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Phrases deriving from literary quotations are sometimes included in language histories as contributions from famous writers, like Shakespeare. This paper will argue that the label “change from above” is still a useful label for the addition of literary phrases to the language, even if such an addition is not typical of the variationist changes for which the label was coined. This paper will also demonstrate that the process of incorporating a literary quotation into the language involves several alterations to the quotation’s form and meaning, and that these changes are also part of the “change from above” characterizing the adoption of literary phrases.

The future of English linguistics as envisaged by the editors of Topics in English Linguistics lies in empirical studies which integrate work in English linguistics into general and theoretical linguistics on the one hand, and comparative linguistics on the other. The TiEL series features volumes that present interesting new data and analyses, and above all fresh approaches that contribute to the overall aim of the series, which is to further outstanding research in English linguistics.

At least since D. A. Bullough's seminal essay, scholars have recognized the bilingual tradition of education in Anglo-Saxon England that began with Alfred and was amplified by the scholars of the Benedictine revival, particularly Æthelwold at Winchester. Increasingly, Anglo-Saxon students studied in both languages, Latin and English--uterque lingua, in Asser's terms. Here, Chapman emphasizes that while Latin continued to be taught and used as the primary language of scholarship, English became an important second language, and scholars like Æthelwold devoted increasing attention to the creation and maintenance of English as a language of education. Within this tradition, Ælfric, a student of Æthelwold and the most prolific English writer of the Anglo-Saxon period, occupies a central place, and among Ælfric's works, his grammar constitutes a prime exemplar of the bilingual educational tradition.

Ælfric, a tenth-century English monk, produced a grammar, glossary, and colloquy to help oblates learn Latin. His grammar, as the first Latin grammar written in English, reflects the emphases on both grammar and bilingual education from his own training. He adapted his grammar in several ways to help beginners learn to read Latin and prepare for advanced language study, such as using English instead of Latin as the medium of instruction, including full paradigms, organizing the discussion around declensions and conjugations, using familiar specimen terms, providing simple explanations, etymologizing the grammatical terminology, and using story-like examples. These features must have been appreciated, since Ælfric's grammar became one of the most popular elementary grammars in eleventh-century England.

Chapman addresses the traditions behind a specific device found frequently in the sermons of Wulfstan, archbishop of York, namely pairs of echoic compounds in which a constituent of one compound is echoes in a nearby simplex or compound.

In the course of her career, Roberta Frank has repeatedly illuminated the Anglo-Saxons’ ways with words, whether poetic words likewigaandhygein prose, blends likeþrymnes, or play on words likeweard,werod, andword.¹ Indeed, the writings of Anglo-Saxons show much creativity with words. The creative compounds in Old English poetry and the neologisms in hermeneutic Latin prose are both well known.² As outsiders, we certainly are aware of such neologisms and creative coinages when we encounter them. But how aware were the Anglo-Saxons? What self-conscious attitudes would learned Anglo-Saxons have had towards the words they created