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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.
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.
The book offers insight into the publication history of
eighteenth-century English grammars in unprecedented detail. It is
based on a close analysis of various types of relevant information:
Alston's bibliography of 1965, showing that this source needs to be
revised urgently; the recently published online database Eighteenth
Century Collections Online (ECCO) with respect to sources of
information never previously explored or analysed (such as book
catalogues and library catalogues); Carol Percy's database on the
reception of eighteenth-century grammars in contemporary periodical
reviews; and so-called precept corpora containing data on the
treatment in a large variety of grammars (and other works) of
individual grammatical constructions. By focussing on individual
grammars and their history a number of long-standing questions are
solved with respect to the authorship of particular grammars and
related work (the Brightland/Gildon grammar and the Bellum
Grammaticale; Ann Fisher's grammar) while new questions are
identified, such as the significant change of approach between the
publication of one grammar and its second edition of seven years
later (Priestley), and the dependence of later practical grammars
(for mothers and their children) on earlier publications. The
contributions present a view of the grammarians as individuals with
(or without) specific qualifications for undertaking what they did,
with their own ideas on teaching methodology, and as writers
ultimately engaged in the common aim presenting practical grammars
of English to the general public. Interestingly - and importantly -
this collection of articles demonstrates the potential of ECCO as a
resource for further research in the field.
Along with Shakespeare, Jane Austen (1775-1817) can be said to be
the most widely studied author in the history of English
literature. But unlike Shakespeare, her language has received
little scholarly attention. This is especially true for the
language of her letters. Jane Austen's letters, mostly addressed to
her sister Cassandra but to various other people as well, have been
described as the equivalent of telephone conversations, and if you
read them, you can almost hear her speak. We do not have access to
actual speech from the time in which she lived, but the letters
take us as close to the spoken language of the period as you might
hope to get. They are therefore a veritable linguistic goldmine.
This study, for the first time, offers a detailed sociolinguistic
account of all aspects of the language of her letters: spelling,
vocabulary and grammar. It also produces some evidence of
pronunciation as well as of local dialectal usage. The analysis
shows Jane Austen to be rather idiosyncratic in her language use:
she was consistent in her spelling (though she had unusual spelling
preferences), not very innovative in her vocabulary (though she did
coin a few new words), and not quite representative of grammatical
developments of the times (though her usage differed depending on
who she wrote to, her sister, her publisher or her nieces and
nephews). This study of Jane Austen's private language use shows
the extent to which she varied in her language use, just like any
of us do today, while is also provides evidence both for a date of
her unfinished novel The Watsons (for the first time on linguistic
grounds) and for the interplay there must have been between the
editors of her novels and her own linguistic preferences, in the
field of spelling and otherwise.
Describing Prescriptivism provides a topical and thought-provoking
analysis of linguistic prescriptivism in British and American
English, from a historical as well as present-day perspective.
Focusing on usage guides and usage problems, the book takes a
three-fold approach to present an in-depth analysis of the topic,
featuring: a detailed study of the advice provided in usage guides
over the years; an authoritative comparison of this advice with
actual usage as recorded in British and American corpora, including
the HUGE (Hyper Usage Guide of English) database - developed
specifically to enable this line of study - as well as more
mainstream corpora such as COCA, COHA and the BNC; a close analysis
of the attitudes to particular usage problems among the general
public, based on surveys distributed online through the "Bridging
the Unbridgeable" research project's blog.* With extensive case
studies to illustrate and support claims throughout, this
comprehensive study is key reading for students and researchers of
prescriptivism, the history of English and sociolinguistics. *Found
at https://bridgingtheunbridgeable.com/
Describing Prescriptivism provides a topical and thought-provoking
analysis of linguistic prescriptivism in British and American
English, from a historical as well as present-day perspective.
Focusing on usage guides and usage problems, the book takes a
three-fold approach to present an in-depth analysis of the topic,
featuring: a detailed study of the advice provided in usage guides
over the years; an authoritative comparison of this advice with
actual usage as recorded in British and American corpora, including
the HUGE (Hyper Usage Guide of English) database - developed
specifically to enable this line of study - as well as more
mainstream corpora such as COCA, COHA and the BNC; a close analysis
of the attitudes to particular usage problems among the general
public, based on surveys distributed online through the "Bridging
the Unbridgeable" research project's blog.* With extensive case
studies to illustrate and support claims throughout, this
comprehensive study is key reading for students and researchers of
prescriptivism, the history of English and sociolinguistics. *Found
at https://bridgingtheunbridgeable.com/
The studies presented in this volume concentrate on aspects of Late
Modern English correspondence in the usage of individuals belonging
to different social classes, writing for different purposes, and
finding themselves in different social contexts, both in Britain
and in its colonies. As the growing body of research published in
recent years has shown, analysing the language of letters presents
both a challenge and an opportunity to obtain access to as full a
range of styles as would be possible for a period for which we only
have access to the language in its written form. It is an area of
study in which all the contributors have considerable expertise,
which affords them to present data findings while discussing
important methodological issues. In addition, in most cases data
derive from specially-designed 'second-generation' corpora,
reflecting state-of-the-art approaches to historical
sociolinguistics and pragmatics. Theoretical issues concerning
letters as a text type, their role in social network analysis, and
their value in the identification of register or variety specific
traits are high-lighted, alongside issues concerning the (often
less than easy) relationship between strictly codified norms and
actual usage on the part of speakers whose level of education could
vary considerably.
