Old Northumbrian

This is the first monograph entirely dedicated to the study of Old Northumbrian from a linguistic perspective, filling a gap in the existing literature on Old English. Old Northumbrian is crucial to understanding the evolution of English, as the main features that distinguish English from the other Germanic languages, such as the restructuring of the deictic system and the loss of grammatical gender, originated in this dialect. The monograph provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of Old Northumbrian phonology, spelling and grammar, synthesising previous studies with the author s own work. It presents original qualitative and quantitative-statistical research on morphosyntactic aspects of northern Old English, with a particular focus on nominal and verbal morphology, while also considering the sociohistorical background and the materiality of the texts. This work is primarily intended for historical linguists, particularly those specialising in English historical linguistics, but it will also be of interest to academics and postgraduate students interested in language variation and change and language contact.