History and Structure of the English Language: Course Syllabus
Course number: ENGL
4360/5360
Instructor: Jonathan A.
Glenn
Schedule: Fall semester, Monday,
6-9 p.m.
Location: Irby 310
Office: in the Provost's
Suite, Torreyson Library 327.
Phone: 450-5071 or 450-3126
E-mail: jona@uca.edu
Meetings with students: by happy
chance or appointment. I will try to keep Wednesday mornings,
8:30-11:30, free for students, but it would be wise to call ahead.
History and Structure of the English Language is designed to introduce students to premodern and early modern English, with some reference to Indo-European antecedents. It is intended to illuminate major trends in the history of English by examining phonology, morphology, syntax, foreign influences, and related topics in the three periods of English language history traditionally defined by historical linguists: Old English, Middle English, and Modern/New English. The course is intended for both undergraduate and graduate students in English or for those with strong secondary interests in history or language. Those who teach or intend to teach language arts--literature, writing, grammar--at any level may find the subject matter particularly useful. The course presupposes no particular prior knowledge of historical linguistics or of linguistics in general and will spend its first unit on introductory concepts and information in general and historical linguistics. The course as a whole may serve as a gentle introduction to what used to be called more often philology, a word we now generally equate with historical linguistics, but whose form and etymology and associations suggest a more capacious and human approach to language than is sometimes suggested by linguistic science today (philology < ME philologie < L philologia 'love of learning; explanation, interpretation' < Gk philología < philo- 'love' + lógos 'word, speech'). The course intends to augment literary study and the study of current forms of English by exploring primarily literary forms of the earlier states of the language, thus paralleling--and constructing a linguistic context for--the student's study of English literary history.
Written requirements for the course, along with their weights in your semester grade, are as follows:
Undergraduate students:
| (1) Unit Tests | 70% |
| (2) Final Examination | 30% |
Graduate students:
| (1) Unit Tests | 60% |
| (2) Final Examination | 20% |
| (3) Graduate student project | 20% |
The course will combine lectures with class discussion and group work in the materials of language and language change. Examinations/tests will ask for information in the form of short answers, brief essays, paradigm completion, and problem solving; exams/tests will cover material in Millward (the primary text for the course) and other material developed in and out of class. Graduate students will complete an additional project in which they develop an annotated bibliography on an assigned topic in English language history. These assignments will be made no later than September 30 and will be due during the last week of class.
Missed examinations/tests and other assignments cannot ordinarily be made up. If for a compelling reason--and the instructor is the judge of "compelling"--an exam/test or other assignment must be missed, the student should contact the instructor as soon as possible (preferably before the work is missed) to negotiate a remedy.
My grading scale is as follows: 90% and above = A; 80-89% = B; 70-79% = C; 60-69% = D; anything below 60% = F.
Students are expected to attend class. If a student must be absent, he/she is responsible for finding out about missed information and activities.
Millward, C. M. A Biography of the English Language. 2nd ed. Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1996.
Work in Millward's text will be supplemented throughout the course by instructor-supplied materials and by exploration of some of the important linguistic reference works available in libraries to the historical linguist.
Integrity in academic work is expected of all students at all times in this course. Academic misconduct--including academic dishonesty or "plagiarism"--will result in penalties allowed by university policy, including reduction of the grade for the assignment in question or for the course. See the UCA Student Handbook, 2002-2003 ed. (34-36) for a more extended discussion of academic misconduct, its consequences, and the process for academic misconduct appeals. Every student should become familiar with all the university policies listed in the Student Handbook, including the university's Sexual Harrassment Policy (102-06), Consentual Relationships Policy (107-09), and Academic Policies (32 ff.).
The University of Central Arkansas adheres to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you need accommodation under this act due to a disability, contact the Office of Disability Support Services at 450-3135.
The schedule may need to be adjusted somewhat as we discover the capabilities and needs of the class. Any such adjustments will be posted on-line and announced in class. In addition to the material assigned in Millward, students will from time to time be asked to use library and other resources in preparation for class.
|
9/2 |
Labor Day Holiday |
|
9/9 |
Introduction: Assumptions, Questions, Materials, and
Methods |
|
9/16 |
Phonology |
|
9/23 |
Writing Systems |
|
9/30 |
World Languages, Indo-European, and English |
|
10/7 |
Unit Exam 1 |
|
10/14 |
Schedule Change: Move Syntax to 10/21.
Old English (2): Morphology |
| Nota bene Please jump to revised schedule. Nota bene |
10/21 |
Old English (3): Syntax, Vocabulary, Meaning, and Dialects;
Literature |
|
10/28 |
Unit Exam 2 |
|
11/4 |
Middle English (2): Morphology and Syntax |
|
11/11 |
Middle English (3): Vocabulary, Meaning, and Dialects;
Literature |
|
11/18 |
Unit Exam 3 |
|
11/25 |
Early Modern English (2): Morphology and Syntax |
|
12/2 |
Early Modern English (3): Vocabulary, Meaning, and
Dialects; Literature |
|
12/9 |
Final Examination (6-8 p.m.) |
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