Analysis of the relationship between the Winchester manuscript and
Caxton's edition. Detailed linguistic analysis of the two versions
of the Morte Darthur, charting important changes in the development
of the English language. Malory's Morte Darthursurvives in two
versions: the Winchester manuscript, which has been dated 1469-70,
and the edition Caxton published in 1485. These versions were
thought to be collaterally related through a common source to an
original lost manuscript, until in 1977 new evidence suggested a
linear descent. Dr Tieken-Boon van Ostade's study supports this
argument, first through a detailed refutation of Vinaver's
arguments for collateral descent,then through an analysis of the
incidence of multiple negation in both versions of the Morte
Darthurand the conclusions to be drawn from it. A reconstruction of
the events leading to Caxton's publication of the text at a
politically hazardous time completes the volume.Dr INGRID
TIEKEN-BOON VAN OSTADEis lecturer in English at the University of
Leiden. Two books already published centre on the history of the
English language.
Some twenty years ago it was widely believed that nothing much
happened to the English language since the beginning of the
eighteenth century. Recent research has shown that this is far from
true, and this book offers an introduction to a period that forms
the tail end of the standardisation process (codification and
prescription), during which important social changes such as the
Industrial Revolution are reflected in the language. Late Modern
English is currently receiving a lot of scholarly attention, mainly
as a result of new developments in sociohistorical linguistics and
corpus linguistics. By drawing on such research the present book
offers a much fuller account of the language of the period than was
previously possible. It is designed for students and beginning
scholars interested in Late Modern English. The volume includes: *
a basis in recent research by which sociolinguistic models are
applied to earlier stages of the language (1700-1900) * a focus on
people as speakers (wherever possible) and writers of English*
Research questions aimed at acquiring skills at working with
important electronic research tools such as Eighteenth Century
Collections Online (ECCO), the Oxford English Dictionary and the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography* Reference to
electronically available texts and databases such as Martha
Ballard's Diary, the Proceedings of the Old Bailey and Mrs Beeton's
Book of Household Management.
This spirited account of the life and times of one of the seminal
figures in history of English grammar dispels the myth of Lowth as
the icon of prescriptivism, and establishes him as the most
important figure in eighteenth-century English grammar.
Ingrid Tiecken-Boon van Ostade reexamines the life and work of
Robert Lowth (1710-1787), founder of the grammatical prescriptivism
so deprecated by modern linguists and educational theorists. She
considers Lowth and his grammar in the context of his times and
from the perspective of his aims and readership. She shows that,
once the grammar had been accepted for publication, it developed
into a publishers' project similar to Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
of the English Language to which it was intended as a complement.
Professor Tiecken draws on contemporary sources, including Lowth's
extensive correspondence and unpublished memoir, to explore the
social networks, aspirations, beliefs, and reading habits that
informed and shaped his grammar and ideas on language. (She notes
that Lowth's own language often falls short of the norms and
strictures advanced in his book.) By comparing the grammar - in
particular the problems of usage dealt with in its sections on
syntax - with guides from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
she redefines Lowth's seminal position in the history of handbooks
for correct usage, as well as his role in the establishment of the
canon of prescriptivism.
This book will appeal to all those interested in the history of
English, the role of language in the Enlightenment, and the
long-running debate on linguistic correctness and the merits or
otherwise of prescriptive rules in the teaching and use of English.
This volume explores both historical and current issues in English
usage guides or style manuals. Guides of this sort have a long
history: while Fowler's Modern English Usage (1926) is one of the
best known, the first English usage guide was published in the UK
in 1770, and the first in the US in 1847. Today, new titles come
out nearly every year, while older works are revised and reissued.
Remarkably, however, the kind of usage problems that have been
addressed over the years are very much the same, and attitudes
towards them are slow to change - but they do change. The chapters
in this book look at how and why these guides are compiled, and by
whom; what sort of advice they contain; how they differ from
grammars and dictionaries; how attitudes to usage change; and why
institutions such as the BBC need their own style guide. The volume
will appeal not only to researchers and students in
sociolinguistics, but also to general readers with an interest in
questions of usage and prescriptivism, language professionals such
as teachers and editors, and language policy makers.
Some twenty years ago it was widely believed that nothing much
happened to the English language since the beginning of the
eighteenth century. Recent research has shown that this is far from
true, and this book offers an introduction to a period that forms
the tail end of the standardisation process (codification and
prescription), during which important social changes such as the
Industrial Revolution are reflected in the language. Late Modern
English is currently receiving a lot of scholarly attention, mainly
as a result of new developments in sociohistorical linguistics and
corpus linguistics. By drawing on such research the present book
offers a much fuller account of the language of the period than was
previously possible. It is designed for students and beginning
scholars interested in Late Modern English. The volume includes: *
a basis in recent research by which sociolinguistic models are
applied to earlier stages of the language (1700-1900) * a focus on
people as speakers (wherever possible) and writers of English*
Research questions aimed at acquiring skills at working with
important electronic research tools such as Eighteenth Century
Collections Online (ECCO), the Oxford English Dictionary and the
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography* Reference to
electronically available texts and databases such as Martha
Ballard's Diary, the Proceedings of the Old Bailey and Mrs Beeton's
Book of Household Management.
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