The Earliest English An Introduction to Old English Language

In eight carefully structured units, the authors show how the vocabulary of Old English contains many items familiar to us today; how its characteristic poetic form is based on a beautiful and intricate simplicity; how its patterns of word building and inflectional structure are paralleled in several present day languages and how and why the English language and its literature continued to change so that by the mid-12th century the English language looks more like the 'English' that we are familiar with in the 21st century. Features of the book include:
the provision of accessible guides to some important 'problem topics' of classical OEstimulating cross-linguistic comparisons, e.g. the pronoun system of OE as compared with the pronoun system of present day Dutchcleverly laid out translation exercises, with structural help in the form of selective glossariescareful division into eight units, designed for both classroom use and self-study
Written in a clear and accessible manner, The Earliest English provides a comprehensive introduction to the evolution of Old English language and literature, and will be an invaluable textbook for students of English Language and Linguistics.