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The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition cover art

The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition

Written by: Seth Lerer, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Seth Lerer
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Publisher's Summary

This course offers an overview of the English language that is literary, historical, cultural, political, and scientific in its scope and designed to give you greater insight into the written and spoken word.The lectures provide a thorough understanding of the history of the English language - from its origins as a dialect of the Germanic-speaking peoples through the literary and cultural documents of its 1,500-year span to the state of American speech today.

Professor Lerer defines concepts by illustrating them with copious examples. He often speaks in the dialect appropriate to each lecture - be it Old English, Chaucer’s Middle English, or the colloquial style of Mark Twain’s most unforgettable characters.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©1998 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1998 The Great Courses
Social Sciences English Language
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Profile Image for Anastasia Beaverhausen

Outstanding

Professor Seth Lerer takes you through the history of the English language from its Proto-Indo-European roots to present time, and does so in such an engaging way that every lecture leaves you wanting more.

This course is such an essential element for anyone looking for an introduction to linguistics and is presented in a manner that is easily understandable to most listeners.

After this course you will never never listen to the English language the same way again.

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Profile Image for Naqi Rizvi

Such an engaging and information filled book

From the narration style to the actual content of this book, I was completely hooked from the beginning until the end. I love all the different perspectives and angles the history of the english language was tackled from. Truly, very well summarizes a universe of academic research and work 36 short lectures. Would highly recommend, especially to those interested in history, linguistics, philology, and anthropology. Brilliant work!

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