The lexicographer's dilemma : the evolution of "proper" English, from Shakespeare to South Park / Jack Lynch.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Lynch, Jack (John T.)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--Lexicography.

English language.

English language--History.

History.

English language--Style.

English language--Usage.

Physical Description:

viii, 326 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 22 cm

Edition:

First U.S. edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Walker & Co., 2009.

Summary:

If language, then, is around a hundred thousand years old, and English is fifteen hundred years old, how old are "good" and "bad" English? When, in other words, did people begin singling out one variety and considering it correct, with all other widely used varieties deemed improper? Our notions of proper English are only around three hundred years old-a very recent innovation indeed. For just one third of 1 percent of the history of language in general, and for just 20 percent of the history of our own language, have we had to go to school to study the language we already speak.

Contents:

Vulgarities of speech: homo sapiens learns to speak

The age in which I live: John Dryden revises his works

Proper words in proper places: Jonathan Swift demands an academy

Enchaining syllables, lashing the wind: Samuel Johnson lays down the law

The art of using words properly: Joseph Priestley seeks genuine and established principles

The people in these states: Noah Webster Americanizes the language

Words, words, words: James Murray surveys anglicity

The taste and fancy of the speller: George Bernard Shaw rewrites the ABCs

Direct, simple, brief, vigorous, and lucid: Henry Watson Fowler shows the way

Sabotage in Springfield: Philip Gove stokes the flames

Expletive deleted: George Carlin vexes the censors

Grammar, and nonsense, and learning: we look to the future.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780802717009

0802717004

OCLC:

317928887