《从古代英语到标准英语》是“当代国外语言学与应用语言学文库”系列丛书之一。本书以历史文本为基础，通过对历史文本的介绍、阐释和评论，描述英语的演变。Thispracticalandinformativecoursebookisafascinating，visualvolumewhichleadsthestudentthroughthedevelopmentofthelanguagefromOldEnglish，throughMiddleandEarlyModernEnglishtotheestablishmentofstandardenglishintheeighteenthcentury.Atthecoreofthissubatantiallyexpandedsecondeditionliesaseriesofnearly200historicaltexts，ofwhichmorethanhalfarereproducedinfacsimile.andwhichillustratetheprogressivechangesinthelanguage.Thebookisfirmlybaseduponlinguisticdescription.withcommentarieswhichformaseriesofcasestudiesdemonstratingtheevidenceforlanguagechangeateverylevel-handwriting，spelling，punctuation.vocabulary，grammarandmeaning.Suchawealthoftexts，aswellasthestructuredactivitiesandthevariouscasestudies，allowtheovlunetobeusednotonlyasastimulatingcoursetext.，guidingstudentsthroughtheanalysisofdata.butalsoasacomprehensiveresourecbookandinvaluablereferencetoolforteachersandstudentsatalllevels.DennisFreebornwasformerlyHeadofEnglishLanguageandLinguisticsattheUniversityCollegeofRiponYorkStJohn.andChiefexaminerinA-levelEnglishLanguage.ULEAC.HeisnowDirectorofYorkEnglishLanguageStudiesAssociates(YELSA).providingA-levelEnglihshlanguageteachingmateriabssandin-servicecourses.