A Historical Morphology of English
- Explores four sources of linguistic innovation: learner errors in categorical inflectional systems, lexical analogy, productivity in derivational systems and language and dialect contact
- Includes inflectional and derivational morphology
- Organized chronologically navigating Old, Middle and Early Modern English and Modern English
- Draws on data from English, Germanic, French, Greek and Latin
- Includes discussion questions, exercises and suggestions for further reading
Charting the major developments in the morphology of English, this book introduces students to English inflectional and derivational morphology, presenting them with a long-range perspective of language change. It is built around the chronological periods crucial for each type of important large-scale change in the morphology of English, moving from Old, Middle and Early Modern English, to Modern English.The book also explores four sources of linguistic innovation - learner errors in categorical inflectional systems, lexical analogy, productivity in derivational systems and language and dialect contact - illustrating the extent to which the history of English Morphology offers significant information about morphological change in general.
Preface
Acknowledgements Section A. ConceptsChapter 1. MorphologyChapter 2. Linguistic change and the evidence of the pastSection B. Inflectional morphologyChapter 3. Old English inflectional morphologyChapter 4. Inflectional change in late Old English.Chapter 5. Casemarking in Middle English. Chapter 6. Contact with Norse and French. Chapter 7. Middle English verb inflection. Chapter 8. Toward Modern English. Section C. Derivational morphologyChapter 9. Inherited derivational patternsChapter 10. French derivational patterns in EnglishChapter 11. Latinate derivational patterns in EnglishChapter 12. Some aspects of modern English derivational morphologyBibliography
Index
You must log in or register to request an inspection copy.
The volume's lucid structure and Ringe's gift for making complex materials comprehensible will ensure that this volume will serve its diverse target readership well for many years.
