Phonetic Changes in Middle English.
Introduction to the History of English.
1. The Subject of History of English.
2. The Reasons to Study the History of English.
3. The Ties of the History of English with Other Branches of Linguistics; its Purpose and Methods of Studying.
4. Generalities about Germanic Languages: The Classification of Germanic Languages.
Chronological Divisions in the History of English.
The Periods in the History of English. Short survey of Periods.
3. Old English: Historical Background.
1. Pre-Germanic Britain.
2. Germanic Settlement of Britain. Beginning of English.
3. Events of External History between the 5th and 11th Centuries.
Old English Phonetics.
1. The First Germanic Consonant Shift (Grimm’s Law).
2. Verner’s Law and Other Consonant Changes in Germanic.
3. Vowel Gradation (Ablaut) in Indo-European and Germanic.
Old English Phonology.
1. Old English Vowel and Consonant Symbols.
2. Diphthongisation before Velarised Consonants.
3. Diphthongisation after Palatal Consonants.
4. Front Mutation.
5. Back Mutation.
6. Some Minor Sound Changes.
7. Assimilative Changes of Vowels (Breaking, Palatal Mutation) and Their Traces in Modern English.
Old English Grammar.
Basic Grammatical Features of Proto-Germanic.
Old English Vocabulary.
1. The Vocabulary of Proto-Germanic and Early Germanic Texts.
2. The Resourcefulness of Old English Vocabulary.
3. Celtic Loan Words.
4. Latin Borrowings.
5. Scandinavian Loan Words and Their Character.
Word-Formation in Old English.
1. Word Structure.
2. Ways of Word-Formation.
3. Prefixation.
4. Suffixation.
Old English Dialects and Written Texts.
1. Regional Dialects of Old English. Linguistic Situation.
2. Origins of the English Dialect and Literature.
3. Anglo-Saxon Literature.
Old English Noun System.
1. Old English Nominal System. Means of Form-Building.
2. Grammatical Categories of Nouns, Adjectives and Pronouns.
3. Pronouns.
4. Numerals.
11. Old English Morphology: Declension System.
1. Morphological Classification of Old English Nouns (Declension Types of Nouns). Traces of the Old English Declensions in Modern English.
2. Declension Types of Adjectives. Degrees of Comparison of Adjectives and Their Further History.
Old English Verbal System. Means of Form-building.
1. Grammatical Categories of Finite and Non-Finite Forms of the Verb.
2. Morphological Classification of Old English Verbs.
13. Old English Morphology: Conjugation System
1. Consonantal Type: the Consonantal Conjugation.
2. Vocalic Type: the Vocalic Conjugation.
3. Irregular Verbs.
4. Preterite-Present Verbs.
5. Traces of the Old English Verb Conjugation in Modern English.
Old English Syntax
1. Phrases in Old English. Functions of the cases in Old English.
2. Ways of expressing syntactical relations in Old English (Agreement, government, joining).
3. Sentences in Old English.
1. The simple sentence.
2. Main and secondary parts of the sentence.
3. The complex verbal forms.
4. The category of mood.
5. Word order and the order of clauses.
6. The compound and complex sentence. Types of clauses.
7. Mixed sentences.
15. Middle English: Historical Events Affecting the English Language and the Subjection of English.
1. The Scandinavian Invasion.
2. The Norman Conquest.
3. Middle English Dialects.
4. English Versus French.
16. Linguistic Situation in Middle English in the Period from 11th to 15th Centuries.
1. Reestablishment of English as the Language of the State and Literature.
2. Dialects in Middle English.
3. The London Dialect.
Middle English Vocabulary.
1. Scandinavian Influence on the Middle English Vocabulary.
2. French Influence on the Middle English Vocabulary.
3. Latin Borrowings.
4. Synonyms at Three Levels.
Word-Formation in Middle English.
Word Building in Middle English.
Phonetic Changes in Middle English.
1. Vowels in Middle English.
2. Consonants in Middle English.
Phonetic Changes in Middle English.
1. The Lengthening and Shortening of Vowels.
2. Middle English Short Vowels.
3. Middle English Long Vowels.
4. Middle English Diphthongs. Development of Diphthongs Due to Vocalisation of Consonants.
5. Middle English Consonants. The Rise of Sibilants and Affricates.
21. Middle English Grammar: Noun.
1. Simplification of the Case system and Types of Declension in Middle English.
2. Means of Form-Building in Middle English.
3. Rise of the Article.
4. Middle English Pronouns’ System.
5. Cases and Prepositional Phrases in Middle English.
22. Middle English Grammar: Verb.
1. Historical Changes in the Verbal System. History of the Old English Categories of Tense, Number, Mood and Person.
2. Development of Analytical Forms and New Grammatical Categories in Middle English.
3. Strong and Weak Verbs.
4. Perfect, Continuous and Future Tenses.