Historical Linguistics and the History of English
A Systemic Function Approach
Michael Cummings [+–]
York University, Toronto.
Michael Cummings is Professor emeritus and Senior Scholar in the English Department of York University, Toronto. His research interests include Systemic Functional linguistic approaches to discourse and lexico-grammar in Old English and modern English.
Systemic functional linguistics has intensively studied synchronic language variation, both the diatypic and the dialectal. Even though some systemic functional analyses of aspects of historical dialects, mainly English, and various descriptions of historical texts, also mainly English, have been made, nevertheless systemic functional diachronic studies have been relatively neglected.
The aim of this book is to provide an introductory model for the diachronic description of languages within the systemic functional framework, using the history of English as an example. At the centre of the model are the historical relationships between successive states of semantics and of lexico-grammar. The first part the model concerns cultural semantics, discourse semantics, register and genre. Change over the history of English in each of these areas runs through the stages of Old English, Middle English, early Modern English and later Modern English. The second part of the model concerns lexico-grammar, with a concentration on changes through the same historical stages of English in structures and systems. The book proceeds by taking lexico-grammatical units at group and clause rank through the historical stages of their development.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
This chapter offers brief introductions to systemic functional linguistics and historical linguistics, oriented to students of both disciplines. It goes on to describe some non-systemic approaches to diachronic and synchronic linguistics. The method and the structure of the book are explained, the main historical social cultures are reviewed and the textual examples are introduced.
Chapter 2
The Nominal Group [+–]
Each of the four sections of this chapter begins with a discussion of the register characteristics of a short text, in modern English, Old English, Middle English, and early modern English respectively. Nominal groups in each text are used to illustrate the experiential, logical, interpersonal and textual systems and structures which explain them.
Chapter 3
The Verbal Group [+–]
The same short historical texts help reveal that verbal groups and verbal group complexes change greatly in both systems and structures through each of their respective historical stages. The direction of change in the stages is always from the relatively simple to the relatively complicated.
Chapter 4
The texts from each of the four historical stages are used to initiate a discussion of the systems and structures of their clauses from the interpersonal perspective. Progressive changes to interpersonal clause systems and structures from the Old English to the modern English period are tracked.
Chapter 5
The short historical texts are used to illustrate systems and structures of clauses from the experiential perspective. Changes in basic transitivity systems and structures over the course of time are few despite enormous changes in lexical realizations.
Chapter 6
The short historical texts help to illustrate that most of theme/rheme framework of modern English clauses and clause complexes is also operative in the other historical stages. Some elements of the systems and their realizations, such as the markedness choices, undergo an evolution through the historical stages.
Chapter 7
This chapter reviews and summarizes the description so far, noting some areas where it does not completely account for the data. The reader is shown how the description may be extended to greater depth and delicacy at their own devising.
ISBN-13 (Hardback)
9780000000000
Price (Hardback)
£75.00 / $100.00
ISBN-13 (Paperback)
9780000000000
Price (Paperback)
£24.95 / $32.00
ISBN (eBook)
9780000000000
Price (eBook)
Individual
£24.95 / $32.00
Institutional
£75.00 / $100.00
£24.95 / $32.00
Institutional
£75.00 / $100.00
Publication
01/09/2026
Pages
224
Size
254 x 178mm
Readership
students
Illustration
15 figures and 80 line drawings
