Preface 1 English Present and Future 1.·The History of the English Language a Cultural Subject.··2. Influences at Work on Language.··3. Growth and Decay.··4. The Importance of a Language.

··5. The Importance of English.··6. The Future of the English Language: Demography.··7. External and Internal Aspects of English. ··8. Cosmopolitan Vocabulary.

··9. Inflectional Simplicity.··10. Natural Gender. 2 The Indo- European Family of Languages 11. Language Constantly Changing.··12. Dialectal Differentiation.

13. The Discovery of Sanskrit.··14. Grimm''s Law.··15. The Indo- European Family.··16. Indian.

··17. Iranian. 18. Armenian.··19. Hellenic.··20. Albanian.

··21. Italic.· 22. Balto-Slavic.··23. Germanic.··24. Celtic.

··25. Twentieth-century Discoveries. 26. The Home of the Indo-Europeans. 3 Old English 27. The Languages in England before English.··28. The Romans in Britain.

··29. The Roman Conquest.··30. Romanization of the Island.··31. The Latin Language in Britain.··32. The Germanic Conquest.

··33. Anglo- Saxon Civilization.··34. The Names "England" and "English."··35. The Origin and Position of English.··36. The Periods in the History of English.

··37. The Dialects of Old English.··38. Old English Pronunciation.··39. Old English Vocabulary.··40. Old English Grammar.

··41. The Noun.··42. Grammatical Gender.··43. The Adjective.··44. The Definite Article.

··45. The Personal Pronoun.··46. The Verb.··47. The Language Illustrated.··48. The Resourcefulness of the Old English Vocabulary.

··49. Self-explaining Compounds.··50. Prefixes and Suffixes.··51. Syntax and Style.··52. Old English Literature.

4 Foreign Influences on Old English 53. The Contact of English with Other Languages.··54. The Celtic Influence.··55. Celtic Place- Names and Other Loanwords.··56. Three Latin Influences on Old English.

··57. Chronological Criteria.··58. Continental Borrowing (Latin Influence of the Zero Period).··59. Latin through Celtic Transmission (Latin Influence of the First Period).··60. Lat in Influence of the Second Period: The Christianizing of Britain.

··61. Effects of Christianity on English Civilization.··62. The Earlier Influence of Christianity on the Vocabulary.··63. The Benedictine Reform.··64. Influence of the Benedictine Reform on English.

··65. The Application of Native Words to New Concepts.··66. The Extent of the Influence.··67. The Scandinavian Influence: The Viking Age.··68. The Scandinavian Invasions of England.

··69. The Settlement of the Danes in England.··70. The Amalgamation of the Two Peoples.··71. The Relation of the Two Languages.··72. The Tests of Borrowed Words.

··73. Scandinavian Place-Names.··74. The Earliest Borrowing.··75. Scandinavian Loanwords and Their Character.··76. The Relation of Borrowed and Native Words.

··77. Form Words.··78. Scandinavian Influence outside the Standard Speech.··79. Effect on Grammar and Syntax.··80. Period and Extent of the Influence.

5 The Norman Conquest and the Subjection of English, 1066--1200 81. The Norman Conquest.··82. The Origin of Normandy.··83. The Year 1066.··84. The Norman Settlement.

··85. The Use of French by the Upper Class.··86. Circumstances Promoting the Continued Use of French.··87. The Attitude toward English.··88. French Liter ature at the English Court.

··89. Fusion of the Two Peoples.··90. The Diffusion of French and English.··91. Knowledge of English among the Upper Class.··92. Knowledge of French among the Middle Class.

6 The Reestablishment of English, 1200--1500 93. Changing Conditions after 1200.··94. The Loss of Normandy.··95. Separation of the French and English Nobility.··96. French Reinforcements.

··97. The Reaction against Foreigners and the Growth of National Feeling.··98. French Cultural Ascendancy in Eur ope.··99. English and French in the Thirteenth Century.··100. Attempts to Arrest the Decline of French.

··101. Provincial Character of French in England.··102. The Hundred Years'' War.··103. The Rise of the Middle Class.··104. General Adoption of English in the Fourteenth Century.

··105. English in the Law Courts.··106. English in the Schools.··107. Increasing Ignorance of French in the Fifteenth Century.··108. French as a Language of Culture and Fashion.

··109. The Use of English in Writing.··110. Middle English Literature. 7 Middle English 111. Middle English a Period of Great Change.··112. From Old to Middle English.

··113. The Decay of Inflectional Endings. ··114. The Noun.··115. The Adjective.··116. The Pronoun.

··117. The Verb.··118. Losses among the Strong Verbs.··119. Strong Verbs That Became Weak.··120. Survival of Strong Participles.

··121. Surviving Strong Verbs.··122. Loss of Grammatical.