17.293, Review: Textbooks/Historical Ling: Singh (2005)

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LINGUIST List: Vol-17-293. Fri Jan 27 2006. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 17.293, Review: Textbooks/Historical Ling: Singh (2005)

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1)
Date: 25-Jan-2006
From: Stefan Dollinger < stefan.dollinger at univie.ac.at >
Subject: The History of English: A Student's Guide 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2006 17:17:24
From: Stefan Dollinger < stefan.dollinger at univie.ac.at >
Subject: The History of English: A Student's Guide 
 

AUTHOR: Singh, Ishtla
TITLE: The history of English
SUBTITLE: A student's guide
PUBLISHER: Hodder Arnold
YEAR: 2005
Announced at http://linguistlist.org/issues/16/16-782.html 

Stefan Dollinger, Department of English, University of Vienna

DESCRIPTION

Ishtla Singh's compact paperback volume is a recent addition to the 
textbook pool on the origins and development of English. As such, it 
joins a number of one-volume textbooks on the topic published in 
recent years, such as Fennell (2001), Moessner (2003), Crystal 
(2004), Brinton and Arnovick (2006), Hogg and Denison (eds.) (2006), 
and testifies to the vibrancy of the discipline and to a growing demand 
for concise, up-to-date historical accounts of one of today's most 
widely-used languages. 

Singh's book covers the development of English from its Indo-
European roots to very recent developments, including the spread of 
English as a lingua franca in international present-day contexts, on 
little more than 200 pages. Aimed at ''students of literature as well as 
linguistics'' (back cover text) it succinctly presents the most important 
developmental stages and features in six chapters. Chapter (1) 
introduces basic linguistic concepts and processes (e.g. types of 
linguistic change and terminology) and is aimed to ''complement the 
period-based framework of later chapters by outlining some of the 
more common changes'' that affected English (p. 5). Singh begins the 
chronological discussion in chapter (2) with the oldest roots of English, 
devoting considerable space to the question of the Indo-European 
homeland and settlement history. The survey is continued in chapters 
(3) to (6), which respectively focus on Old English, Middle English, 
Early Modern English and Modern English since 1700. Each chapter 
includes the external language history (social history), the basic 
features of the language-internal structure and the major 
developments of the period. Additionally, the major literary output of 
the period is briefly discussed in each chapter. 

The survey attempts to break with a pattern of focus on the two 
dominant varieties of English in modern times, British or American 
English, and considers ''instead the establishment of English in other 
colonial varieties'' (p. 2). One of Singh's major aims is to focus 
on ''areas in conventional histories where 'orthodox beliefs' and 
approaches could make room for updated and/or somewhat different 
perspectives'' (p. 2), which finds its most explicit expressions in four 
sections on select aspects of the language history. In Old English, 
special attention is paid to grammatical vs. natural gender, in Middle 
English, a review of arguments for and against creolization is offered, 
while the developments of English in Barbados serves as an example 
in the Early Modern English period and English in Singapore in the 
post-1700 chapter. The main features of pronunciation, grammar and 
vocabulary are presented in the usual manner in the respective 
sections, except in the chapter on modern English, where the main 
focus lies on the 18th-century prescriptive movement instead.

Study questions at the end of each chapter and index complete the 
book, which is, bravely defying a trend in the publishing industry, 
available at a price at the lower end of the spectrum.

EVALUATION

Ishtla Singh condenses the outline of the history of the language, both 
from an external and internal point of view, in a surprisingly compact 
paperback volume. While meeting her goals of including lesser-
researched, she supplies a fresh look on some features in each 
chapter. In Middle English, for instance, Singh includes recent findings 
(Rothwell 1998) that challenge the common belief that loan words 
were borrowed from both Anglo Norman and Central French. The 
argument is illustrated with two examples, which demonstrate the 
methodology behind tracing the origins of borrowings. Not only is 
Singh's account up-to-date, including a number of very recent 
examples from both the popular press and specialist literature, but 
also the 'canonized' examples from Pyles and Algeo (1982, for some 
reason the 4th edition [1993] was not used) or Baugh and Cable 
(2002) are also included.

