An Introduction to the History of English - Einzelansicht

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Dear students, all courses will be taught as online courses with asynchronous access until further notice. Once you have signed on in PULS and have been admitted in PULS, your instructor will email you via PULS to let you know when and how to access the online material (moodle, etc.). Testatsleistungen (course requirements) may be subject to change. Students who cannot (yet) access PULS: Please email your instructor directly. It is possible that classes can be switched to classroom teaching (Präsenzlehre) at some point during the semester. If this happens, your instructor will let you know and classes will take place at the times originally scheduled.

The course offers an introduction to the history of the English language from its origins to the present day. It explores the linguistic roots of English, the changes in pronunciation and loss of inflections, as well as the enormous expansion in vocabulary which characterizes the development of English. We will also consider the different varieties of English in evidence today and the similarities and dissimilarities between English and other Germanic languages. Among the difficulties encountered by ESL/EFL students are the English system of tenses as well as the discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation: these will all be dealt with in this series of lectures.