Text types and the history of English

The evolution of modern European languages has been shaped significantly by their expanding functions since 1500, leading to notable developments in syntax and lexis, particularly through the conventionalization of text types. This account offers a comprehensive exploration of the history and current state of the English language, beginning with the German concept of Textsorte from the 1960s. It links designations of text types to stable forms that guide both writers and readers, allowing for the identification of standard and misused forms. Approximately two thousand designations are listed, each accompanied by minimal definitions and dates of first occurrences. The focus then shifts to selected illustrative types, such as book dedications, cooking recipes, advertisements, church hymns, lexical entries, and jokes, examining their functions and historical development in relation to linguistic characteristics and societal changes. The discussion also includes the functional range of text types beyond England, highlighting the impact of English categories on Scots/Scottish English and English in India. The analysis is enriched with textual excerpts and over fifty pages of facsimiles, emphasizing typographical insights. A comprehensive bibliography and indices are included, making this work valuable for constructing representative text corpora and encouraging further research into diverse text types and contrastive analyses among