A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles

Cover of Part I of Otto Jespersen's A Modern English grammar on historical principles

A Modern English grammar on historical principles (MEG) is a seven-volume grammar of English written by Otto Jespersen. The first volume ("part"), Sounds and Spellings, was published in 1909; two through five were on syntax; six was on morphology; and seven returned to the topic of syntax. It took until 1949 for all seven to be completed.^[1]: 1766

In 1989 Randolph Quirk (coeditor of the 1985 book A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language) said of MEG: "With its wide range of data from literature of all periods and the illuminating explanatory comment, simultaneously along diachronic and synchronic dimensions, this book is a continual source of inspiration and value."^[2] Writing in The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language (2002), Rodney Huddleston and Geoffrey K. Pullum called MEG "One of the most complete grammars for English in the first half of the twentieth century", one "which every serious English grammarian consults on a regular basis".^[1]: 1766

Publishing details

• Part I. Sounds and Spellings. Heidelberg: Winter, 1909. OCLC 895492988. Heidelberg: Winter, 1927. OCLC 832266245. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-40249-1. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2013. ISBN 978-0-415-86022-2.
• Part II. Syntax. First volume. Heidelberg: Winter, 1914. OCLC 721272956. Heidelberg: Winter, 1927. OCLC 504564992. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-40250-7. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2014. ISBN 978-0-415-86023-9.
• Part III. Syntax. Second volume. Heidelberg: Winter, 1927. OCLC 163081744. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1928. OCLC 605978794. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-40251-4. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2013. ISBN 978-0-415-86462-6.
• Part IV. Syntax. Third volume. Time and Tense. Heidelberg: Winter, 1931. OCLC 1072433169. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-40252-1. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2013. ISBN 978-0-415-86024-6.
• Part V. Syntax. Fourth volume. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1940. OCLC 175015576. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2007. ISBN 978-0-415-40253-8. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2013. ISBN 978-0-415-86025-3.
• Part VI. Morphology. With Paul Christophersen, Niels Haislund, and Knud Schibsbye. Copenhagen: Munksgaard, 1942. OCLC 220329786. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-40254-5. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2013. ISBN 978-0-415-86463-3.
• Part VII. Syntax. Completed and edited by Niels Haislund. Copenhagen: Munksgaard; London: George Allen & Unwin, 1949. OCLC 889073122. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2006. ISBN 978-0-415-40255-2. Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, 2013. ISBN 978-0-415-86026-0.

References

1. Huddleston, Rodney; Pullum, Geoffrey K. (2002). The Cambridge Grammar of the English Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-43146-0.
2. Quirk, Randolph (1989). "Preface". In Juul, Arne; Nielsen, Hans F. (eds.). Otto Jespersen: Facets of his life and work. Amsterdam Studies in the Theory and History of Linguistic Science 52. Amsterdam: Benjamins. p. viii. ISBN 9789027278357 – via Internet Archive.

External links

• Part I, Sounds and Spellings (1949), at the Internet Archive
• Part II, Syntax. First volume (1949), at the Internet Archive
• Part III, Syntax. Second volume (1928), at the Internet Archive
• Part IV, Syntax. Third volume (1931), at the Internet Archive
• Part V, Syntax. Fourth volume (1940), at the Internet Archive
• Part VI, Morphology (also here) (1942), at the Internet Archive
• Part VII, Syntax (1949), at the Internet Archive