the concepts discussed to data from the history of English, and a glossary of key terms enables easy navigation and quick cross-referencing. An essential resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students of the history of English linguistics.

1. The study of English historical linguistics Laurel J. Brinton
2. The scope of English historical linguistics Raymond Hickey
3. Generative approaches Cynthia L. Allen
4. Psycholinguistic perspectives Martin Hilpert
5. Corpus-based approaches Marianne Hundt and Anne-Christine Gardner
6. Approaches to grammaticalization and lexicalization Lieselotte Brems and Sebastian Hoffman
7. Inferential-based approaches María José López-Couso
8. Discourse-based approaches Claudia Claridge
9. Sociohistorical approaches Peter J. Grund
10. Historical pragmatic approaches Laurel J. Brinton
11. Perspectives on standardization Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade
12. Perspectives on geographical variation Merja Stenroos
13. Perspectives on language contact Edgar W. Schneider.

Subject Areas: English language teaching [ELT E], Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF], Linguistics [CF]