Language and History in Early Britain: A Chronological Survey of the Brittonic Languages, First to Twelfth Century A.D. is a book by Kenneth H. Jackson.
| Author | Kenneth H. Jackson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Historical linguistics |
| Publisher | Edinburgh University Press |
Publication date | 1953 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
Publication
editJackson started working on LHEB in 1944.[1] It was sent for publication in 1950, but was not published until 1953.[2]
Contents
editLHEB is divided into two parts. Part I historical background and context of Brittonic languages. Part II absolute and relative chronology of sound changes.[3]
Part I
editPart I has six chapters:
1.The Brittonic languages and the Breton migrations
2. Written sources
3. Britons and Romans under the Empire
4. The British Latin loan- words in Irish
5. The early Christian inscriptions
6. Britons and Saxons in the 5th to 8th centuries.
In this section, Jackson provides a systematic terminology for the chronological stages of historical Celtic languages, an analysis of the phonology of spoken British Latin, an overview of Proto-Irish sound-changes, and an analysis of English toponyms, which Jackson uses as evidence for the pronunciation of Brittonic languages.[3]
Part II
editThe second part, with an emphasis on dating, seeks to give an absolute and relative chronology of the sound changes from early British, to the breakup of Common Brittonic and formation of the Neo-Brittonic languages including Welsh, Cornish, and Breton, and their subsequent development.[4][5]
Reception
editIn a review, Calvert Watkins described LHEB as "an indispensable work of the first importance" and "the most complete and systematic study of this kind yet made in the Keltic field." Part I is praised as "a very thorough linguistic history" and "paradigmatic to all who seek to treat the history of a language."[3] Watkins specifically commends Jackson for his "carefully thought-out terminology for the chronological stages of the earlier Keltic languages", his analysis of the phonology of British Latin, his description of the entry of loan words into the Brittonic Language, and his use of English place-name evidence which had been previously been incorrectly interpreted or ignored.[3]
References
edit- ^ Jackson 1953, p. viii.
- ^ Jackson 1953, p. x.
- ^ a b c d Watkins 1954.
- ^ Foster 1956.
- ^ Watkins 1956.
Sources
edit- Jackson, Kenneth Hurlstone (1953). Language and history in early Britain : a chronological survey of the Brittonic languages, 1st to 12th c. A.D. Edinburgh: Edinburgh U.P. ISBN 0-85224-116-X. OCLC 217631525.
- Watkins, Calvert (1954). "Review of Kenneth Jackson, Language and History in Early Britain: A Chronological Survey of the Britannic Languages, First to Twelfth Century A.D.". Language. 30: 513–18 – via JSTOR.
- Foster, I. Ll. (1956). "Kenneth Jackson, Language and History in Early Britain: A Chronological Survey of the Brittonic Languages, first to twelfth centuries. Edinburgh: The University Press, 1953. Pp. XXVI + 752 and 2 maps. 80s". Journal of Roman Studies. 46 (1–2): 195–198. doi:10.2307/297997. ISSN 0075-4358.