History of the English Language is an introductory course, divided into two main blocks. The first part introduces students to the concepts and techniques of diachronic linguistics, and the second part offers a brief survey of the development of the English language. The aim of this guide is, on the one hand, to acquaint undergraduate students with historical linguistics in general, so that they understand the different kinds of change that occur in language and, on the other, to set English in a historical perspective and view earlier periods as precursors of the modern language.