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 Biograph
- 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 textbook offers a very useful and stimulating introduction to a long neglected period in the history of the English language. Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade draws on her own extensive research in the field and research in projects supervised by her which have produced fascinating insights. -- Svenja Kranich LINGUIST list Her textbook is therefore a welcome introduction to the language of the Georgian, Regency, and Victorian periods. Each chapter concludes with helpful suggestions for further reading as well as a set of research questions, which will steer students of lModE in the direction of interesting research topics and will guide them through the increasing number of tools and resources for this period of English. -- Marion Elenbaas Year's Work in English Studies This textbook offers a very useful and stimulating introduction to a long neglected period in the history of the English language. Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade draws on her own extensive research in the field and research in projects supervised by her which have produced fascinating insights. Her textbook is therefore a welcome introduction to the language of the Georgian, Regency, and Victorian periods. Each chapter concludes with helpful suggestions for further reading as well as a set of research questions, which will steer students of lModE in the direction of interesting research topics and will guide them through the increasing number of tools and resources for this period of English.
Ingrid Tieken-Boon van Ostade has a chair in English Sociohistorical Linguistics at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. She is the director of a VICI research project called The Codifiers and the English Language: Tracing the Norms of Standard English.
Inhaltsangabe
1. Introduction 2. Spoken English 3. Spelling 4. Vocabulary and early dictionaries 5. Grammar and grammars 6. Language and social networks 7. The Language of Letters 8. Conclusion 9. Texts.
