Studies in the History of the English Language II contains selected papers from the SHEL-2 conference held at the University of Washington in Spring 2002. In the volume, scholars from North America and Europe address a broad spectrum of research topics in historical English linguistics, including new theories/methods such as Optimality Theory and corpus linguistics, and traditional fields such as phonology and syntax. In each of the four sections - Philology and linguistics; Corpus- and text-based studies; Constraint-based studies; Dialectology - a key article provides the focal point for a discussion between leading scholars, who respond directly to each other's arguments within the volume. The volume spans topics and time periods from Proto-Germanic sound change to twenty-first century dialect variation, and methodologies from painstaking philological work with written texts to high-speed data gathering in computerized corpora. As a whole, the volume captures an ongoing conversation at the heart of historical English linguistics: the question of evidence and historical reconstruction. FROM THE CONTENTS:Section 1: Linguistics and philology Introduction: Linguistics and philology Anne Curzan and Kimberly Emmons Philology, linguistics, and the history of [hw]~[w] Donka MinkovaAn essay in historical sociolinguistics?: On Donka Minkova's "Philology, linguistics, and the history of [hw]~[w]" Lesley MilroyA brief response Donka MinkovaWhy we should not believe in short diphthongs David L. WhiteExtended forms (Streckformen) in English Anatoly LibermanLinguistic change in words one owns: How trademarks become "generic" Ronald R. Butters and Jennifer WesterhausSection 2: Corpus- and text-based studiesIntroduction: Corpus- and text-based studies Anne Curzan and Kimberly EmmonsThe meanings and uses of the progressive construction in an early eighteenth-century English network Susan M. FitzmauriceInvestigating the expressive progressive: On Susan Fitzmaurice's "The meanings and uses of the progressive construction in an early eighteenth-century English network" Erik SmitterbergA brief response Susan M. FitzmauriceModal use across registers and time Douglas BiberThe need for good texts: The case of Henry Machyn's Day Book, 1550-1563 Richard W. BaileyThe perils of firsts: Dating Rawlinson MS Poet. 108 and tracing the development of monolingual English lexicons Ian LancashireSection 3: Constraint-based studiesIntroduction: Constraint-based studies Anne Curzan and Kimberly EmmonsThe evolution of Middle English alliterative meter Geoffrey RussomOld English poetry and the alliterative revival: On Geoffrey Russom's "The evolution of Middle English alliterative meter" Robert D. FulkA brief response Geoffrey RussomA central metrical prototype for English iambic tetrameter verse: Evidence from Chaucer's octosyllabic lines Xingzhong LiEarly English clause structure change in a stochastic optimality theory setting Brady Z. ClarkThe role of perceptual contrast in Verner's Law Olga PetrovaSection 4: DialectologyIntroduction: Dialectology Anne Curzan and Kimberly EmmonsHistorical perspectives on the pen/pin merger in Southern American English Michael Montgomery and Connie EbleDigging up the roots of Southern American English: On Michael Montgomery and Connie Eble's "Historical perspectives on the pen/pin merger in Southern American English" Guy BaileyA brief response Michael Montgomery and Connie EbleVowel merger in west central Indiana: A naughty, knotty problem Betty S. PhillipsThe spread of negative contraction in early English Richard M. Hogg