The English language has become dominant on the world's stage at a time when three things have happened: print, widespread literacy,and an omnipresent media. New findings about the history of English show that it is more tangled and interesting than often supposed. This class will look at the heritage of modern English from its roots as Old English (5th to 11th century) through Middle English (late 11th to the end of the 15th century) to its tangled modern formation. Celtic, Anglo-Saxon (Frisian), Viking (old Norse), French (Latin) and colonial British all have been influences. While we gather an appreciation of our fascinating English, we will explore the very nature of human language itself-oral and written, ever changing.

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This course contains no sessions