The presentation of the material is very appropriate for the target 
audience, as it was aimed to strive for an interesting, coherent and 
student-friendly text with many illustrative examples. At times the text 
is outright funny, but remains down to the point throughout. This is the 
kind of presentation that is poised to attract the attention of students 
in general introductory courses at the undergraduate level and shows 
them the vibrancy and relevance of the history of English as an object 
of study. One aspect that might not be ideal for an introductory 
textbook, however, is the cautionary note that ''we cannot know with 
full certainty'' what Old English or Middle English sounded like (p. 76, 
p. 113), without emphasizing the sophisticated character of the 
reconstructive method.

Singh incorporates a sociolinguistic perspective that runs, at times 
between the lines, throughout the book. The discussion of the role of 
grammatical vs. natural gender in Old English, where a more literary 
approach to the role of female characters in Beowulf is combined with 
linguistic evidence, should be especially appealing to literature majors. 
In Middle English, attention is paid to the question whether Middle 
English could be the result of creolization. While the question is truly 
fascinating, the presentation takes the style of an argumentative 
essay that attacks the main proponents and concludes that 
creolization would not likely have occurred (pp. 127-136). One might 
wonder whether this question had not better be explored as an 
appendage to an example of actual creolization in the history of 
English, which is, somewhat surprisingly, not discussed in volume (as 
Barbadian English also does not qualify as a creole, p. 170).

In Early Modern English, the Great Vowel Shift, the spectacular lexical 
expansion, and a highly stimulating discussion of the development of 
English in Barbados are three focal points. Barbadian English, as one 
of the oldest overseas varieties of English, has much to offer for the 
study and genesis of colonial Englishes and its discussion in the 
present context, which is a novelty in textbooks of this type and size, 
is a most welcome innovation.

In the post-1700 section, for which, more generally, the term Late(r) 
Modern English could have been used (cf. Beal 2004: xi), Singh 
successfully manages her account without a discussion of American 
English or British English varieties, as the focus is shifted towards the 
growing importance of countries in the outer circle (where English 
plays an institutional role but is no native language). A discussion of 
the linguistic situation in Singapore, which merges historical and 
applied points of view, with ample examples from Colloquial Singapore 
English, is another intriguing case study. Illustrations of the vernacular 
are juxtaposed with recent derogatory statements about Colloquial 
Singapore English by the country's political leaders, which leads into 
inquiries of the link between language and identity on the one hand, 
and language in a global context on the other hand, which should 
make it easy for students to inquire into their own varieties (and their 
attitudes towards them).

The more recent emergence of English as a Lingua Franca (p. 175ff) 
and examples of present-day concerns with language use in radio 
shows and internet forums provide the setting for a discussion of 18th-
century prescriptivism. This important normative tradition, which is 
presented in some detail, may appear to be a bit lopsided in its focus 
on Swift's attitudes, while Johnson's dictionary and Lowth's grammar 
would probably warrant a slightly more thorough treatment (cf. Beal 
2004: 40ff, 105ff).

While most of these points of criticism are ultimately a matter of taste 
and emphasis, the utter lack of maps is probably the most pressing 
shortcoming of an otherwise excellent textbook. Since students, for 
instance, are required to picture the area ''east of a line from London 
to Chester'' (p. 72) for the Danelaw, a little map section would very 
effectively facilitate tasks like these. On the upside, the book includes 
a number of important findings from less-widely circulated 
contributions (e.g. Vienna English Working Papers, Internet 
Proceedings of Postgraduate Conferences, or the Anglo-Norman On-
line Hub), which provide some new perspectives on stories long told. 

Overall, this volume is a very compact and user-friendly introduction to 
the topic. It is admirable how Singh manages to merge three aspects 
of language history - the external, the internal and philological 
aspects - into the confines of 200 pages. The book includes enough 
detail and many springboards for discussion for introductory courses. 
It can be readily used in courses on the history of English in the 
European academic context (of c. 20 contact hours), and is also a 
good base reading for a half course in the North-American context (of 
c. 40 hours). The book can also be recommended to general readers, 
who, however, would need to familiarize themselves with IPA 
transcriptions to fully understand the sections on phonetics and 
phonology.

