COPYRIGHT, 1915, BY

FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY

Printed in the United States of America

Published, February, 1915

PREFACE

To acquire a knowledge of the essentials of English speech and literature is an accomplishment which should commend itself to all who speak the English tongue. From the point of view of this book, these essentials are indicated by the following questions: (1) How did the language come into being? (2) Who was responsible for its origin? (3) What changes have taken place in its orthographical development? (4) To whom is this development due? (5) Through what media has it been attained? (6) What were the refining influences that have brought it through its crude original forms to the plastic medium for expressing thought which we have to-day?

To present these essentials in concrete form is the purpose of this book, which records the chief facts concerning the historical and ethnological development of the language, and which shows, by illustrative examples from different periods, the progress made therein. Therefore, the aim has been: (1) To trace the evolution of English speech. (2) To describe the development and growth of English literature. (3) To direct attention to mutations in English orthography and syntax. To this end the following pages combine the history of the English language with that of English literature to the time of Milton, whose orthographic and syntactical forms approximate closely to our own. It tells, in brief, the story of the language from the dawn of civilization in Britain practically to our time, so that the reader may be said to have before him a conspectus of the different stages of assimilation through which it has passed.

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As a correct knowledge of the use of English words is based chiefly upon the forms established by that which is best in English literature, brief accounts of the lives and works of the chief writers of English-the Masters of the English tongue-are included, and these are supplemented by short extracts from their works to illustrate characteristics of style and of spelling, and show the progress made in the different periods into which the chapters are subdivided. As an aid to the student interested in a comparative study of English, the extracts from Anglo-Saxon, Old English, and Middle English are accompanied by translations into Modern English, or by explanatory notes that elucidate the original text.

It is hoped that this book will prove of service to those persons who wish to inform themselves on the history, orthography, and literature of the language which they speak. To those who have already acquired this knowledge, it may serve to refresh the memory about facts and things long forgotten or out of reach. Be that as it may, the book is so planned as to enable the student to determine with ease the different periods in the evolution of the language, and it provides him with a succinct guide to the important writers of each period. The names of the later or lesser lights in literature, together with the dates of their births and deaths, and the titles of their principal works are recorded in an appendix.

In addition, chapters on the influence of the English Bible our great standard of purity and exactness-the Drama, and the Periodical Press have been included, and these are supplemented by others pointing out the functions of the English Grammar and of the English Dictionary, and the benefits that may be derived by a systematic consulta