A History of the English Language

For anyone interested in the English language, and anyone curious about it, I strongly recommend this major book. Of course, get the latest edition, mine is the fifth, that is the 2002 edition. As to the book itself, it's a most complete study of English. It does a wonderful job of explaining the development in history of the language and it willl undoubtedly shed so much light on your understanding of English that it's really worth a peek. That book will make clear most of the strangeness of English; if you ever wondered about "irregular" verbs--as most non-native do--you will find the answer in this book. And there's more than just English alone, the book also deals with Indo-European and tells a lot about tons of other things that make the whole thing--the development of languages--much clearer to the reader. That is the book most used by universities as far as the history of English is concerned. You don't need to be a specialised linguist to read it, by the way; even though, due to the extreme preciseness of the work, you may not remember most of the details put in there. I'm thinking mostly of historical details and such, but that shouldn't worry you, just know it's very well documented. The book is divided into sections, most of which are chronologically placed, although not all; there's for instance a section about English in America. That's about it for my review of this great book. The best thing you can do is check it for yourself, but I strongly recommend it. Even if you have no specific interest in linguistics and stuff, you'll still get a lot of enjoyement from reading this book, if only because you speak English. It's gonna be a hoot for you I assure. Go for it!

I bought "A History of the English Language" looking for a dependable history of the English language that could be read by a beginner in Linguistics. In this book I found exactly what I wanted. "A History" presents English's long, complicated development in a fascinating and accessible way. Although the text is dense and somewhat slow, it is never boring. The writers are clearly very passionate about the subject, and although the book is fifty years old it is well-updated, including a new chapter on African-American English. In fact, few books have taught me more than "A History." England's numerous migrations and occupations, by the Romans, the Normans, the Scandinavians, and the French, shaped the language, so I learned much about England's own history. I found the first chapter, about the Indo-European language and its influence, especially edifying. "A History" also briefs you on the European intellectual movements that influenced English. In explaining English's development, Baugh and Cable acquaint the reader with many linguistic terms and theories. This readable, informative, comprehensive history of English is highly recommended.

After decades of use in both undergraduate and graduate classes, Baugh's masterwork is still the best introduction to our language for the serious student (or the discerning teacher). Buy it.

I,like another reviewer, read this book over 20 years ago for a college class when I was a major in Linguistics. I was so enthralled with it, that it still graces my library shelves today. The cultural and social impact which brought change and foreign languages into English was just fascinating and very well written. I highly recommend this book.

I read this book about 25 years ago. It was a textbook for a graduate course, The History of the English language, Of course, I cannot make very specific remarks about something that I read so long ago, but I can state that I enjoyed this book thoroughly. It was complete, well documented, and utterly fascinating! It enabled me to understand so much more about how people speak and think, how language changes, and how it stays the same.