Singh's history of English does a remarkable job merging the staples 
of the discipline (i-umlaut, Grimm's Law, Great Vowel Shift, questions 
of periodization etc.) with related, more recent examples and changes 
(e.g. the Southern Cities Vowel Shift, insights from new-dialect 
formation on the dating of periods [p. 67, p. 104]). The basic nominal 
and verbal paradigms are all found in the book for each period, 
including some dialectal variants (e.g. Middle English verbal 
conjugation, p. 121). 

While the book provides a good account on *how* the language 
changed, it does not offer much on *why* English changed the way it 
did (structuralist explanations for the Great Vowel Shift [p. 154] and 
Neo-Grammarian analogy for plural formation [p. 25f)] are mentioned, 
however). Basic concepts from various theoretical schools, as 
presented in other textbooks (e.g. Schendl 2001: 67-85), would have 
further enriched the book, but may have been beyond its scope (e.g. 
iconicity as a reason for the spread of the a-stem noun declension 
pattern, functional load to explain the emergence of postalveolar 
fricative pronunciations for /zj/ in words like pleasure, treasure etc.).

To conclude, Singh (2005) is a very interesting, highly stimulating 
textbook: it is more specific and detailed than many contributions (e.g. 
Barber 1993, Leith 1997), which makes it specifically apt for 
undergraduate level courses, and more general and diverse than the 
standard textbooks of long standing (e.g. Baugh and Cable 2002, 
Pyles and Algeo 1993), which are sometimes felt to be either too 
comprehensive or too traditional in presentation. Singh (2005) is a 
very good textbook for introductory courses, both for language 
specialists and a more general academic audience, as it presents the 
material in a manner that should arouse students' interest. Moreover, 
it comes at a price that is perhaps one of the best values on the 
market. Judging by the recent output of one-volume works, the 21st 
century is going to be a good one for the teaching of the history of 
English and it is to be hoped that Singh (2005) will have its fair share 
in it.

REFERENCES

Barber, Charles 1993. The English language: A historical introduction. 
Cambridge: CUP.

Baugh, Albert C. and Thomas Cable. 2002. A history of the English 
language. 5th ed. London: Routledge.

Beal, Joan C. 2004. English in modern times. 1700-1945. London: 
Arnold.

Brinton, Laurel J. and Leslie K. Arnovick. 2006. The English language: 
A linguistic introduction. Oxford: OUP.

Crystal, David. 2004. The stories of English. London: Lane.

Fennell, Barbara. 2001. A history of English: A sociolinguistic 
approach. Oxford: Blackwell.

Hogg, Richard M. and David Denison (eds.) 2006. A history of the 
English language. Cambridge: 
CUP.

Leith, Dick. 1997. A social history of English. 2nd ed. London: 
Routledge.

Moessner, Lilo. 2003. Diachronic English linguistics: An introduction. 
Tubingen: Narr.

Pyles, Thomas and John Algeo. 1993 [1982]. The origins and 
development of the English language. 4th ed. [3rd ed.] Fort Worth: 
Harcourt Brace. 

Rothwell, W. 1998. ''Arrivals and departures: The adoption of French 
terminology into Middle English''. The Anglo-Norman On-line Hub, 
http://www.anglo-norman.net/articles/arrivals.xml, 25 Jan. 2006.

Schendl, Herbert. 2001. Historical linguistics. Oxford: OUP.

Vienna English Working Papers (VIEWS) - online at: 
http://www.univie.ac.at/Anglistik/ang_new/online_papers/views.html, 
24 Jan. 2006. 

ABOUT THE REVIEWER

Stefan Dollinger's research interests include the history of English, 
sociohistorical linguistics and computational linguistics. He has 
recently completed his PhD dissertation on "New-dialect formation in 
early Canada: the modal auxiliaries in Ontario, 1776-1850" and is 
currently in the planning stages for a revision of the "Dictionary of 
Canadianisms on Historical Principles".





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