In their research, the members of the Newcastle Language Variation and Change group address all aspects of variation and change in English. The member of the group whose research is mainly focused on the history of English is Wim van der Wurff.
He has co-authored The Syntax of Early English [file: wurffsyntax] (2000), the first book in the series Syntax Guides published by Cambridge University Press.
More recently, he has co-authored the chapter on syntax in the book A History of the English Language [file:wurffhoggdenison] (2006, edited by R.M. Hogg and D. Denison, published by Cambridge University Press).
He is currently co-authoring a book, to be published by Cambridge University Press, covering the history of English syntax from the earliest Old English times down to present-day English.
An earlier project focused on the specific topic of word order in the history of English. In 2005 he co-edited a special issue of the journal English Language and Linguistics on this topic.
Further books that he has co-edited include a volume on modality [file: wurffmodality], one on negation [file: wurffnegation], and one on speech reporting [file: wurffspeech].
Since 1992 he has co-authored the sections on syntax and morphology for the Oxford University Press publication The Year’s Work in English Studies, an annual narrative bibliography of English studies.
He has published not only about Old English but also in Old English: for example (Old English at Leiden: A Poem) is a poem that he wrote in 1995 to celebrate the teaching of Old English at the University of Leiden. It was published in the Old English Newsletter 31/1 (1997).