The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition

By: Seth Lerer, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Seth Lerer

Length: 18 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

This course offers an overview of the English language that is literary, historical, cultural, political, and scientific in its scope and designed to give you greater insight into the written and spoken word.The lectures provide a thorough understanding of the history of the English language - from its origins as a dialect of the Germanic-speaking peoples through the literary and cultural documents of its 1,500-year span to the state of American speech today.

Professor Lerer defines concepts by illustrating them with copious examples. He often speaks in the dialect appropriate to each lecture - be it Old English, Chaucer’s Middle English, or the colloquial style of Mark Twain’s most unforgettable characters.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

©1998 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)1998 The Great Courses

Sparkling

Professor Lerer may rub you the wrong way a little when you first hear his voice; he did me.

I had that reaction, I think, because he enunciates each word with such excruciating clarity and exactness that it becomes at times distracting from the actual content of the lecture.

It was only a little further into the course, however, that this very trouble, that is the shifting of focus between the meaning of the sentences/sections/thoughts and the individual words (free from direct context, highlighted by the intentionality with which he executes them) became a source of joy and reflection that added tremendously to the experience. I'm sure this was one of his goals in constructing these polished lectures.

His apparently deep knowledge of the pronunciation of old and middle English, including the various dialects, makes listening to his readings of Chaucer, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Beowulf, Cadmon and even Shakespeare (reconstructed to sound as it would have if you were hearing it circa 1600) really thrilling.

I'm going to find his other courses after reviewing this one. Highly recommended!

A Great Survey of the English Language

I bought this title because I have always been interested in those mysterious parts of history. That is I want to learn about the history that is not told in school. What is the English language? What was its early form like? How did we get to the version we use today?

I can tell you without a doubt that I got my answer and so much more!

Professor Lerer goes above and beyond in telling the story of the English language. For example I didn't think about how important grammar was or how pronunciation has changed over time. He also speaks of culture and how dialects are formed.

I will admit though that his weakness can be when he gets too technical. For the lay person this can be a turnoff. Sometimes I will admit I zoned out when it was getting too "boring".

He was at this best when he spoke of literature. He did brilliantly at using different stories for an example of dialect or the change in language.

I also loved his discussions on different dialects. I learned what made these regions special and it was eye opening.

I would certainly recommend this course even with its problems. It will make you think about language in a very different way.

Overall Good

Overall I enjoyed the course. I didn't care for the professor's voice/accent but still learned from the course.

Excellent Coverage of the History of our Language

I enjoyed listening to this lecture series. It was comprehensive from Old English through modern effects of electronic communication. Obviously it couldn’t cover every aspect in detail but it provides a great basis on which to understand the major changes in the language, the trends in study of English and issues arising from various points of view.

Excellent

It was great. I loved every bit of it. It was professional and thorough. Highly recommend it.

Excellent Lecture Series

His very frequent use of the conditional clause “if you like” might get on your nerves. However, the content, quality, and presentation is excellent. These lectures sing. I look forward to listening to them again probably in a year or so.

Great

Professor Lerer's Jack is fascinating. Not just the history of the English language but also the way in which great writers have interacted with and shaped the language.he talks about the effects of global history and politics on the spread and change of language. And he even discusses, in accessible terms, complexmodern linguistic theories

Informative.

Would you listen to The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition again? Why?

I would say I have a 70% chance of listening to it again. There is great insight throughout the lecture, I just have a lot of books that I want to get through at the moment.

What other book might you compare The History of the English Language, 2nd Edition to and why?

The Story of Human Language. It is another course by the Great Courses, or Teaching Company. Between the two I would say I enjoy this course more.

What does Professor Seth Lerer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He has a great way of getting information across and keeps it coming at a good clip.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. If I had a mind that could retain all of the information without needing a slight break every now and then to process it. Yes I wish I could have listened to it all in one sitting.

Any additional comments?

Professor Lerer does a great job of presenting the history of the English Language. He comes prepared and you can tell. If you are into learning from the Great Courses as I am, and you are deciding which language history to study, I would suggest this course over The Story of Human Language by Prof. McWhorter. Although McWhorter does a decent job and there were things that I learned from him, I felt his method of teaching to be lacking in some degree. It feels like he just has sparse notes in front of him and he is teaching in a conversational way that can get into tangents. Prof. Lerer does not come across this way. He seems prepared and ready to disseminate what he knows in a way that says he doesn't want to waste your time or his. Well done!

Won't (Completely) Replace the Stanford Course

Seth Lerer is, no doubt, a heavyweight class linguist and all around scholar. That I'd never heard of him makes no matter at all. His prose is clear as can be, light-hearted where appropriate, stone-cold sober where necessary. Every page is chock-a-block, crammed, full-full-full with information, expertise and insight.
It's obvious that he's in a life-long love affair with language generally and English in particular. He can and does tell you why debt is spelled with an unnecessary "b" and why it's positively vapid that this is so. He sheds light on the birth of the English word "do" and demonstrates how it helped to revolutionize modern grammar and usage. I love this guy.
The performance was just as clear, though not near as lightly-handled. It is read as though each sentence is a proclamation. I lived though lectures like this when I was a kid. I marvel. Still. He soldiers on, gets the text across and I got used to him.
This story beats a large share of immortal literature, in my estimation and he tells it in a way that surely does it justice.

Good, But Could Be Better

This course is very interesting, although it could be better. The first two parts of the book are excellent with a wealth of historical information about the historical development of the English language going, well, back to the beginning. Really fascinating, and I felt like I learned a lot.

When the book gets to the later stages, however, it slips a bit. The professor lapses into more than a little political correctness, which is probably not surprising given his background. If you can take it or leave it, the discussion is still interesting.

The professor is not a bad lecturer, but he has one incredibly irritating habit: He says "if you like" all the time. It becomes glaringly obvious, especially given the length of the recording. Maybe the professor can fix this in the third edition.

Another irritation--although certainly not the professor's fault--is the trumpet music announcing each new chapter along with the fake applause (which also closes each chapter). Straight out of 1950s sound effects. Just plain awful and prevalent in the "Great Courses." But, fortunately, a small part of the recording.