From Old English to Standard English

Freeborn offers teachers and students a very practical and lively course book about the development of the English language from Old English to the establishment of Standard English in the 18th century. The book is mainly based on linguistic description and there is a strong emphasis on primary sources through many historical texts of which most are reproduced in facsimile. The author provides the reader with a fair balance between illustrations and commentaries. At the end of each chapter he proposes many well thought exercises based on the texts and his commentaries.