ADEKUNLE AJASIN UNIVERSITY, AKUNGBA-AKOKO

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH STUDIES

ENG 205: History of the English Language

Course Outline 2023/2024 Session
Instructor: Prof. O.B. Are
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1. General Introduction
2. Language Change
3. Classification of Languages (Genetic/Genealogical vs Typological)
4. Language Families
5. The Indo-European Language Family
6. The Germanic Languages
7. The Evolution of English: major Historical Events Leading to the Emergence and Status
of:
a. Pre Old English
b. Old English
c. Middle English
d. Early Modern English
e. Modern English
8. Structural Features of the Historical Varieties of English
9. The Global Spread Of English
10. World Englishes Today
11. Sources of New Words in Modern English

Reading List
1. Algeo, John (2010). The Origin and Development of the English language
Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage learning.
2. Crystal, David (2012) English as a Global Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
3. Svartvik, Jan & Leech, Geoffrey (2006). English: One Tongue, Many Voices. New York:
Palgrave and Macmillan