Studies in the history of the English language II : unfolding conversations / edited by Anne Curzan, Kimberly Emmons.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Curzan, Anne.

Emmons, Kimberly, 1972-

Series:

Topics in English linguistics.

Topics in English linguistics

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English language--History--Congresses.

English language.

English language--Grammar, Historical--Congresses.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (512 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Unfolding conversations

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, c2004.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Studies in the History of the English Language II: Unfolding Conversations 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. In Section 1, Donka Minkova and Lesley Milroy explore the possibilities of historical sociolinguistics as part of a discussion of the distinction between philology and linguistics. In Section 2, Susan M. Fitzmaurice and Erik Smitterberg provide new research findings on the history and usage of progressive constructions. In Section 3, Geoffrey Russom and Robert D. Fulk reanalyze the development of Middle English alliterative meter. In Section 4, Michael Montgomery, Connie Eble, and Guy Bailey interpret new historical evidence of the pen/pin merger in Southern American English. The remaining articles address equally salient problems and possibilities within the field of historical English linguistics. 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.

Contents:

Front matter

Table of contents

Foreword

Section 1: Linguistics and philology

Introduction: Linguistics and philology / Curzan, Anne / Emmons, Kimberly

Philology, linguistics, and the history of [hw]~[w] / Minkova, Donka

An essay in historical sociolinguistics?: On Donka Minkova's "Philology, linguistics, and the history of [hw]~[w]" / Milroy, Lesley

A brief response / Minkova, Donka

Why we should not believe in short diphthongs / White, David L.

Extended forms (Streckformen) in English / Liberman, Anatoly

Linguistic change in words one owns: How trademarks become "generic" / Butters, Ronald R. / Westerhaus, Jennifer

Section 2: Corpus- and text-based studies

Introduction: Corpus- and text-based studies / Curzan, Anne / Emmons, Kimberly

The meanings and uses of the progressive construction in an early eighteenth-century English network / Fitzmaurice, Susan M.

Investigating the expressive progressive: On Susan M. Fitzmaurice's "The meanings and uses of the progressive construction in an early eighteenth-century English network" / Smitterberg, Erik

A brief response / Fitzmaurice, Susan M.

Modal use across registers and time / Biber, Douglas

The need for good texts: The case of Henry Machyn's Day Book, 1550-1563 / Bailey, Richard W.

The perils of firsts: Dating Rawlinson MS Poet. 108 and tracing the development of monolingual English lexicons / Lancashire, Ian

Section 3: Constraint-based studies

Introduction: Constraint-based studies / Curzan, Anne / Emmons, Kimberly

The evolution of Middle English alliterative meter / Russom, Geoffrey

Old English poetry and the alliterative revival: On Geoffrey Russom's "The evolution of Middle English alliterative meter" / Fulk, Robert D.

A brief response / Russom, Geoffrey

A central metrical prototype for English iambic tetrameter verse: Evidence from Chaucer's octosyllabic lines / Li, Xingzhong

Early English clause structure change in a stochastic optimality theory setting / Clark, Brady Z.

The role of perceptual contrast in Verner's Law / Petrova, Olga

Section 4: Dialectology

Introduction: Dialectology / Curzan, Anne / Emmons, Kimberly

Historical perspectives on the pen/pin merger in Southern American English / Montgomery, Michael / Eble, Connie

Digging 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" / Bailey, Guy

A brief response / Montgomery, Michael / Eble, Connie

Vowel merger in west central Indiana: A naughty, knotty project / Phillips, Betty S.

The spread of negative contraction in early English / Hogg, Richard M.

Name index

Subject index

Notes:

Papers originally delievered at the biennial meeting of the Studies in History of the English Language conference, University of Washington, Seattle, in March 2002.

Includes bibliographical references and indexes.

ISBN:

9783110897661

3110897660

OCLC:

840441071