Although English and German are both Germanic languages, due to various historical changes, many of their cognates are no longer easily recognizable. This study examined whether knowledge of language history can be beneficial to learners when learning English-German cognates. Thirty-five English-speaking second language (L2) learners of…

The first part of this text for young students provides an introduction to the origins of language, the beginnings of writing, and the making of an alphabet. The second part, "Word Stories," presents the etymologies of over 100 common English words in simplified, nontechnical style. Special terms are explained in a prefatory section. A word and…

An account of the dictionaries, great and small, of the English-speaking world is given in this book. Subjects covered include the origin of English dictionaries, early dictionaries, Noah Webster and his successors to the present, abridged dictionaries, "The Oxford English Dictionary" and later dictionaries patterned after it, the…

A social and linguistic history of the English language is presented in this book. Part 1, "History and Language," discusses such topics as the aims of language history, the beginning of language, grammars, and language meaning. Part 2, "Words and Meanings," explores Old English, Middle English, the establishment of modern English, creating new…

THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH FROM ANGLO-SAXON THROUGH THE LANGUAGE OF CHAUCER TO THAT OF SHAKESPEARE IS THE SUBJECT OF THIS UNIT FOR 11TH- OR 12TH-GRADERS. THOSE HISTORICAL EVENTS AND CONDITIONS WHICH HAVE HAD A DIRECT EFFECT ON THE LANGUAGE OF ENGLISH-SPEAKING PEOPLES ARE EXAMINED, ALONG WITH THE MAJOR INTERNAL CHANGES IN ENGLISH WHICH TOOK PLACE…

The process by which Irish-speaking regions became English-speaking regions over a period of centuries is examined. The first part argues that schooling played far less of a role in the shift than some scholars have suggested, because schools were not structured to be particularly effective in teaching the second language (English) to…

A study of North Australia's Kriol language situation identifies the language, its speakers, its functions, and the sociopolitical factors in its emergence as an autonomous language. The first chapter reviews the development of the linguistic field concerning pidgins and creoles, looking especially at the concepts developed to explain the rise and…

This curriculum guide, developed for pre-kindergartners through grade 12 as part of the total English curriculum, is concerned with the English language as it is now known and as it evolved from its Indo-European roots. Materials include (1) an overview of the origin and development of the English language from Old English through middle English…

This publication of proceedings, most in English and some in Chinese, of a conference on Chinese languages and linguistics include the following papers: "On Rule Effect and Dialect Classification" (Chin-Chuan Cheng); "Cross-Linguistic Typological Variation, Grammatical Relations, and the Chinese Language" (Bernard Comrie);…