Required readings for this term are from Crystal's Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English language and from MIllward's Biography of the English language, 2nd ed. Also, have a look at the ever-expanding Encyclopedia of the cultural and linguistic history of English that my graduate students are compiling!

I also strongly encourage you to take advantage of online resources for studying OE, especially Murray McGillivray's course at the University of Calgary. Click here if you're trying to find McGillivray's grammar paradigms.

Please bring Rigg's The English Language: a Historical Reader to every class. Numbers (e.g. "Rigg 2") stand for the chapter - i.e., the account of Noah and his ark. The more familiar you are with the modern English, the more you will get out of the class. Remind me to give you a word-for-word translation of the first few extracts from Rigg!

There are also resources online for the study of ME.

Suffer from Seasonally Affective Depression? Procrastinating? Try out Mr Potato Head online.

Course outline:

January 14: English as an Indo-European and Germanic language

• Millward chapter 4
• Internet resources for studying Indo-European.
• Internet resources for studying Germanic (look at McGillivray's maps of marauding).

• Rigg 2 (Noah's ark).
• Crystal chapter 3.
• Millward chapter 5: 76-82, 89-83.
• McGillivray on OE spelling and pronunciation I and I.

• Rigg 2 (Noah's ark.). "Wulf & Eadwacer" (get the translation online! bring to every class from now on). Perhaps a bit of Rigg 1 (Eden).
• Millward chapter 5: 110-111, 115-132.
• McGillivray, OE syntax.

• Rigg 1 (Eden).
• Crystal 20-21. Millward 94-101, 105-106.
• McGillivray, OE as an inflected language.
• McGillivray, the OE verb be and the personal pronouns.
• McGillivray, the OE case system (strong masculine and neuter nouns).
• McGillivray, the OE weak nouns (masculine and neuter).
• After studying the table with paradigms of the strong masculine and neuter nouns, try reviewing the strong nouns with flashcards or a quiz.

• Rigg 10.
• Crystal 18-21, Millward 82-89, 101-105.
• McGillivray, OE weak verbs and more weak verbs and sound changes relevant to them.
• After studying the paradigm for lufian, try reviewing it with flashcards!.

• Rigg 9.
• Millward 102-105.
• McGillivray, the strong verb singan and a flashcard review of it

February 25: OE vocabulary (review), OE syntax

• Rigg 3 & 4.
• Crystal 22-27, Millward 115-143, 107-115.
• Due on February 28th: the OE transliteration assignment (15%). Remind me to give you the one-day extension!

• Rigg 5 & 6, 9.
• Crystal chapter 4, especially 30ff and 46-53.
• Millward chapter 6, especially 142-146, 195-216.

• Rigg 1 & 2; Peterborough Chronicle (handout).
• Crystal 40-43; Millward 146-162

• Rigg 3 & 4; Peterborough Chronicle (handout).
• Crystal 44-45; Millward 162-174.

• Rigg 10 & 11; ME lyric poems (handout).
• Crystal 44-45; Millward 174-181.

• Rigg 12.
• Crystal 44-45, Millward 181-195.
• Final research paper (20%) due Friday April 4th at 6 pm

• Chaucer's "The Miller's Prologue and Tale", from The Canterbury Tales
• Take-home test (15%) due Thursday April 10th at 6 pm