Search -
The History of the English Language, Part III
The History of the English Language Part III Author:Seth Lerer Professor Lerer's stimulating course might best be described as an engaging "mosaic" of the lanugage we use daily. It is a literary, historical, cultural, political and scientific treatment. It tells us about the distant past - but also about how the past informs the present. And the course is about language as an organic phenomenon, constant... more »ly changing accordint to time, place, and the innovations of genius.
Part III traces the origins of American English through to the work of modern linguistics. You'll study the contributions of Webster and Mencken, the rhetoric of Jefferson and Lincoln, regionalism, dialects in literature, the impact of African-American English, and the work of Noam Chomsky.
Professor Seth Lerer chairs the Comparative Literature Department at Stanford University. He has published books on Chaucer, Anglo-Saxon Literature, and English in the age of Henry VIII. He also has published scores of articles and reviews on the history of English and some of its greatest writers.« less