The Loss Of Grammatical Gender In The History Of English

Author : Snejana Iovtcheva
Publisher : GRIN Verlag
Page : 14 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 2007-12-13
Category : Literary Collections
ISBN : 9783638876223

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The loss of grammatical gender in the history of english by Snejana Iovtcheva Pdf

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: A, Syracuse University (USA) (USA: Syracuse University), language: English, abstract: This paper analyzes the question of how and why grammatical gender got lost in English. In order to do so, it reviews the recent literature on gender shifts in Old English and Middle English. The paper identifies several theoretical explanations based on both diachronic studies of English and general theoretical studies of gender. More concretely, the paper discusses the work of Greville Corbett (1991) on gender, Anne Curzan’s (2003) analysis on gender shifts in the history of English, and Charles Jones’s (1988) assumption of a possible paradigm shift in Old English. At the same time, older studies are given as an example for why certain premises did not work in the past. The paper first coments the relationship of English within the language families, provides a linguistic definition of grammatical gender, and describes major properties of the Modern English gender systems as well as those of the Old English gender system. It looks at the morphological and syntactic changes that triggered a shift in the English gender system. It is argued that not only external changes but also an underlying paradigm shift induced the demise of grammatical gender in Old English. In addition, the role of the personal pronouns is analyzed. According to Curzan (2003) and Corbett (1991) the role of the personal pronouns may prove to be the key in explaining the shift in the gender system.

Author : Anne Curzan
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 237 pages
File Size : 43,7 Mb
Release : 2003-04-24
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781139436687

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Gender Shifts in the History of English by Anne Curzan Pdf

How and why did grammatical gender, found in Old English and in other Germanic languages, gradually disappear from English and get replaced by a system where the gender of nouns and the use of personal pronouns depend on the natural gender of the referent? How is this shift related to 'irregular agreement' (such as she for ships) and 'sexist' language use (such as generic he) in Modern English, and how is the language continuing to evolve in these respects? Anne Curzan's accessibly written and carefully researched study is based on extensive corpus data, and will make a major contribution by providing a historical perspective on these often controversial questions. It will be of interest to researchers and students in history of English, historical linguistics, corpus linguistics, language and gender, and medieval studies.

Author : Charles Jones
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 246 pages
File Size : 51,9 Mb
Release : 2015-07-03
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781317419389

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Grammatical Gender in English by Charles Jones Pdf

First published in 1988, this book explores the grammatical loss of gender in English. It demonstrates that from the end of the Old English period, there was a considerable time period, of about three hundred years, during which there existed "echoes" of the gender classification of nouns. The study records the best known conclusions concerning the behaviour of anaphoric pronouns under grammatical gender "stress" in the late Old English and Middle English periods. It focuses on a discussion of attributive word morphology in the noun phrase.

Author : Laurent (Dominican)
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 48,8 Mb
Release : 1855
Category : Conscience
ISBN : OXFORD:400068139

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The Ayenbite of Inwyt Written in the Dialect of the County of Kent by Laurent (Dominican) Pdf

Author : Francesca Di Garbo ,Bruno Olsson ,Bernhard Wälchli
Publisher : Language Science Press
Page : 399 pages
File Size : 52,5 Mb
Release : 2024-06-28
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783961101801

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Grammatical gender and linguistic complexity II by Francesca Di Garbo ,Bruno Olsson ,Bernhard Wälchli Pdf

The many facets of grammatical gender remain one of the most fruitful areas of linguistic research, and pose fascinating questions about the origins and development of complexity in language. The present work is a two-volume collection of 13 chapters on the topic of grammatical gender seen through the prism of linguistic complexity. The contributions discuss what counts as complex and/or simple in grammatical gender systems, whether the distribution of gender systems across the world’s languages relates to the language ecology and social history of speech communities. Contributors demonstrate how the complexity of gender systems can be studied synchronically, both in individual languages and over large cross-linguistic samples, and diachronically, by exploring how gender systems change over time. Volume two consists of three chapters providing diachronic and typological case studies, followed by a final chapter discussing old and new theoretical and empirical challenges in the study of the dynamics of gender complexity. This volume is preceded by volume one, which, in addition to three chapters on the theoretical foundations of gender complexity, contains six chapters on grammatical gender and complexity in individual languages and language families of Africa, New Guinea, and South Asia.

Author : Míša Hejná,George Walkden
Publisher : Language Science Press
Page : 461 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2022-06-25
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783961103461

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A history of English by Míša Hejná,George Walkden Pdf

Where does today’s English language come from? This book takes its readers on a journey back in time, from present-day varieties to the Old English of Beowulf and beyond. Written for students with little or no background in linguistics, and reflecting the latest scholarship, it showcases the variation and change present throughout the history of English, and includes numerous exercises and sample texts for every period. The reverse-chronological approach taken by this book sets it apart from all existing textbooks of the last fifty years. Innovative features also include its focus on variation, multilingualism and language contact, its use of texts from outside the literary canon, and its inclusion of case studies from syntax, sociophonetics and historical pragmatics.

