Otto Jespersen 
Chapters on English [PDF ebook] 
Re-Printed From "Progress in Language"

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. When the publishers told me that a reprint of Progress in Language with Special Reference to English (1894, second edition – practically without any changes, in 1909) was again called for, I thought it not advisable to issue the book once more in its former shape. It has always been to some extent prejudicial to the book that it was made up of two really distinct treatises: (1) chapters i.- v. and ix., dealing with questions of general philology, the development and origin of language, and (2) chapters vi.-viii., dealing with some special points in the history of English.