Otto Jespersen 
Progress in Language [PDF ebook] 
With Special Reference to English

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. Ifi am right in my interpretation of the tendencies of recent philology, the answer cannot be doubtful; but there is as little doubt that this answer will be the exact opposite of what an older generation Of linguists would have given as their verdict. It may therefore be of some interest to examine more closely the linguistic philosophy of the age that is now going out. How did the leading men of some thirty years ago classify and estimate different types of speech, and what place did they assign to such languages as modern English?