Author : Shōichi Watanabe,Tetsuji Oda,Hiroyuki Eto
Publisher : Peter Lang
Page : 392 pages
File Size : 53,5 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Electronic books
ISBN : 3034304803

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Multiple Perspectives on English Philology and History of Linguistics by Shōichi Watanabe,Tetsuji Oda,Hiroyuki Eto Pdf

This collection of articles covers a wide range of topics in English philology and history of linguistics. The volume proceeds from Old English studies offering a unique perspective and approach in literary and linguistic research into Anglo-Saxon England. Two articles deal with English phonology from both historical and contemporary standpoints, and another with a theoretical discussion of etymological inquiry. The last section contains three articles focusing on the history of linguistics or the history of ideas. The wide range of topics addressed in the 12 chapters of this volume reflects the diversity of interests in the research efforts of Shoichi Watanabe, professor emeritus at Sophia University, to whom this volume is dedicated by his former students. He is not only highly valued as a distinguished professor of English philology, but also acknowledged for his critique of civilization with his unique view of history and culture.

Author : Nigel Love
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 254 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2006-04-18
Category : History
ISBN : 9781134370207

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Language and History by Nigel Love Pdf

In recent years integrationist theory has mounted a radical challenge to the traditional notion of 'languages' as possible objects of inquiry. This volume develops the integrationist critique of orthodox linguistics.

Author : Richard Hogg,David Denison
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 440 pages
File Size : 42,9 Mb
Release : 2008-03-17
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781139451291

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A History of the English Language by Richard Hogg,David Denison Pdf

The history and development of English, from the earliest known writings to its status today as a dominant world language, is a subject of major importance to linguists and historians. In this book, a team of international experts cover the entire recorded history of the English language, outlining its development over fifteen centuries. With an emphasis on more recent periods, every key stage in the history of the language is covered, with full accounts of standardisation, names, the distribution of English in Britain and North America, and its global spread. New historical surveys of the crucial aspects of the language are presented, and historical changes that have affected English are treated as a continuing process, helping to explain the shape of the language today. This complete and up-to-date history of English will be indispensable to all advanced students, scholars and teachers in this prominent field.

Author : Matti Rissanen,Ossi Ihalainen,Terttu Nevalainen,Irma Taavitsainen
Publisher : Walter de Gruyter
Page : 813 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2011-09-08
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9783110877007

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History of Englishes by Matti Rissanen,Ossi Ihalainen,Terttu Nevalainen,Irma Taavitsainen Pdf

The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics.

Author : Bettelou Los
Publisher : Edinburgh University Press
Page : 304 pages
File Size : 41,8 Mb
Release : 2015-04-14
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9780748694563

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Historical Syntax of English by Bettelou Los Pdf

This book discusses a number of approaches to charting the major developments in the syntax of English, addressing key issues of interpretation and focus for the benefit of students of the topic.

Author : Marlis Hellinger,Hadumod Bußmann
Publisher : John Benjamins Publishing
Page : 364 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 2002-04-10
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9789027297662

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Gender Across Languages by Marlis Hellinger,Hadumod Bußmann Pdf

This is the second of a three-volume comprehensive reference work on “Gender across Languages”, which provides systematic descriptions of various categories of gender (grammatical, lexical, referential, social) in 30 languages of diverse genetic, typological and socio-cultural backgrounds. Among the issues discussed for each language are the following: What are the structural properties of the language that have an impact on the relations between language and gender? What are the consequences for areas such as agreement, pronominalisation and word-formation? How is specification of and abstraction from (referential) gender achieved in a language? Is empirical evidence available for the assumption that masculine/male expressions are interpreted as generics? Can tendencies of variation and change be observed, and have alternatives been proposed for a more equal linguistic treatment of women and men? This volume (and the previous two volumes) will provide the much-needed basis for explicitly comparative analyses of gender across languages. All chapters are original contributions and follow a common general outline developed by the editors. The book contains rich bibliographical and indexical material.Languages of Volume 2: Chinese, Dutch, Finnish, Hindi, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Welsh.

Author : Karl Siegfried Guthke
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 316 pages
File Size : 42,7 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Art
ISBN : 0521644607

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The Gender of Death by Karl Siegfried Guthke Pdf

An illustrated historical study of gendered personifications of death in Western art, literature, and culture.

Author : Seiji Shinkawa
Publisher : Linguistic Insights
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 49,8 Mb
Release : 2012
Category : English language
ISBN : 3034311249

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Unhistorical Gender Assignment in Layamon's Brut by Seiji Shinkawa Pdf

Thesis (doctoral)-- Sophia University, 2011.

Author : Barbara M. H. Strang
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 480 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2015-06-26
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN : 9781317421917

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A History of English (RLE: English Language) by Barbara M. H. Strang Pdf

A History of English, first published in 1970, is a book for beginners in linguistic history. This title examines the changes in English language speech and writing over a period of almost 2000 years, whilst also exploring more recent changes within the author’s living memory. This title aims to raise countless issues for enquiry and discussion, and its purpose is to serve as a springboard for language history learning rather than a textbook.